New Nexus 9 Leaks and New Metal Galaxy Phones!
**Tech Rumor Roundup: Samsung’s Full Metal Phones, BlackBerry’s Classic Style, and New Nexus Devices**
This episode of *Techno Buffalo* is brought to you by Ting Mobile. That makes sense—what’s up, everyone? Welcome back to another episode of *Rumor Roundup*. I’m your host, John Rers. On this show, we take all the tech rumors from the week and serve them up to you on a silver platter. This week, I have something special for you—I haven’t been able to say in many, many months... not a single Apple rumor on the show!
I know a lot of you guys are excited about that. But no worries—we’re going to talk about Samsung’s full-metal phones, BlackBerry getting back in the game with classic style, and rumors of a new Nexus device possibly on its way. Let’s dive right into this rumor roundup and get started.
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### **Samsung: Going Full Metal**
First up is Samsung. Samsung finally started using metal in smartphone design this year, and so far, the results have been pretty awesome. If you remember, there was the mid-range Galaxy Alpha with its cool look and sleek metal edges. Then, last week, we saw the high-end Galaxy Note 4, which is pretty baller, and the crazy futuristic Galaxy Note Edge. Now, it looks like Samsung could be working on another device that covers the entire back panel in metal as well—this one, in my estimation, is way long over due.
The news comes from our friends at Sam Mobile, which claims an upcoming Samsung phone with the model number SM500 will sport a full-metal body. This design includes a Micro SD slot for added storage but no removable back cover. We’re guessing that means the battery is probably not going to be removable unless it’s some weird back-cover-battery thing. The rumored handset could also come equipped with a 5-inch, 720p display; a quad-core Snapdragon 4 processor; an 8-megapixel rear camera; a 5-megapixel front-facing camera; 16 GB of built-in storage; and either a 20 or 3,300 mAh battery.
The SM500 portable won’t feature a fingerprint sensor, heart rate monitor, or waterproof coating. However, it could offer some sort of hybrid SIM/micro SD card slot. So, while it’s certainly not the high-end, we’re getting more metal—and hopefully, this will filter its way up to the flagship devices like the S5 and maybe even the Galaxy Note 5, which might have no plastic at all.
The rumored all-metal smartphone sounds more like a Galaxy Alpha 2 or something else. But regardless, all this boils down to more metal in phones, which I think gives them a higher-end feel. However, it could also cause disaster for cell signals—maybe we’ll see it coming up soon. I’m hopeful, but well, it’s going to be a bit of a while before we start hearing rumors about the Galaxy S6 and the Note 4 isn’t even here yet. So, get comfortable—you’ll be waiting a while, Samsung fans.
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### **BlackBerry: Getting Back in the Game with the Classic Style**
Let’s move on to BlackBerry, something you’ve brought up in the comments. I know I’ve been a bit harsh on BlackBerry in the past, but I think the Canadian company has a few more drops of blood left in those veins. BlackBerry has a few new smartphones in the pipeline, and while the company hasn’t really put its most focus on hyping the upcoming Passport handset (which, in my mind, looks freaking awesome), there’s one more device for BlackBerry fans to look forward to.
Earlier this week, a brand-new batch of photos leaked, offering a close-up look at the BlackBerry Classic. Despite early rumors suggesting it might not launch into early next year, it looks like we might get it even sooner. The BlackBerry Classic is expected to target the BlackBerry faithful—the longtime customers who want a familiar experience. As you can see, it has a rectangular display that’s somewhat bigger than the 2.8-inch Porsche Design P9983 dock.
The device is described as “classic: powerful yet uncomplicated.” The same leak suggested the BlackBerry Classic might not launch in 2015, but I’m hoping it’s going to be sooner rather than later because the device looks super finished.
BlackBerry, if you haven’t given it a shot, you might want to consider it. BlackBerry 10.3 brings a lot of new features to the table, including built-in access to Amazon’s app store and now easier side-loading of any Android app. And, of course, access to BlackBerry’s own app catalog means you get a lot of apps on the device—it’s pretty elegant to use. I think their Peak system is awesome, Blackberry email is still among the best going, and BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) is still a really awesome third-party messenger to use. If you’re using it on a BlackBerry, it’s first party, but now you can talk to anybody else that has BBM—so that’s pretty cool.
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### **New Nexus Devices: The Rumors Are Heating Up**
Finally, let’s talk about some new Nexi (or maybe it’s NEX-EY? Not sure). Nvidia legal documents might have accidentally outed the Nexus 9, which rumors say is being made by HTC. The device will allegedly be Google’s next big tablet and offer an array of major upgrades over the already pretty awesome existing Nexus 7.
The document plainly names the HTC Nexus 9, and the reason it was revealed was due to an illegal quarrel with Qualcomm and Samsung over GPU technology patents—something that’s really not here or there. But we just want information on the freaking Nexus 9, which will supposedly sport an 8.9-inch display; 2 gigabytes of RAM; 16 to 32 gigabytes of storage; an 8-megapixel camera on the back with optical image stabilization; and an aluminum “zero-gap” construction with tapered sides.
The document says the device will be out in the third quarter of this year, so we’re not that far away. It’s already September, and October seems like the perfect month for Google to finally release Android L (codenamed “Lollipop”), which will no doubt coincide with any new releases of Nexus devices. I’m thinking that’s a good time for it. Previous streamers claimed the advice wouldn’t be out until Q4 this year, so take all this information with the obligatory grain of salt.
What’s clear here is that Nvidia’s Tegra K1 chip will indeed power the device—and that thing is freaking sweet! That, along with the specs listed, might lead to the next device being a little more expensive than users are used to. So keep an eye on that as well—we’ll let you know what happens. Of course, we’ll be there in any event, and if anything else new leaks out, we’ll have it on the site at *technobuffalo.com*, which you should check out.
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### **Final Thoughts**
Thank you guys for watching this episode of *Rumor Roundup*. I hope you enjoyed it. We love making tech videos here, and if you like watching them, be sure to hit that giant subscribe button so you know exactly what’s happening in the world of technology. And if you like gaming, you might want to see us play some games—albeit sometimes kind of badly—on our new Twitch Channel at *twitch.tv/tecnobuffalo*.
Until next time, I’m John Rers. Talk to you guys next video, bye-bye.
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*Thank you for watching! We hope you enjoyed the episode.*