Google may be clearing its inventory for the Nexus 8, according to the latest round of rumors.
This time speculation comes straight from Trusted Reviews, which observed last Thursday that the Google Play Store has depleted its stock of Google Nexus 7 (2013) mobile devices.
An inspection of the U.S. store confirms that the 16GB and 32GB Black models of the Black "Nexus 7 2", 32GB LTE version, and 32 GB white model is indeed out-of-stock. It remains unclear how Google plan to address this shortage.
While there are many possible explanations as to why the Nexus 7 (2013) is out-of-stock, recent events suggest that Google may be gearing up for something new.
Earlier this month, a shipping manifest from Bangalore Air Cargo revealed that Google had shipped out two mystery devices named "Nexus 8" to India for testing. This sparked rumors that Google was readying the Nexus 8 tablet for launch.
Other rumors indicate that the Nexus 8 has a 8.9-inch display at a resolution of 2048 x 1440 pixels. The device may be powered by a 64-bit Nvidia Tegra K1 processor. Regarding weight and material, it has been said the mobile device weighs in at 419 grams and has an outer coating of matte plastic.
Google has an affinity with codenaming its upcoming devices. The latest rumors indicate that a device named Volantis may be the Nexus 8. If that is true, that may confirm that the new tablet actually exists. Officially, Google has yet to acknowledge the Nexus 8 tablet by name. In fact, it was the rumor mill that first coined the term 'Nexus 8' to describe the rumored follow-up to the successful Nexus 7 tablet.
Hence, the Nexus 8 release date remains an even bigger mystery. Earlier, rumors suggested that the mobile device will show up at this year's Google I/O. When the device failed to show, rumors shifted to a possible launch date in the last quarter of 2014.
