Rumors about the inevitable death of the Nexus handset program have been floating around for quite sometime now. Leaks have indicated that Google is working closely with OEMs to replace its Nexus program with Android Silver.

Shooting down these rumors, Dave Burke, the head of Android engineering and the Nexus program at Google, confirmed that the Nexus program is far from dead. 

While he refused to discuss about the upcoming Android Silver program, he made it clear that the program does not mean the end of Nexus line from Google.

“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 said.

As per Burke’s explanation, whenever Google starts working on a new version of Android, another team is also working on designing a new Nexus device. The device is designed specifically to take advantage of all the new features that will be offered by this version of Android, and so both programs go hand-in-hand. Google cannot develop a new version of Android without a new Nexus device and vice-versa.

However, this does not mean that Google would still be releasing a new Nexus handset towards the end of the year. The Nexus program also includes tablets, which is also a good enough development device to test a new version of Android. Burke only confirmed that the Nexus program is far from dead, but never confirmed that we are going to see a new Nexus handset later this year.

What do you think? Do you still expect Google to release a Nexus handset later this year?