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Google's next Nexus rumour round-up

Life's looking Good for LG's first Google-branded handset

Google's next Nexus rumour round-up
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While the launch of a new Google-branded Android device is probably never going to attract as much media attention as the launch of a new iPhone, that doesn't mean the next Nexus device won't sell like hot cakes on a chilly October morning.

I mean, Google's critically adored Asus-built Nexus 7 tablet is still dominating the 7-inch market, despite hot competition from the likes of Amazon's Kindle Fire HD.

Although the next Google Nexus handset hasn't been officially announced, tech sites and forums have been buzzing over the past week with news that Google has partnered with South Korean manufacturer LG to craft the Nexus 4.

According to numerous reports, LG's Nexus blower will hit the streets on October 29th - making it the perfect Halloween gift for 'droid-loving witches, warlocks, and, well, normal folk who keep the doors closed and the lights off until November 1st.

Optimus primed

In the same way that the Samsung-made Galaxy Nexus bears a strong resemblance to Sammy's own mega-selling Galaxy S II, the LG Nexus 4 is expected to be strongly inspired by LG's most recent handset, the quad-core Optimus G.

Now, LG might have fallen off the Android map a bit since launching the first dual-core handset (the Optimus 2X) and the glasses-free Optimus 3D in 2011, but the Optimus G is a sleek little number, whose classy looks and stunning screen have seen it earn strong reviews across the board.

The biggest criticisms levelled at the Optimus G centred on its rather bland re-skin of Android 4.0 (a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich), which lacks the refinement of competitors' custom UIs, such as HTC's lauded Sense 4.1 interface.

Fortunately, that won't be an issue with the Nexus 4, for it'll be running pure Google... and the very latest version at that. It's been strongly hinted, in fact, that LG's Nexus smartphone device will run Android 4.2 - a refined version of Jelly Bean - out of the box.

That means users will benefit from the smoothest incarnation yet of the ultra-fast "Project Butter" Android UI (running at a silky 60 frames per second) and from the personalised, almost psychic, new search system Google Now.

As for the actual design of LG's Nexus phone, well, that seems to be the one point the internet can't seem to agree on at the moment.

Different prototype images have been popping up, none of which looks definitive. In the most recent leaked image - published by a Belarusian site - however, the rumoured LG phone has a typically black design with the Optimus G's metallic edging.

Quad-u-like

While, of course, we won't know for certain the specs of the Nexus 4 until it's formally unveiled, we don't expect its innards to differ too much from the Optimus G's.

This means that LG's Nexus smartphone will probably pack a stonking 2GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel camera, and a choice between 8GB and 16GB of internal storage (although some sources reckon 32GB will be the standard).

The 1280x768 True HD IPS display could be the real star of the show here, mind. LG knows how to make quality screens, and the Optimus G's sharp image quality was one of the major pluses cited by reviewers.

A screen that good needs a processor that can really push those pixels, and the 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core chip (backed by a Adreno 320 GPU) presumably being lined up for the task is no slouch.

Bells and whistles

Of course, LG will want to establish its own identity somewhere on the Google-branded phone, and the Nexus 4's Near Field Communication support would mean LG could incorporate the company's Tag+ stickers into the device.

This is a rather neat feature that allows you to activate a series of customisable key settings with one press of an icon. For instance, you could dim your screen, switch to vibrate, and turn off music after ten minutes with a Sleep Mode Tag.

As per most Android devices, you'll also be able to beam your screen images to a compatible telly using Dual Screen Dual Play. Meanwhile, LG's unique QSlide Function allows you to run two tasks simultaneously next to one another - though burning through Asphalt 7 at the same time as writing a text isn't recommended.

Two things about the Nexus 4 are for certain: it's going to put LG back on the Android map, and give pure Google gamers - those who live in mortal fear of heavy-handed company re-skins - something new to play with this autumn.

Paul Devlin
Paul Devlin
A newspaper reporter turned games journo, Paul's first ever console was an original white Game Boy (still in working order, albeit with a yellowing tinge and 30 second battery life). Now he writes about Android with a style positively dripping in Honeycomb, stuffed with Gingerbread and coated with Froyo