Nexus 5 debuted – for a hot minute – on Google Play (GOOG) store

The long-rumored Google (GOOG) smart phone Nexus 5 had a brief moment in the spotlight when it was accidentally shown on the Google Play store website Thursday, further fueling rumors about the release of the new phone.

|
Reuters
The Google Nexus Galaxy handset. A new Google phone is reportedly on the way.

If Google is trying to keep the Nexus 5 a secret, perhaps putting an image of the phone on its website isn’t the best move.

For a brief moment Thursday, the Google Play store showed an image of the rumored Nexus 5, replacing the current Google smart phone, the Nexus 4. It was only available as a thumbnail image, did not link to any further details, and was quickly taken down. Still, the gaffe has only fueled rumors about the release of the new Google phone.

Google Play store visitors took screenshots of the thumbnail with the tagline: “Capture the everyday and the epic in fresh new ways.” The image showed that the device would start at $349 for a 16 GB non-contract model and would have a five-inch screen. From this shot, the display looks more translucent and some apps have new icons. Aside from these cosmetic details, people have speculated that the new phone likely will be made by LG (just like the Nexus 4), will run on Android 4.4 KitKat, and have an improved rear-facing camera.

This isn’t the first leak the Nexus 5 has faced. Earlier this month in a video advertising the release of the new Android operating system, a Google employee was shown with a never before seen smart phone with a horizontal logo and big camera lens. After the mysterious phone began attracting attention, Google took down the video. The Federal Communications Commission also recently approved and posted images of a device called the D820, which matches many of the rumors swirling around a Nexus 5. And Nestle’s KitKat, which partnered with Android to name the next evolution of the operating system, has been tweeting cryptic messages via @KitKat featuring the Android robot made out of the chocolate treat and references to Oct. 28, which is when many believe the device and operating system will officially launch. 

Last month, someone reportedly left a prototype of the phone unsupervised in a bar, creating an iPhone 4-esque leak. Google has not made any official announcements as to when the phone will be released or what it may feature, so these small teases are all that the tech world has to go with as of now. 

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Nexus 5 debuted – for a hot minute – on Google Play (GOOG) store
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2013/1018/Nexus-5-debuted-for-a-hot-minute-on-Google-Play-GOOG-store
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe