Not smitten with yesterday’s new Nexus phone announcements? HTC has announced that it will be holding a “virtual event” on October 20 to unveil its “newest HTC One.” The invitation doesn’t give us any clues about the new phone, save for a faint outline which matches that of the yet unannounced HTC One A9. Rumors have indicated that the HTC One A9 will launch in the US, Europe and Asia and will be backed by a substantial marketing campaign. This speculation is backed up by the fact that HTC shared the details of the launch event on its global, US and UK social media accounts.

Based on what we’re heard about the HTC One A9, the phone isn’t expected to outclass the HTC One M9. Instead, the One A9 will offer decent specs wrapped in a refined design — hopefully at a reasonable price.

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Earlier today, Google officially announced the Nexus 6P in Aluminum, Graphite, and Frost color options. If you’ve been paying attention to the Nexus 6P leaks, you know that a fourth color — Gold — was rumored for the 6P as well. Turns out that it exists, too, but it’s a bit more exclusive.

The Nexus 6P Special Edition is now live on the Japanese Google Store. It’s largely the same as the regular Nexus 6P, packing a 5.7-inch AMOLED display, Snapdragon 810, and 12.3-megapixel rear camera. The one difference is that its anodized aluminum backside is gold rather than white or black.

If you’re looking at the Nexus 6P outside of Japan, Google throws up a message that reads “This product is unavailable in your country.” If you are located in Japan, Google invites you to join a waiting list for the golden Nexus 6P. There’s no word on how much the Nexus 6P Special Edition costs, and what’s more, it’s unknown if or when this golden Nexus 6P will ever be released outside of Japan.

Gold phones seem to be all the rage in the mobile world nowadays, so it’s kind of strange to see Google offer the golden Nexus 6P to Japan only. Here’s to hoping that Google offers the gold Nexus 6P to the rest of the globe after it spends some exclusivity time in Japan.

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Just to make sure you weren’t forgetting about them with all the news coming out of Google today, HTC has taken to Twitter with a list of its devices that will be upgraded to Android 6.0 Marshmallow along with some tentative timelines.

We're roasting marshmallows this fall! We'll begin our @Android 6.0 rollout to devices before the end of the year. http://pic.twitter.com/QwMWOcRUcf

— HTC (@htc) September 29, 2015

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The two highlights are the HTC One M9 and M8, which not only get the green light on the upgrade, but also offer a promise of a roll out starting before the end of 2015, with the caveat that this timeline doesn’t apply to all carriers in all regions.

Moving down the list there are 10 additional HTC devices that will be joining the Marshmallow roast at some point in the future:

• HTC One M9+
• HTC One E9+
• HTC One E9
• HTC One ME
• HTC One E8
• HTC One M8 EYE
• HTC Butterfly 3
• HTC Desire 826
• HTC Desire 820
• HTC Desire 816

That’s it, no real surprises in this list, with the One M7 having drifted outside of the 2-year range during which HTC promises to maintain major Android updates.

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The original Chromecast was great for what it was. It allowed you to serve up HD content to your TV from your phone or computer, all for just $35 a month. But it was lacking in some areas, areas that have now been fixed with the announcement of the second gen Chromecast.

The new Chromecast is functionally identical to the original, but it has updated internals and a new design. The new Chromecast now includes three antennas for improved connectivity, and access to 802.11ac and 5ghz WiFi. It’s also a round circle now with the HDMI connector attached to a short cord. This will allow the Chromecast to hang away from your TV, giving your more room to work with in what is most likely a crowded place for most people. Unfortunately, the new Chromecast still doesn’t have 4k support.

Google also announced a Chromecast Audio dongle today, which works with any 3.5mm speakers. It’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a Chromecast made just for streaming audio to older speakers. Chrome cast Audio will work with Google Music and apps like Spotify(!) and Pandora.

Both the second gen Chromecast and Chromecast Audio will sell for $35.

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The new Nexus 5X and 6P won’t be coming out until sometime in late October. But what about Marshmallow for older Nexus devices? Thankfully, that’s coming a lot sooner.

