It looks Android 4.2.2 is starting to roll out to Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 7 and the Nexus 10. The update was first reported to Reddit, and it seems that the update is all about “performance and stability” fixes.

What kind of performance updates? One user says that it improved his Bluetooth ability in his car, stating it had “much less hicups when streaming Rdio or Gmusic, but still not perfect”. This is good news though, as Bluetooth A2DP problems are a common issue for Android 4.2 users, so any improvement to this situation is welcome.

The update is moderately sized at a little over 46MB. So when is it coming to you? Hard to say. It will more than likely roll out in waves, and hopefully will make its way to the Nexus 4 soon as well.

If you have a Galaxy Nexus and don’t want to wait, there is an OTA Android 4.2.2 update file that can be manually downloaded instead.

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If you’re one of the many still waiting then Google’s Larry Page feels your pain and is making the Nexus supply problems a priority of the search giant’s.

At a recent earnings call, Page addressed the shortages of both the Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 tablet and promised that he plans to make the issue “an absolute priority”. Details on how Google plan to ease pressure from LG and Samsung to meet demand weren’t provided, and all parties are reluctant to give any indication of a time frame to the fix.

While overwhelming demand is what most companies strive for when launching a new product, the problems with Nexus device shortages has driven a number of possible Nexus owners to purchase alternative devices.

Are you waiting for a Nexus? Will you continue to wait or have you had enough?

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Last week we introduced to you the Ubuntu phone OS, and that has left us yearning for the ability to test drive it for ourselves.

The good news is that Alan Pope, engineering manager on the product, has now confirmed a version of the Ubuntu phone OS will be released for the Galaxy Nexus in late February for those brave enough to give it a go.

Hopefully with this limited release there will be enough hype created to force  at least a few app makers to consider crafting apps to the OS.  This will also give Canonical a chance to work out any early bugs in the OS.

It’s hard to know exactly what we will be in store for us with Ubuntu OS, but the possibilities for those wanting an easy-to-tinker open OS could be endless.  At any rate, having Linux distro in the palm of your hands is an exciting prospect and one that could open a lot of possibilities beyond the normal Android based handsets. Just don’t expect many (if hardly any) apps to work with your Ubuntu-running Galaxy Nexus when it first arrives.

As for commercial Ubuntu phone hardware? We are probably still looking at nearly a year before such hardware arrives.

Are you chomping at the bit to get your hands on the OS?

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November 13th saw the official release of the LG Nexus 4 and Samsung Nexus 10, at least for those lucky enough to actually order one before stock dried up. Within hours, almost every market was sold out of the Nexus 4 and Nexus 10, but the United States still managed to keep enough Nexus 10 16GB models in stock it seems. Until today, that is.

The 16GB version of the Samsung Nexus 10 is now “sold out” in the Play Store. At least it managed to last two days. You have to wonder why it lasted so much longer, though. Did Google incorrectly believe the 16GB Nexus 10 would outshine the 32GB model and prepare a lot more stock? Or simply was there limited interest in the smaller-sized option to begin with?

Although the recent Nexus launch has been a success when it comes to numbers, it has certainly been a bumpy ride with glitches and ordering issues for potential Nexus buyers and now the arrival of “back order” notices for many of the individuals that managed to “buy” the Nexus 4.

Were you able to get your hands on the Nexus 4 or the Nexus 10? If not, will you wait until they come back in stock or are you considering an alternative tablet or smartphone instead?

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Forget about ridiculously long lines outside Apple stores on a new iProduct’s release day, because the new Nexus range had sold out practically worldwide within an hour after the devices were available for purchase on the Play store website.

For those that didn’t get their hands on a new Nexus device and are not sure when they’ll next be in stock, Google hasn’t been too helpful here, and it seems they’re not quite certain themselves. A post on the new Nexus products page says:

There’s been so much interest for the Nexus lineup that we’ve sold out of some of our initial stock in a few countries! We are working hard to add more Nexus devices to Google Play in the coming weeks to keep up with the high demand. You can learn more about Nexus devices and stay updated at play.google.com/nexus. 

While this is pretty vague, it’s clear that the LG Nexus 4 is generating more demand than Google had previously anticipated. The good news is that they will be stocking up soon, and if we’re lucky, we will still be able to get a handset before the holidays arrive. For those in the U.S., T-Mobile does have the Nexus 4 available on contract for $199. They also sell it off-contract, but at a price that is nearly double what it costs from the Google Play store.

For other countries, all you can really do is wait. If you are really desperate and have extra cash to burn, you could always hit Ebay, where some sellers have posted the popular Google Nexus 4 up for ridiculously high prices. Shockingly, many people are buying the Nexus 4 even at prices that are double or triple their actual worth.

Were you lucky enough to get the LG Nexus 4 or Samsung Nexus 10 from the Google Play store?

