Google is rumoured to be planning to dump the Android SMS app in favour of Hangouts handling text messages, with the company also believed to be working on a 6.3-inch phablet.
Android blog Android Police is reporting it has all but officially confirmed a rumour that the tech giant is looking to move SMS and MMS messaging – including video messages – into Google Hangouts.
The news would see Android Messenger join Google+ Messenger and Google Talk as apps that have been replaced with Hangouts.
At this stage, it is unclear whether the move will happen with the introduction of 4.4 KitKat, which is the next version of Android that Google officially announced in September.
A second rumour to emerge, this time on Phandroid, is that Google is working on a new device set to go head-to-head with Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 and Sony’s Xperia Z Ultra phablets.
The 6.3-inch device is currently being developed by Google’s devices division, Motorola, under the working title Xplay.
Google is also believed to be working on a smartphone codenamed DROID Quantum, which is set to replace the Motorola DROID Ultra the company announced back in July.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
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