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We’ve reached the wee night hours here at Phandroid, and what better time than right now to fill you guys in on some juicy Android rumors before you hit the sack. Turns out our friends at Android and Me have been hearing rumblings from a few inside sources that the next Google Nexus device could be the spec’d out beast re-announced just last night — the LG Optimus G. Just imagine it: the LG Optimus Nexus with a quad-core Qualcomm S4 processor, industry leading 720p True HD IPS Plus display, 2GB of multitasking RAM, 32GB of spacious internal storage, 13MP camera, NFC, LTE, and if this rumor comes to pass — stock Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. You hear that? That’s the sound of Android fanboys around the world collectively wetting themselves (don’t worry, me too).
Admittedly, there isn’t much info to go on and this is nothing more than a good old fashioned industry rumor. But let’s not forget a leak not too long ago possibly revealing Samsung, LG and Sony’s intentions on releasing their own Nexus devices due out by this Thanksgiving. Just take one more look at the above image and tell me that doesn’t bring a tear to your eye?
I’ll only consider it if the camera is one the best on the market. Wasn’t impressed with the last Nexus camera.
buy a leica!!!!!!! I would buy this LG phone in a heartbeat as long as I dont have to use vzw….vzw + nexus = horrifying experience
I already have a good dslr and compact. I just don’t always have them with me.
Sony made that so you can trust because they make apple’s and Samsung’s sensors! The iPhone and S3
LG was touting their camera tech in the Optimus G as one of the best in the biz, so it definitely wouldn’t be lacking in that department.
I actually want to see the back of the phone in action. Supposedly it offers the shiny to the extreme.
Interesting..would love to see that as one of the nexus phones..
Yes please. I want this thing sold through the Play Store and usable on Verizon’s LTE network…totally separate from Verizon’s OTA testing process!!! If not, then I’m switching to T-Mobile.
I have been thinking the same thing.
Why stop there, take the screen all the way to the four sides of the phone!
Yea yeah functional bezels and all that but it would be nice to finally have nothing but display on the front face of a phone.
I wish people would stop with the “No Bezel” comments. Try using a galaxy S3 and tell me you have not hit one of the buttons on accident. Imagine that with the screen. Watching video would be a total nightmare. You would keep pulling up the Video menu bars, maybe even the android menu bars, FF or RW or Pausing video, maybe even travelling to the Home screen a few times. You can take it, but I would rather have something better.
I have a GS3 and yes, I have hit the buttons on accident when holding it horizontally. Even on my Galaxy Nexus I’ve had accidental presses. Again, I understand bezels serve a particular function over pure aesthetics such as in the case you’ve stated.
But given I’m asking for a minimized bezel (not necessarily no bezel), it may not be much of a nightmare. It is certainly not a nightmare watching videos on my GS3 despite the capacitive buttons proximity to the edge of the device. Regardless, it’s a fantasy of design and I’m not proclaiming to have more knowledge on form functions over the experienced design teams from these OEMs.
The Motorola Razr i has the smallest bezels I know of at 3.7 mm (computed via a 4.3″ 16×9 display with a phone width of 60.9 mm). iPhones have been at 4.4 mm for a while now which is not bad either. Of course 0 mm isn’t going to happen since there has to be an edge, and preferably a slightly rounded edge, but I’ll take even smaller – perhaps 3 mm if this is doable. Anybody who wants to go back to 5 (Galaxy SIII) or 7 mm like a typical phone can add a case. It is also possible to add a feature to the OS where button presses on the outside X pixels are ignored where X is configurable by the user. If new phones with 2-3 mm bezels are such a problem, Google will do this (or a ROM producer will).
As much as I’d love small bezels on the top and sides, it’s easier said than done. Do you think if it were easy that manufacturers would still be holding out? It really just comes down to putting the thing together from a manufacturing stand point.
