While Google has yet to make any announcement regarding the next Nexus smartphone, the Internet is already rife with rumors about the conglomerate's forthcoming devices. If one such rumor is to be believed, then Google is currently working on a Nexus 6 handset which may be released in September.

The rumor first appeared on the Android Police website, which reported that it has information regarding the development of a new smartphone codenamed "Shamu." It is also rumored that Shamu will come with a 4.9-inch display with an unspecified resolution plus a fingerprint sensor akin to that of the Apple iPhone 5s and Samsung Galaxy S5.

However, it is still not clear whether Shamu is being developed independently by Motorola or it's part of the next version of Google's Nexus smartphone lineup.

Android Police further states that Motorola is keeping all major U.S carriers in mind when developing Shamu. This is a noticeable change from earlier Nexus handsets that did not work with some carriers, especially Verizon.

However, it is worth mentioning that so far there has been no confirmation regarding a Nexus 6 smartphone, and considering the large number of rumors flooding the Internet, it is best to consider this one with a grain of salt. However, one thing is certain - the search engine giant has not done away with the Nexus lineup yet.

Dan Bruke, the head of Android engineering, recently told ReadWrite that Nexus is still alive at Google and a key element in developing latest Android versions. It is expected that Google will release Android L, the latest version of Android, sometime in the Fall, possibly through a new Nexus device.

Bruke remarked, "When we are working, there are sort of two outputs. We're building a Nexus device and we're building the open source code. There is no way you can build the open source code without the phone or tablet or whatever you are building."