Announced at Google’s Nexus event, Marshmallow, Android 6.0, will be coming to the Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 7 (2013), Nexus 9, and Nexus Player next week. Of course when it will be released and when an OTA update will hit your handset are two different things, but factory images will be available at that time if you simply cannot wait. Either way, if you are using an older Nexus device, the wait for Marshmallow won’t be long now.

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Google Play Music is a fantastic streaming service, but it notably lacked a plan that made pricing more acceptable for families like some of its top competitors.

While the exact timing wasn’t announced, later this year that problem will be solved with the new Google Play Music family plan. For just $14.99 a month up to 6 users will be able to access Google Play Music.

While the subscription is handled through a single account the experience remains the same for each individual user. This means that everyone still gets their own personalized experience rather than everyone’s favorites doing battle with one another.

I’m glad to see Google moving quickly to cover this deficiency in their plans.

Are any of you going to take another look at Google Play Music once the family plans become available?

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As smartphone manufacturers must try harder and harder to differentiate their products from competitors, after purchase care has become more important than ever. Google is stepping it up a notch today with its Nexus devices and the unveiling of Nexus Protect.

Nexus Protect is essentially Apple Care for Nexus devices. But better. Starting at $69 for the Nexus 5X, and $89 for the Nexus 6P, Nexus Protect will cover your handset from mechanical breakdown and accidental damage for two years. There was no mention of deposits, and Nexus Protect is a 24 hour service. If you call on a Tuesday night, there is a chance you will have your phone by as soon as Wednesday or Thursday afternoon.

As far as warranty plans go, Nexus Protect is the best we’ve ever seen. We’ll update with more details on Nexus Protect once it becomes available.

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The Nexus 6 won’t be the only phone that works on Google’s carrier service, Project Fi, anymore. The brand new Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X will both also work with Project Fi.

Project Fi relies on existing carrier networks, like Sprint and T-Mobile, combined with WiFi for extended coverage across the US. Google only charges for the data you use with Project Fi, keeping your monthly bill down as low as possible. With the introduction of the Nexus 6P and 5X, that makes the total number of devices that work on Project Fi three. Which while still not the best, is a lot better than it was yesterday.

To learn more about Project Fi, visit fi.google.com.

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Joining the Nexus 6p is the similarly well leaked Nexus 5X. While we had already seen basically all the specs on the 5X, it was still interesting to see how Google positioned it in comparison to the clear cut flagship Nexus 6P. They were quick to point out that the Nexus 5 was the most popular Nexus in the history of the program and that the Nexus 5x is essentially an evolution of that product.

Right out of the gate they also noted that it incorporated many of the same high-end features that are found in the Nexus 6P, such as the fingerprint unlocking for Android Pay, the same large pixel 12.3 MP camera and USB Type-C port with fast charging.

As leaked the screen on the Nexus 5X is a 1080p AMOLED, a step down from the Nexus 6P, but probably an acceptable one on a 5.2-inch screen.

The processor is a Snapdragon 808 with Adreno 418 GPU. Storage is either 16 or 32GB and unfortunately as rumored the RAM is just 2GB. We’ll have to wait to have them in hand to see if Marshmallow makes that palatable.

The Nexus 5X has always listening built-in to take advantage of the awesome new Now on Tap features in Marshmallow.

The Nexus 5X will be available in the Google Store today with prices starting at $379 and will start shipping later in October. Google is throwing in some extras with the new Nexus devices including 90 days of Play Music, $50 in Google Play credit and an optional $69 Nexus Protect plan that will extend the normal 1-year warranty to 2 years and includes accidental damage protection.

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Google always shares a handful of interesting facts and data points about Android during its events, and today is no different. According to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, there are now 1.4 billion active Android devices.

To get this number, Google records Android phone use over a 30 day period. They did the same for Google Play, and announced that Google’s media market has 1 billion active users. These numbers have been attributed in large part to the rise of Android One, where the program has led to double the usage of Android in both India and Vietnam.

Google has been talking about capturing the next billion smartphone users for some time now, it looks like it’s well on its way.

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