News: HTC-Built Nexus Tablet & Android TV Leaked in Latest Changelog

Veering from common practice, XDA commenter, "the_commenter", discovered a changelog for the upcoming version of Android 4.4.3 tucked away on Google's servers.

While the 5,000+ lines of text are still being digested, a couple of interesting nuggets of information have already popped up.

The HTC Flounder

Starting at line 239, we see project device/htc/flounder/. Of course, we can't glean too much from the 6 lines of text, but all signs point to Flounder being the next iteration of the Nexus tablet line, first reported by Digitimes. Their rumor suggested an HTC-built device coming in at 8.9", with a 2K display and Android 4.4.3. It also stated that this device (possibly called the Nexus 8) may be the last of the Nexus tablet line, as the devices have "already served the purpose of boosting Android's penetration in the tablet market."

Again, take the rumors with a grain of salt, but the changelog is certainly real, and it does indeed look like we've got a Google device built by HTC coming our way.

Codename "Molly"

This one is more interesting. If you're following along, let's start at line 214: project device/google/molly/. This line confirms a device built by Google, while a few spots down we see references to "Implement rules for Discretix module" (line 218), which suggests DRM protection, and the much more telling "Set BT minor code to SET_TOP_BOX instead of HIFI" (line 221), a clear indication that this device is one made for TVs.

Going much deeper, line 3731, "Disable Bluetooth OPP profile on Molly", means that the ability to push files to the device will be disabled, further proof that this is not a standard phone or tablet. Additional DRM protections are mentioned in line 3802, "Upload Discretix files for PlayReady", with PlayReady being Microsoft's DRM-protection service.

Further indicators that "Molly" could in fact be Android TV are lines that indicate that WiFi is on by default (line 3820) and that any sort of lock screen is disabled (line 3823).

Mentions of a Google Now-like "RemoteCardService" (line 4459), "Add capability to pre-pair game controller" (line 3875), and tons of text related to "AndroidAtHome" (starting at line 4428) highlight gaming support (à la Fire TV), as well as content recommendations for movies and TV shows, card layouts for games and movies, and lots of mentions of "Bemote", which will likely be the remote to control the upcoming set top device.

Although Google TV wasn't too successful, the Chromecast was a major victory for Google. It only makes sense that a more premium version would be on its way, adding some dangerous competition to Apple TV, Roku, and the like. The fact that Molly is a set top box, rather than a dongle like the Chromecast, means that it's hardware specs will be able to support more file types with less lag.

Hopefully, we'll have more information in short order, and I would be shocked if these devices aren't unveiled at the upcoming Google I/O developers conference in June.