The post LG Nexus 4 Stock Update: Maybe in a Few Weeks? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The LG Nexus 4 lands on the 13^th of November. For those that prefer to avoid contracts or simply wish to go down the prepaid route, the LG Nexus 4 represents a powerful, vanilla Android experience that is extremely tempting. If you are a developer who wants an unlocked and incredible Android experience without the hassle, this Nexus smartphone certainly could fit the bill.

That being said, you’ve probably heard about a few “negative” aspects for the Nexus 4 as well, such as the lack of LTE– which primarily only affects select U.S. Markets but is largely a non-issue for the vast majority of the globe– for now.

So is the Nexus 4 what it is cracked up to be? While we’ve yet to get our hands on the Nexus 4 directly at Mobile Magazine yet, we have done quite a bit of research, read several reviews and other first impressions in order to bring you a run down of the hardware and other factors like battery.

Overall Design

The LG Nexus 4 is essentially a rebranded LG Optimus G with a few tweaks, such as the removal of LTE support. While not be considered a “gorgeous” device, it isn’t ugly either. It has an all-black chassis that might be a little boring for some consumers.

It is also worth noting that the device’s frame is plastic, though the screen does feature Corning Glass 2 so it isn’t a ‘cheap’ build design by any means.

The design probably won’t WOW everyone around you, but that doesn’t detract from the many other WOW factors that surround its low pricing and powerful hardware.

As for size, the phone measures 133.9x7x9.1mm and weighs just 139 grams. This might not be as light as the iPhone 5′s 122 gram weight– but it isn’t a massive difference either.

The Actual Hardware

Alright, let’s start with a spec list that gives us a run down of the hardware inside this beast of a Nexus:

• 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor
• 2GB of RAM
• 8 or 16GB internal storage4.7-inch-inch IPS display with 1280 x 768 resolution
• no microSD support
• 8-megapixel camera
• 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera
• Quad-band GSM/EDGE/GPRS (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
• Penta-band 3G (850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100 MHz)
• HSPA+ 42Mbps support
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• 2100mAh Litium polymer battery
• Sensors: compass, gyroscope, microphone, ambient light, barometer, accelerometer
• Bluetooth
• NFC
• GPS
• Micro USB
• SlimPort HDMI
• Weight: 139g
• Size: 133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1mm
• wireless charging (optional)
• Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

With a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro, and Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB of RAM— the Nexus 4 is no slouch. But how well does it actually perform when it comes to real world results?

As you can see from GeekBench, the LG Nexus 4 actually does quite well for itself, outpacing other major devices like the Galaxy S3 and the iPhone 5. For some reason it even manages to out perform the LG Optimus G that it is based on — probably because it is a vanilla experience without out all the extra ‘fluff’ to weight it down?

It is worth noting that the LG Nexus 4 is said to get rather hot during extreme use sessions. Bottom-line, you will be hard-pressed to find another smartphone that performs much better. Of course the smartphone world is constantly changing and it won’t be long before something better comes along, but the quad-core power in the LG Nexus 4 isn’t going to disappoint and should happily chug along with any app out there into the foreseeable future.

The Display

So how good is the LG Nexus 4′s display? A 1280 x 768 IPS display with 320 ppi is a slightly less in pixels than the iPhone 5, though it probably would be almost impossible to notice the difference for the average person. The screen is easy to read and is one of the best display around.

The Camera

The Nexus 4 features a 8MP back cam and 1.3MP front cam. Are they the best smartphone cameras around? Probably not, but the 8MP back cam seems more than good enough for taking clear and vibrant pictures and new features like “Photo Sphere” and new photo filters in Android 4.2 can take your camera experience to the next level.

Battery Performance

The LG Nexus 4 should handle moderate usage quite well and will last about a day and a half, according to most of the reviews showing up on the net. As for high usage? If you are pounding the device hard with things like videos, expect about 4 ½ hours of battery life.

Other Notable Stuff

The LG Nexus 4 not only comes with the newest version of Android, Jelly Bean 4.2, but being a Nexus device means it will get first dibs on upgrades and other improvements for quite a while to come.

Yes, there is no LTE, but this really isn’t as big of an issue as many folks are making it out to be. If you live in an LTE market— it might be a dealbreaker. The fact is that globally, that’s a pretty small amount of folks. If you want a phone with LTE and don’t mind a locked experience, perhaps you should look for the LG Optimus G or maybe even go for something entirely different like the upcoming HTC Droid DNA 5-inch 1080p smartphone.

Also worth mentioning, the Nexus 4 has a few “negative” aspects such as a non-removable battery, the aforementioned lack of LTE and the lack of a micro-SD port.

Bottom Line

For $299 unlocked for an 8GB version, the LG Nexus 4 is a steal. Is it perfect? No.. LTE would have been nice. Having a microSD port and a removable battery would have been epic as well.

