It looks as if a successor to Google's excellent Nexus 5 smartphone is closer than we thought, after a second set of benchmark results spotted online appeared to cement the existence of a Motorola-built Nexus 6 - and if the rumours prove accurate, it could be a seriously powerful handset.
Less than three days after the unannounced Motorola Shamu was spotted on GFXBench, the same device posted a score to the AnTuTu benchmark tracker with the codename Google Shamu - seemingly confirming that it is indeed the Nexus 6. The fact that both handsets were running the unreleased Android L operating system, which Google will almost certainly release to the public alongside a new handset, makes us fairly confident that we're just got an early look at a new Nexus smartphone.
According to the results, the next Nexus will be powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 805 processor running at up to 2.6GHz, 3GB of RAM and an Adreno 420 GPU - making it one of the fastest Android smartphones around. That power will be put to good use rendering a huge number of pixels, as the handset should appear with a 5.2in, 2,560x1,440 resolution QHD display, matching LG's G3 and soundly beating everything currently available from Samsung, HTC and Sony.
It will apparently arrive with a 13-megapixel camera, which should make for a welcome improvement over the Nexus 5's capable but now outclassed 8-megapixel sensor. According to the benchmark results it will include a flash and autofocus, but no support for HDR photography, and will be able to shoot Ultra HD 4K video at 3840x2160. All the usual connectivity appears to be in place as well, with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and NFC mentioned.
It's surprising and welcome news, as the Nexus 6 has been one of the most anticipated phones. Original rumours pointed at LG manufacturing the new model, as it made the Nexus 5. It was initially expected that the new phone would closely follow the design of the LG G3 and have similar specs. However, the Nexus range appeared to be over, until strong demand seems to have convinced Google to resurrect the programme, turning to Motorola as its manufacturing partner.
Hopefully we won't have long to wait to find out if this is indeed the Nexus 6 - with Samsung set to launch the Galaxy Note 4 at IFA next month and Apple also expected to reveal the iPhone 6 in the second week of September, Google will have to move quickly if it wants some time to itself in the spotlight. Based on the latest rumours, we could be seeing a late September or early October announcement, which would match that of the Nexus 5 a year before.
