Google's first entry into the "phablet" market has a chipset that supports LTE-Advanced but it is not yet clear how fast the downloads will be.
Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) unveiled its new Nexus 6 from Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) Wednesday, a phone with a 6-inch screen and up to 64GB of memory on board. This is joined by an 8.9-inch tablet from High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) (Taiwan: 2498) and Google's new Nexus TV Player. All of these devices will run on the new Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system.
See all the specs here.
The Nexus 6 has a Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM) Snapdragon 805-based processor onboard, which means it can support LTE-Advanced where the networks are available. All of the major US carriers US have now launched initial carrier aggregation features and all are going to be offering the Nexus 6 to subscribers in November. (See LTE-A Now Live on More Than 20 Networks and Why You Should Care About LTE-Advanced (Eventually).)
The Qualcomm processor can support "CAT6" downloads of up to 300 Mbit/s with the latest 4th generation integrated modem. It reaches "CAT4" speeds of 150 Mbit/s with the 3rd generation modem. Both iterations can support LTE-Broadcast capabilities.
Light Reading asked Google for clarification on how fast the downloads on the Nexus 6 will be. They sent us some spec sheets but haven't yet answered our specific question.
Get the latest updates on 4G/LTE by visiting Light Reading's dedicated 4G/LTE channel.
Still we can note that Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) has said the phone will be able to run on its "Spark" network where available, which gets downloads of more than 70 Mbit/s now and will get faster in 2015. (See Sprint Promises 180Mbit/s 'Peaks' in 2015.)
There's a Qualcomm Snapdragon event in New York City Thursday, so we hope to have more details on the Nexus 6 very soon.
— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading