Despite no announcement being made at Google I/O last month, it does appear that the Nexus 8 is still very much in development.
Google has been playing a bit coy as of late when it comes to the Nexus line. Sometimes it sounds like it’s dead, other times the company insists it’s very much alive. The former though seems to be more likely as it has been a year since any new products have launched with the Nexus moniker.
One of the best pieces of evidence that there is indeed a Nexus 8 in the works may have shown up in the most innocuous of places: A shipping manifest.
GSM Insider spotted a listing in a shipping database for India that showed a listing for two “NEXUS8 PROTOTYPE TABLET SIMILAR TO NEXUS(7)” that landed in India via Banglore Air Cargo a week ago. Their value was listed at INR$16,484 (approx. $275 USD) each, but that should not be taken as indication of what their retail price could be when – or if – this device is finally launched.
While it is certainly not the most concrete evidence ever, it is a pretty good piece of the puzzle. Companies quite often ship devices to India for further testing, and it makes sense the Nexus 8 would make its way there before being announced. With other rumors swirling around the Nexus 8 it feels like only a matter of time before it’s announced, but just how long it may be before that happens is anyone’s guess.
