UPDATE: Turns out the Sony Nexus X was a fake. Bummer, I know.

Thanks to a photo leak, we know that LG is making Google’s next Nexus smartphone. The leaked photos are looking pretty sleek, but could Google have another Nexus phone up its sleeve?

Another leak hit the Internet this weekend with pictures of a rumored Nexus phone from Sony. It’s called the Nexus X, and it looks a lot like Sony’s current line of Xperia Smartphones. Check out the first images below:

At the moment, nobody can decide if the rumored device is real. There are people in both camps pointing to reasons why it may or may not be fake. The biggest tip that this may be fake is that it doesn’t have the Xperia branding anywhere on the phone. Of course, the Xperia branding could be omitted in this case as the Google branding would take center stage.

Traditionally, Google has only released one Nexus smartphone at a time. Could this be the year that Google throws their full weight into the smartphone market with attractively priced Nexus smartphones built by the best and brightest manufacturers out there? I certainly would buy Sony hardware insured by Google. It would help us avoid Sony’s nasty habit of promising software updates and reneging on that promise at the last minute.

[h/t: Xperia blog]