HTC Volantis Reportedly A 9-Inch NVIDIA Tegra K1 And Android L Powerhouse Tablet

It might be called the HTC Volantis, but what it's set to become is the next tablet in Google's Nexus line. Dubbed Nexus 9, this 8.9-inch tablet is expected to feature a 2048x1440 resolution (281 ppi), 2GB of RAM, 16 and 32GB storage options, an 8 megapixel camera at the back and a 3 megapixel one up front, front-facing speakers, and could weigh 418g, or 427g if it's the LTE model.

There's one spec I saved for last, because it's the most interesting: The Nexus 9 will feature NVIDIA's Tegra K1. As we discovered in our look at NVIDIA's SHIELD Tablet, the K1 can create the fastest tablet on earth, and to see HTC pick up on it for the next Nexus is a great thing for NVIDIA. It's worth noting that this news comes immediately after NVIDIA's latest quarter which saw profits rise 13%, with Tegra being a big part of that.

You might notice from the shot above that there are no front-facing speakers as claimed in the specs; Android Police chalks this up as being the result of it just being an early draft. There is another oddity, though: Expected specs have said that the Nexus 9 would have a no-gap aluminum frame, something the backside of the tablet in the shot above makes hard to believe. So as it is, the final design is still up-in-the-air.

Outside of that mock and specs, Android Police has gained info on expected pricing. The basic Nexus 9 with 16GB of storage could be $399, while the 32GB model could add the expected $100. Pricing is unclear on the LTE side, but it could result in models priced at over $600.

The expected launch date for the Volantis is Q4, and given that timing, it seems certain that it'll ship with Google's latest Android OS, called L.