How long have been hearing rumors of Google next Nexus tablet? It’s been over a year since the company launched a retooled Nexus 7 , and mounting rumors have seemingly arrived at a singular consensus: HTC will be the manufacturer responsible for producing what likely will launch as the Nexus 9 . Court documents suggest it. A leaked keyboard case confirms it. But when will the slate get its official coming out party?

MoDaCo’s Paul O’Brien has his sources, and if we are to believe the information he has gathered we should have some sort of answer by October 16th. O’Brien first said his source had revealed that the Nexus 9 would launch on that date, but he soon corrected that statement by saying we can expect an announcement only, instead (implying retail availability will come later).

There was some speculation that HTC would have the tablet on hand at an upcoming press event scheduled for October 8th. The general belief, though, is that we will instead see a standalone HTC camera and perhaps an Android handset with a focus on photography based on the event’s “Double Exposure” theme. Still, it might not be out of the question for HTC to reveal or at least tease their upcoming Google-powered tablet.

It is assumed that the launch of the Nexus 9 will be timed with the official release of Android L (the Nexus 9 is expected to be the first device to ship with the OS update). Rumored specs include an 8.9-inch display display with at least a 1080p resolution and an NVIDIA K1 processor, though reports conflict on some of the more specific details.