Google Nexus 4

The Google Nexus 4 is finally here. After many rumors, including some really well made hoaxes, Google has officially announced the release of the new Nexus 4 along with the new Nexus 10 tablet.  The Nexus 4 will be the newest flagship Google phone running pure Android 4.2 (aka no crappy skins). Google has decided to work with LG this time to manufacture the phone as opposed to Samsung, which will be an interesting change. The phone features a 4.7-inch 1280 x 768 IPS display, a 1.5 quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor (which Google claims is the fastest on the market as of this article), a 8 megapixel camera with a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera, and up to 16GB of built in storage. The 16GB of storage is a little disappointing as my Nexus S came with 16GB and Google still insists that they don't need a micro SD slot or expandable memory. LG has taken a page from apple, sorta, and has made the back out of glass, specifically Gorilla Glass 2 (lets hope Apple doesn't sue). The back does look quite magnificent though with the etched layered glass which looks quite sparkly.

OOOOOH Sparkly

Similarly to Apple's iPhone 5, this phone has also been leaked on the internet for quite some time so it's not a surprise to most people. I would expect better secrecy from Google but oh well. The phone is said to feel quite weighty and high end according to the Verge.

Apparently this was a 3D render

The device is set to retail for $309 CAD for the 8GB model and $359 for the 16GB model. The surprising part about this is that those are the prices for the unlocked phone, not on a contract. WOW right? Along with the larger screen, faster CPU, 2GB of RAM, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, NFC, Bluetooth, and last but not least, the most exciting accessory, the Wireless Charging Orb! The battery should last for a good 10 hours of talk time before it dies.

Sadly there isn't LTE on this phone which is a downer as a lot of its competitors have LTE. That's not necessarily a bad thing though as your friends will get faster speeds, but they will also reach their data cap faster. The Nexus 4 has a beautiful IPS screen giving you very crisp images and a high pixel density. This should be expected as it has the same amount of pixels from a 15 inch value laptop squished onto a 4.7 inch screen. The touch screen is made of Corning's Gorilla glass 2 protecting it from scratches and damages, they seemed to have ditched the contoured screen idea though, I kinda liked it. The Nexus 4 should also launch with Google's new Android 4.2 Jellybean with many improvements and new features.

The new killer features of Google's new OS which will be released for the Nexus 4 and 10 first then pushed to other Nexus devices, would be Photo Sphere which allows 360 degree spherical photos, kind of like street view. They have also added widget functionality to the lock screen meaning more information can be shown without unlocking your phone. The camera a has also been redesigned to optimize it for single hand usage. Along with other improvements, they have also significantly improved Google Now. Google has also introduced Gesture Typing to their keyboard which works the same way as Swype or SlideIt keyboard.

The Nexus 4 has been set to release on November 13th, stay tooned for a possible unboxing and review from [blank]'s Universe. Leave a comment below about what you think about the Nexus 4.

Check out the Verges early coverage of the Nexus 4 and 10

Martin Tam

Martin Tam is an editor and the Director of Video Production at [blank]’s Universe. He is also a technology enthusiast that particularly enjoys computers and photography. He enjoys breaking things and sleeping in his spare time.