I’d rather have it not break when I drop it than have the screen go all the way to the corners.
it does have 768p screen so it’s not 16:9 form factor (720p) and thus is even bigger than already uncomfortable Galaxy SIII. IPS screens are also battery hogs compared to AMOLEDs with subpar image quality no matter the matrix.
other than that, hardware is not everything when there’s no software support (ICS only) – thanks God for Cyanogenmod
I don’t find the gs3 to be uncomfortable at all. And I own the slightly smaller evo lte.
S3 not uncomfortable at all, but i can imagine it’s hard to handle if you only hold on tiny things in your life ;)
I wish i skipped the S3 for the bigger note!
Well, if this is true. I hope it comes with a microSD slot. ^_^
“Hope is the denial of reality” has never been truer…
Google has stated repeatedly that no Nexus devices will have a MicroSD slot.
Why?
Most likely for you to adopt their services. They want you to incorporate google services into your lifestyle. i.e. cloud services such as drive and other things. It isn’t the goal to hurt the consumer, but what they are showing is we want you to move to the next thing cloud services. I know people including me like an external card so we can swap when needed since service isn’t always available. However, google is trying to get you to use their services.
Well, what they end up doing is remove one of the key features of Android versus the iPhone so I think it’s pretty stupid.
Another thing is that if you already bought an expensive 64 gig SD for your old phone, it’s now pretty useless.
According to them? Cloud.
Everything Google does is cloud-oriented….right down to their OSes.
I want cloud and local. One supplements the other. For example, look how they made voice recognition in JB. It does most of it locally so you can use it on an airplane but only uses the cloud when it gets stuck.
And Google is on the wrong side of this argument, and will continue to be so. I realize their issue is that if consumers use low-end SD cards, it slows down the phone and gives a bad impression of the OS. But high-end cards don’t have that problem, and if it was instead mandated that a phone with an SD card slot came with at least an 8 GB high end SD, you wouldn’t have the slow down frustrations.
In any event, Nexus is supposed to be the reference testbed, and lots of manufacturers still use SD; how can you test how Android is working with SD after a bunch of changes to the code if your reference device doesn’t have SD?
Google may be wrong in your opinion, which is fine, but I’m not sure where you heard about it being due to low-end SD cards…my guess is that it has much more to do with the fact that they are….Google; a cloud-services, internet-based company.
…and that last bit makes no sense, logically. There are a *lot* of things _not_ included in the nexus devices that OEM manufacturers put in after-the-fact. The reference design is simply that, a reference-point, not a “this is all we support in our code”.
Hey, I hate it too. I’d have loved it if Samsung had come out with a Galaxy Prime (completely the same as the Nexus, and thus AOSP supported, but with the MicroSD slot.). I’d love to see LG or Sony or whoever do that when *they* get a Nexus….
My initial response was simply to point out the futility of expecting Google to support it. By now we should all know better…like it or not.
Humn… I usually am of the mind that no MicroSD = no sale… But if Google makes this phone storage space 32GB / 64GB / 128GB as base.. And they don’t sell 8 GB / 16GB storage space version… I will be tempted to make 32GB work… For me 32GB = base model on a device without a MicroSD card… Decisions, decisions… Nov. huh….
Right, if they can’t offer SD then at least offer 64 gig versions like Apple. It’s not like the days before Play when people didn’t buy any music and only played simple 2D puzzle games.
Source?
I don’t remember Google ever saying that (but I could be wrong).
In fact a Google engineer on reddit seemed to imply they would like to add one if they could find a way to do it without complicating the UI, but that was a little while back.
Source:
“We got tired of seeing OEMs include many GB of internal storage for music, while users were still running out of space for apps and data. This approach lets us merge everything on one volume, which is way better.
— Dan Morrill, Android engineer at Google”
That is from the same reddit thread I was referencing. He later went on to say:
“There’s no particular hardware reason a device can’t have both. The problem is that there is no good UI for it.
One of the core Android principles is that you never need a file manager. Ever. We wanted to avoid the obnoxious “sneeze and a file picker appears” syndrome of basically every other OS. Local data that apps know how to handle should just be magically available within the apps, or stored in the cloud. You shouldn’t have to go spelunking on your SD card to find data.
The problem with having both internal storage and SD cards is that suddenly that goal gets a whole lot harder to achieve. For a given shot, should the camera save to internal-16GB, or to SD card? Should an app from Market be installed to internal or SD? etc.
Yes, we can solve this by letting the user choose, or have it be in settings. But then, that’s a file picker, or close enough to the file picker experience that we dislike it just as much.
And besides that, there are API consequences: if you stick in an SD card with photos on it, do you add those to the system media content provider? If you do, you will screw up apps because they aren’t designed with the concept that photos can come and go.
What we will probably do eventually is add an import/export concept to removable storage. So the Camera will always save to internal-16GB, and when you pop in an SD card (or insert a thumb drive on USB host devices) you can start a migration or import/export dialog.
But until we have that, devices will generally either have an SD card, or a large internal storage, but not both. I totally get that a lot of people like SD cards, and I miss USB Mass Storage myself. But then, that’s why it’s great that there are so many devices to choose from. :)
tl;dr: it’s a can of worms. We’re thinking about compromises for future versions.”
I definitely do not get from this that no Nexus device will ever have a microSD slot.
“I definitely do get from this that no Nexus device will ever have a microSD slot.”
I believe you may be missing a word there, otherwise, we might just be in agreement. :-P
Hehe, thanks, I have fixed that sentance :)
“I definitely do NOT get from this that no Nexus device will ever have a microSD slot.”
Wait!! The Nexus 1 had a Micro SD card slot. So is this newer devices? Oh no…
No it didn’t
Yes it did.
I have yet to hear nexus users scream “oh god I ran out of storage now what”.
Stop being digital hoarders people. You need an intervention. :b
It’s useful for music, especially when you don’t have an unlimited plan (most don’t) or if you work in a building where all the major carriers have crap to nil signal.
I’ve heard plenty of them.When you have a 200 mb data plan you need all the storage you can get.
And you need to take more HD videos on your phone. :)
It’s easy to do more when you have more.
I hope it doesn’t.
Why would the next Nexus have Jelly Been and not Android 4.2/5.0, Google updates the OS twice a year afterall. LG hardware + latest stock Android OS = success for sure tho’, hopefully with a 5inch screen and software keys instead of a 4.7inch screen and capacitive keys tho’.
Well, they kinda through everyone a loop at I/O when they simultaneously announced, and released Jelly Bean. The year before, they only announced the name of the next OS (Ice Cream Sandwich) and didn’t really go into much detail about it.
In addition, they spoke several times over the last 15 months or so about going to a single annual release. It’s possible we won’t get another name worthy release until June ’13.
I would actually be in full support of that… give OEMs time to catch up.
They released Honeycomb that year.
i dont know… sure lg is great spec wise, but as far as pysical design goes, theyre horrible. when was the last time lg made an android phone we where truly excited about? the last decent phone lg made was the chocolate, and that was in 2005.
Kinda agree with you.. chocolate created a lot of buzz here in my location.. Optimus G looks promising
I still remember the G2x. That phone was a nightmare.
I had the chocolate back in the day. It was obnoxious that it had some proprietary headphone jack though.
LG had 1st dual core phone
That sounds extremely intriguing, Hopefully those are not just rumors.
Missing two things. MicroSD slot and removable battery.
any device without those two things is a non starter for me. Why is Samsung the only company paying any attention to what consumers want? Everyone else seems hellbent on copying iphone’s worst features. Does apple have any patents on these anti-consumer design features they could start enforcing? Please?
