The Nexus 9 (codenamed Volantis[3] or Flounder[4][5]) is a tablet computer co-developed by Google and HTC that runs the Androidoperating system. It is the fourth tablet in the Google Nexus series, a family of Android consumer devices marketed by Google and built by an OEM partner. The device is available in two storage sizes, 16 GB for US$399 and 32 GB for US$479. Along with the Nexus 6 mobile phone and Nexus Player digital media device, the Nexus 9 launched with 5.0 Lollipop, which offered several new features, notably a modified visual appearance, and the complete replacement of the Dalvik virtual machine with ART. Google has included an additional step to "Enable OEM unlock" before users can unlock the Nexus 9 bootloader.[6]
Release
The Nexus 9 was announced on 15 October 2014, with pre-orders available on 17 October and was released on 3 November 2014. A 4G LTE version was released in the US on 12 December 2014.[7]
Specifications
Hardware
The Nexus 9 tablet features an 8.9-inch IPS LCD display with a 1536x2048 resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It runs the NVIDIATegra K1 processor and has 2 GB of RAM.[8][9]
In December 2014, the Android 5.0.1 Lollipop was released for the Nexus 9.[11] Android 5.0.2 Lollipop was released for the device a few months later, in May 2015.[12][13] Later that month, Android 5.1.1 Lollipop was released for the Nexus 9 as well.[14]
Google released the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update for the Nexus 9 in October 2015.[15][16] In December 2015, the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow was released for the Nexus 9, among other devices.[17]
On August 22, 2016, Google released the Android 7.0 Nougat update for the Nexus 9, as well as several other devices.[18] In January 2017, Google announced that the Nexus 9, along with the Nexus 6, won't receive the 7.1.2 Nougat update, making 7.1.1 the last major software update from Google themselves.[19]