Nexus 5 Briefly Appears on Google Play, New iPhone May Be Months Away

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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While Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has yet to announce the official release of the Nexus 5, the smartphone reportedly did appear for a time on Google Play store, alongside the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets, with a list price “starting at $349.” The tagline for the LG-made phone was “Capture the everyday and the epic in fresh new ways.”

Rumors about the specs, price and release date of Google’s upcoming flagship phone have swirled for weeks. The Nexus 5 supposedly will run on Android 4.4 KitKat, and it has been speculated to cost anywhere from $299 to $399 for the 16GB and up to $449 for the 32GB. Third-party cases for the new device have already appeared on Google+ and Amazon.com.

Was the listing at the Google Play store made in error, as it appears, or a tease to enhance the building buzz for the new smartphone? What is almost certain is that a Google announcement about the launch of the Nexus 5 cannot be far off.

That puts it ahead of Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) next iPhone, rumored to be released in the first quarter of 2014, though some expect it as late as the third quarter. So far, the biggest rumor about the so-called iPhone 6 is that it will feature a bigger display than the iPhone 5s. Rival smartphones already have five-inch displays. Could the new iPhone go so far as a six-inch screen, as some have speculated?

Apple has been characteristically tight-lipped about its next-generation iPhone. So time will tell. Until then, Google will get to play in the shiny, new smartphone space for a while.

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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