Google gave their reasons as to why they choose not to include an SD slot. Yeah it sucks, but it’s not just for shits.
google’s stated reasons don’t match up with the great performance Samsung is getting from their devices that have microsd. I suspect the real reason has more to do with cost, which is fine. But let’s face it, Optimus G is nothing like the current low cost Nexus. This is a high end device and it needs to be full featured to succeed in that niche. Building a powerful device and omitting the features power users demand is a recipe for failure. Just ask HTC how their sales have been this year compared to GS3.
I think most people can live without the sd card slot. Admittedly it is one of the things about my Gnex that bothers me, but it doesn’t make the phone unusable. What is truly annoying is the lack of a removable battery, that automatically means you’re stuck with the battery life they give you period. Only the iphone is big enough to get battery cases, even the razr couldn’t manage to get any, and after a yr of charging 1-2 times a day, that battery will be hitting 70-80% capacity, so be dying even faster. Built in batteries are just not a good idea. Thin phones with removable batteries and full body backplates so that the phone doesn’t get an awkward hump from an extended battery are the way to go and the GS3 grasped that concept.
Doesn’t need them
But, I still want more battery bigger capacity … 3000 mAH or so …
Why? The iPhone 5 has 8 hours of LTE battery life with 1400 mAh. There is no reason why these phones need such huge batteries.
Well, let see why….for starters, the iPhone 5lop has a 4″ non-720p screen and no widgets, those two features alone would conserve battery life on any smartphone. Android phone manufacturers need to raise the mAh on batteries like the RZR MAX so those features are not messed with…IMO.
Not necessary anymore. With chipsets moving to a process of 28 nanometers and below, the heat generation and power consumption characteristics are highly minimized, and a 2000 mAH battery will perform as well as a 3000+.
No microSD slot is useless to me. I sincerely hope that this Nexus device comes with one.
Never going to happen. Google has stated this repeatedly.
If this is true, then 2012-2013 might be LG’s year after all. Especially if LG learns how proper updating works.
OK that’s enough ranting about updates (for me), but spank me silly if I’m wrong, LG needs to learn what updating means.
This phone is very unlikely. The cost would be at least $500+ unlocked and that would not fit into the scheme of the Nexus program of having competitive pricing.
With carrier subsidies it will be very competitively priced, $199.99 on Sprint and T-Mobile and $249.99 on Big Red and Ma Bell, competitive enough for me anyway.
Google would want to sell this unlocked and not tie it down to a carrier. Remember what Verizon did to the Galaxy Nexus? They ruined it. The whole point of the Nexus program is to give people a pure Android experience. A carrier would load it up with their own bloatware and ultimately turn it into what they want. Also, a carrier will not update the Android as fast as Google will.
My friend has the Galaxy Nexus on T-mobile and got it through t-mobile, all of his updates have been on time, so I don’t think that applies for all carriers what Verizon did with ruining the Nexus, they are just a bunch of greedy Dickson, I haven’t heard about anyone with problems with Sprints Nexus either.
i have the Galaxy Nexus on T-Mobile, i bought it through the google play store… you cannot buy the galaxy nexus through t-mobile.
Yeah your friend has the unlocked version. And Sprint Nexus just got the Jelly Bean update. The unlocked version got it a few months ago before. Carriers delay the update.
Yeah your friend has the unlocked version and got it through Google Play store like JRomeo said. And the Sprint Galaxy Nexus just got the Jelly Bean update. The unlocked version got it a few months ago before. Carriers delay the update.
This was only true of the Nexus 7, the Nexus phones have always been targeted at the high end.
Competitive in terms of bringing the cost down to around $400-450. I was never looking for a $199 Nexus. Look at the Galaxy Nexus for example, a new high end phone for around $400 is a great price.
Please, please, please…removable battery. I also love my SD card. Thank you!
Sincerely,
ROM flashing Android power user
Optimus G looks great with stock Android!
I would love to see LG to make the next Nexus. It’s funny to think LG has been on the DL for a while and now they came out with a beast phone :D Good for you LG!! Keep making some amazing phone.
id jump ship on my ngex so fast….
