Google Play Edition smartphones disappear from Play Store: Report

The chatter online is all about how the last Google Play Edition smartphone has been pulled out of Google Play store. An Android Police report now highlights how Google Play Edition devices started dropping from the shelf last year and now eventually the last one, namely the HTC One M8 GPE, is also no longer available on the Play Store.   The page now says, “Its no longer available for sale.” “It was a little concerning when the Galaxy S5 GPE never materialised, then the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, GS4, G Pad 8.3, and others were pulled from the store. Meanwhile, no other devices arrived to take their place,” the report points out. This also means, those looking for a new device running stock Android, will have to rely on the Nexus lineup. The Google Play Edition (GPE) of the One M8 is priced at $699 that translates to roughly a little over Rs 43,000. It is still unclear whether Google plans to stock in another batch of GPE devices, or it was the last edition to hit the Play Store. With One M8, HTC got rid of polycarbonate or plastic for the sides as the chassis was almost completely metal. The phone came with the latest version of Sense featuring enhanced BlinkFeed experience. It was believed to be  selling faster than its predecessor  and touted to have the potential to help the company claw back market share in developed markets such as the US.