There are some trade-offs, here– that much is true. In many ways, the “openness” we love about Android is stifled a little by the lack of these features but from a developer/modder point of view, the ability to load ROMs and other customizations with ease makes up for some of this. If you can’t live without LTE, microSD and don’t want a non-removable battery— there are other phones out there that might appeal to you more. If you want a solid vanilla Android experience that is blazing fast (with the exception of mobile broadband speed), this is an excellent phone. Aside from the few missing features, this is a wonderful device.

So what do you think? Interested in getting the LG Nexus 4 or is there another phone that looks like a better fit for you?

Looking for even more great information on the Nexus 4? Here are just a few of the great Nexus 4 hands-on reviews out there on the net:

ArsTechia | UberGizmo | Engadget

The post With the LG Nexus 4 Hitting in Two Days, is it the Right Smartphone for You? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The Nexus 10 was originally announced to only sport 16GB and 32GB storage sizes with no way to expand beyond that. While this might be good enough for some consumers, what if you want and need more? The good news is that your wish might be coming true. Apparently a Korean press release on Samsung’s website also mentioned a 64GB version of the new Samsung Nexus 10. Since then, the image showing the 64GB model has been edited to remove its mention.

This means one of two things. The first possibility is that this was totally a mistake and no 64GB version exists. The second option is that a 64GB model does in fact exist but for whatever reason Google is holding off its announcement and Samsung accidentally let the cat out of the bag.

It is really hard to guess which of these scenarios will prove true. That being said, having a 64GB offering might round out the Nexus 10′s options and help it compete with the iPad on nearly every level. If this is true all we need now is a 3G/4G version of the Nexus 10 as well.

What do you think, would you buy a 64GB Nexus 10 if this proves to be true?

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For a long time now, we’ve been talking about the possibility of LG making a new Nexus device. With tons of leaked photos and other information, there was no denying it. We all expected to hear official word of the new smartphone today– until we found out that Hurricane Sandy resulted in Google canceling the event. Good news, Google decided not to let this get in the way and unveiled the Nexus 4 through their blog instead.

The Nexus 4 is basically everything we thought it would be. It runs on Android 4.2 and includes no 4G LTE. The specs are still pretty impressive– if you can live without ultra-fast mobile broadband — with its 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro and 2GB of RAM. Other features include 8 or 16GB storage options, 8MP rear cam, 1.3MP front cam, a 2100 mAh Li-Polymer battery, NFC and wireless charging support.

Probably the biggest appeal with the new smartphone is its extremely budget-friendly pricing. The LG Nexus 4 is just $299 for an 8GB model and $349 for a 16GB model, that’s unlocked and off-contract starting on November 13th. If you really want it cheaper, T-Mobile will also carry the LG Nexus 4 for $199 on-contract.

What do you think of Google and LG’s new Nexus 4? Excited or not?

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The post LG Nexus 4 officially announced appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Looking forward to the LG Nexus 4? The truth is we actually know quite a bit about the phone, especially considering Google has yet to confirm its existence. Now it seems that the UK phone retailer Carphone Warehouse has put up an official-looking pre-oder page for the device.

The page mentions things we already know such as it having a 4.7-inch 1280 x 768 display, NFC, quad-core Snapdragon S4, an 8MP camera and Android 4.2. There is also 8GB of onboard storage inside the device.

Carphone offered both contracts through Vodafone or O2. There was also another leaked image suggesting that the SIM-free version of the Nexus 4 would price at £389.95. If you are interested in heading over there and taking a look for yourself, sorry. The page is already offline. More than likely, it wasn’t meant to go up yet and someone caught the error and ripped it back down. It’s also possible that Google or LG got word of the mess up and pulled the plug.

So, anyone interested in the upcoming LG Nexus 4 or not?

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The post Carphone Warehouse Puts Up LG Nexus 4 Preorder Page Early appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The LG Nexus rumor is one that seemingly won’t go away. Does that mean it is true? Probably, but there are no guarantees until we have LG and Google confirmation. Today’s LG Nexus gossip has to do with leaked photos of the alleged device.

Most of LG’s hardware tend to favor a blocky design, but- if these photos are legit – we are finally getting something different this time around. These photos show a backing that has a crystalized look. A version with a Nexus logo on the back and a slightly different material backing is also said to exist.

LG isn’t a bad mobile device maker, but their designs generally aren’t that inspiring, either. The LG Nexus could finally be a step in the right direction, sporting a refreshing look and a powerful quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset (so says the rumors).

If you are used to the old rules of the Nexus program, you might be a little confused by now. There have been rumors of this LG Nexus and even an HTC Nexus rumor, what gives? Apparently, Google is opening up the Nexus line to cover a wider range of Android smartphones and even tablets. Keep in mind this is all based on rumor and speculation, Google hasn’t officially said anything about the future of the Nexus smartphone line.

Which these smartphones sounds more up your alley? The new LG Nexus or the rumored 5-inch HTC Nexus device? If neither seem to fit what you are looking for, don’t worry. If the opening up of the Nexus line proves true, there could very well be new Nexus models from Motorola and Samsung in the near future as well.

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