I hope this is true. I’ve been hoping that Google would spread the Nexus love past simply Samsung whom already has the wildly popular Galaxy S series. It’s someone else’s turn.. :)
If this Device become NEXUS FAMILY… I really want it …
It looks so nice with a stock face.
Hi… your link to Android and Me is FAIL… Please check it….
Here is the detail Error of the URL
Link has been fixed.
i would buy the hell out of this. :)
Damn! What will I do if Sony and Motorola also come out with a nexus phone?
hmmm…..I love the specs. The above picture looks very iPhoney though!
The only nexus I would not be buying, I hate lg products
This could possible retire my One X if it the Nexus
hopefully with on screen buttons too. DOOOOOO IT!
Give me a Motorola RAZR HD Nexus Maxx!
With Quad Core…
Only spec I don’t like is the LCD screen. I love the blacks on amoled
Hmmm looks like a iphone a rectangle with rounded corners lol
only problem with google in case of nexus is that they dont advertise it around the world like oems do for their respective flagship like s3 ,optimus and all……i really feel that google shud take control and make ppl believe how cool nexus range is ….i am from india and i have to get nexus thru ebay and that too w/o warranty(FYI i dont care bout warranty but others do)….
S3 is d hottest gadget around here but no nexus….thats bad i mean real bad
Yeah, google is very bad at marketing and distribution.
I still don’t see anything out there that makes me want to upgrade from my Galaxy Nexus. The next nexus needs better battery life and a slightly better camera. And there is no chance a new Nexus Phone is coming out before another OS update.
LG, but not LG software….hmmm
The only way I’ll buy an LG is if it’s a Nexus!
my wet dream O.O
I would almost give up the galaxy note 2 for this…… Almost
Built in battery in a nexus? Not to mention lcd not at 16:9 aspect ratio? I can handle the lcd, but not fitting the standard aspect ratio really will be bad for media. Even apple has figured out 16:9 is desirable, and google has known for a long time now. Hopefully if an LG nexus does come out, it can be the optimus g with one of samsung’s super amoled hd displays like what motorola is using, and a full body removable backplate.
Nahhh I dont believe it for a sec. TOo high specs for a NExus
don’t ever buy a LG phone, the tmobile g2x was the biggest pile of crap I have ever used….!
The Samsung Behold II was the biggest pile I’ve ever used.. O_o
I guess what was so personally frustrating about the g2x was it had all the right sounding features
stock android check
dual core check
very unstable phone!
LG has great hardware, their problem has always been terrible software. Stock android would remove that bugaboo.
That’s what they said about the G2x. See how well that turned out.
I hope Google comes to their senses about sd card slots and removable batteries cause I’d love to get one of the new Nexi.
I read its battery is non-removable. If so, it’s just a useless toy to me.
Why would it have Jelly Bean? Google is supposed to release a new version of Android.
Any chance the next Nexus will come out of the Play Store for only $400? O.O
Better yet, as a global device? (HSPA+, LTE, CDMA, GSM)
Hmm hard choice! Optimus Nexus or Nexus HD MAXX…. Decision… Decisions…
Don’t be playing with my emotions, Smokey.
Well, if this is the next nexus, its my next phone
Remember the Nexus Prime lol now the Optimus Nexus… someone in the rumor dept likes Transformer Brand. CAnt wait for Bumblebee Nexus
LG plus nexus fixes the update thing so hell yes
if it doesnt have softkeys im passing
Its gorgeous, but I haven’t forgotten about the G2X. I owned one of them. It was awful.
LG never again
Nexus devices never have any prominent branding on the face right ? I hope it doesn’t come like this snapshot :S
What dreams are made of? More like nightmares! Anyone who buys an LG product after the disaster that was the G2x should have his/her head examined.
i
dont have much faith in lg. look at verizon intuition, what are they
thinking?? and the stylus looks like 1 dollar from ebay. stylus with
big head! those garbage captivate stylus
i hope this is true :D