The HTC One M8 Google Play Edition has been removed from the Play Store, leaving no non-Nexus handsets for the more discerning Android user to buy.

Want to download and install the latest Android 4.4.3 on your GPE Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One M8 and HTC One M7? We have got direct download links for you right here.

Well, we didn’t see that one coming! A report from industry sleuth Eldar Murtazin suggests that Google may cease its popular Nexus line of smartphone and tablet from next year. Instead, Murtazin says, the Big G will focus instead on re-releasing pre-existing devices as Google Play Edition models, running on stock Android and without any OEM bloatware.

Google Play Editions are all the rage right now. After years of smartphone enthusiasts wishing that hardware makers would offer versions of their smartphones with a stock installation of Android as an option, the GPE versions of devices like the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 have proven predictably popular amongst enthusiasts. It’s debatable whether the general phone-buying public even noticed, but that’s not the point.

Rumors that there may be some new Google Play Edition hardware on the horizon have turned out to be absolutely spot on, with Google announcing that not only are we going to be treated to a new, stock Android smartphone, but that the first Google Play Edition tablet is also here.

It’s a phenomenon that few had dare to predict, though certainly one that we all hoped for. The best Android smartphones on the planet getting special Google editions, free of carrier and manufacturer bloatware? It’s like the Holy Grail of mobile technology, and this week it became reality as both the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 made the transition from unique-selling-point-filled behemoths to sleek, Google-powered monsters.