Google has been killing of Google Play Edition devices left and right over the past year and today, the final one has been given the axe. As noticeable on the homepage of the Play Store, the Google Play Edition HTC One M8 is no longer available for purchase. The device was listed at $699 and released last year.
If there is one area where iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users can exercise their bragging rights, it is with the timely and consistent software updates received from Apple. Google’s rollout of Android Lollipop has been far less predictable, with only a portion of Nexus devices having received the update and owners of devices from other manufacturers like Samsung, LG and HTC still waiting.
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Last week, word emerged that the Google Play Edition HTC One M8 and M7 would be receiving their respective Android 5.0 Lollipop updates sometime this week. HTC has now given us a solid date, though, saying that the two devices should receive their updates this Friday, November 21st.
During the summer of 2013, the line-up of Google Play Edition devices grew incredibly quickly, with devices available from HTC, Motorola, Samsung, and Sony. Last month, however, the selection of devices dropped to just three: the Moto G, Galaxy S4, and HTC One (M8). Now, this evening, Google has removed the Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition from the store without any replacement in sight.
The Galaxy S5 Google Play Edition has been the subject of a lot of leaks lately, between it passing through Bluetooth certification, briefly appearing on the Play Store, and appearing on a Play Store support page. Now, notorious Twitter leaker @evleaks has posted a render of the device, seemingly confirming its existence, yet again. The Google Play Edition S5 looks identical to its TouchWiz counterpart, aside of course, from the software.
The Google Play Edition HTC One M8 is already available on the Play Store, so it seems a bit odd that it is taking Samsung and Google so long to release its Play Edition device for the year, but with this render coupled with all of the other leaks, the device still seems to exist and is presumably coming sooner rather than later.