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  Picture courtesy of Google
  Galaxy Nexus Slider Sketch from Google Patent

Samsung could be working on a successor to the Galaxy Nexus that will include a full QWERTY keyboard.

An insider leaked out some information last year stating that there would be a version of the original Galaxy Nexus released with a slide-out physical keyboard similar to the one included on the Droid 4.

However, the model never came to fruition even though the word is that Google filed a patent for the feature with the USPTPO in Jan.

This is leading some to believe that a Nexus slider is on the way this year, and could be the device to succeed the current version.

A sketch of the device also leaked that is believed to be from the Google patent. In the picture, the Nexus slider looks similar to the Xperia play, but it has a QWERTY keyboard instead of a play station joystick.

Three patents were said to have been filed by Google and they all listed lead Android developer Andy Rubin as the main inventor of the gadget.

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All of them showed new internal mechanisms that appear to allow for a slider keyboard that is thinner, and has less overlap when opened, than other popular devices with a similar design.

One of them displays a "spring and stabilizing" slide, a "serpentine spring styled" slider, and a "scissor-hinge" slider.

The next Nexus device is expected to launch sometime before the end of this year.

The second Galaxy Nexus is rumored to be featuring Android 5.0, JellyBean. Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich made its debut on the original Galaxy Nexus when it launched in Nov. of 2011.

The smartphone debuted as a Verizon exclusive the next month in the U.S. and is now available on Sprint.

It received rave reviews and The Verge called it "the greatest Android smartphone to date."