The Google Nexus 8 or HTC Nexus 9 was a no show at the 2014 I/O gathering but the device is far from dead, according to new reports, and their release dates are likely to happen anytime in the last three months of the year.

Nexus 8 is HTC Nexus 9

The native Android tablet, to begin with, was not really geared to appear before the developers that Google has gathered this week in San Francisco, CNET said in a report, adding that Nexus 8 "is still on its way to the market."

The tech site pointed to "to a person familiar with the device," as the source of its credible information. The report, however, provided no details on the device's actual commercial availability or the branding that it will display on debut time.

Recent reports suggest that HTC of Taiwan will build the slate and will go by the name HTC Nexus 9, which is likely due to its near 9-inch screen at 8.9-inch.

The device is also rumoured as Google's latest attempt to tussle with Apple's iPad Air and iPad Mini so it is expected to hit store shelves worldwide in the last few months of 2014 or between October and November, which is around the same time that the refreshed iPads are expected to come out.

Android Silver will not kill Nexus

As for the Nexus 6, Android Central reported this week that the smartphone remains on course for distribution though the tech site offered no specifics. The statement was based on the declaration made by Nexus program chief Dave Burke that the device line up is not dead at all.

The Nexus 6 demise assumption was triggered by the emergence earlier of Android Silver - a project that supposedly designed to produce high-end smartphones and tablets that run on pure Android, which over the course will necessitate the retirement of all Nexus gadgets.

However, Burke clarified that Android Silver will not bump off Google's Nexus division. "The prospect of (Android) Silver doesn't mean that Nexus is going away," the Google exec was reported by Android Central as saying.

"People have been commenting about Nexus because there is something else and they think that means the end of Nexus. That is the totally wrong conclusion to make," Burke explained.

Nexus 6 patterned after LG G3

His clarification seems in line with a recent report from Australian blog site AusDroid - that the sequel to the Nexus 5, the Nexus 6, is alive and well and production of which is actually underway.

On release date, the Google Nexus 6 will have the LG G3 as its base-model, meaning the handset will 'borrow' most of the monster specs that came with the 2014 flagship device, foremost of which is its phablet-size 5.5-inch display screen.