Nexus Rumour Round-Up

The Nexus program is Google's divine attempt to solve fragmentation. Google partners with manufacturers who come up with the phone which then gets the Nexus certificate. In other words, skin-free stock Android OS with faster updates and a longer update cycle.

HTC made the Nexus One which was followed by Samsung's Galaxy S and the Galaxy Nexus. Google is taking things differently this time... From what I gather there could be as many as 5 Nexus devices launching. Kudos for this approach. Competition within the Nexus program will improve things considerably and there'll also be the added benefit of increased publicity thanks to multiple partners all trying to promote their own device.

Without much further ado here's a round-up for what's in store this month:

LG
The star of the show is LG, thanks to the sheer quantity of leaks. It's almost as if they're trying to compete with Apple for the Leakiest OEM Award.
The device which is rumoured to hit shelves on October 29th has some pretty impressive internals. LG's new Nexus 4 (called the LG E960) has a quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 4.7-inch 1280 x 768 display. Disappointingly it's a remodeled LG Optimus G with a very cool looking back plate.

Frankly speaking I was quite surprised when I heard LG's name. Delicately put, they aren't the most successful Android OEM and their launcher is, indelicately put, terrible. But that doesn't matter here... The Nexus will have stock Jelly Bean so all that LG has to do is show up with a good phone and hit the right price point.

Samsung
They just need an excuse to make a phone. Being in charge of the last two rounds of Nexus' good old Sammy wants to make another phone.
Samsung's GT-I9260 aka Nexus Premier (yuck) is supposed to be the next hurrah. With a 4.65" AMOLED HD face and a body having a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 8-megapixel camera, 16GB of onboard storage with an expandable micro-SD card slot the device is more of a step up than a leap. Samsung has adequately addressed two of the Nexus' blaring issues - the camera and the screen.

Lets face it, Samsung doesn't care about the Nexus program, it makes devices because it can. The Galaxy Nexus got ZERO publicity. Hell, it wasn't even launched in more than like 10 countries. On the brighter side, the not-so-awesome internals of the Premier hint at a lower price-point. Hey, it's all about the money!

Sony
A while ago, Google and Sony were experimenting with the Xperia S to try to get it into the Nexus program. Unfortunately things didn't pan out for reasons unknown but what we can draw from this is that the two companies are interested in making a Google phone.
Sony has a good track record when it comes to making beautiful phones. Throw in stock Android and you get a killer device. I haven't heard much about it up until NTT DoCoMo accidentally leaked the name Xperia Nexus from their list of upcoming devices. Much like the LG phone the Sony Nexus is believed to sport a 4.7-inch HD IPS screen with a quad core LTE ready chipset on-board and 2GB of RAM.

This is one of the phones I'm really looking forward too. Sony have the resources to come up with an amazing phone should they take this project seriously. With 4 major OEMs breathing down their neck, I don't know why they wouldn't...

HTC
Another story of beautiful hardware meets beautiful software. Contrary to several public statements by HTC saying that they will be making no more than Sense Android devices HTC could be getting back in the game. HTC was responsible for making the first Nexus phone and one hopes that they continue.
If the device does exist HTC have done a great job in keeping it in the dark. The One X5 (the Nexus 5 for some) will feature a 1.4 GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor, 1.5GB of RAM, and a 12-megapixel rear camera. Some rumours also suggest that a 1080p 5-inch Nexus-powered phablet is in the works.

Phablet aside, I have great expectations from this device. Just hold a high-end HTC smartphone and you'll know why.

Motorola Mobility
The OEM no one really cares about. Ever since the multi-billion dollar acquisition of Motorola by Google, the phone maker has completely switched off. They put out some lackluster devices which I don't even feel like mentioning.
However, with Google now in charge of things, not launching a Nexus phone would be the dumbest idea. Keeping that in mind I've heard almost nothing concerning a Nexus RAZR. There are whispers of a device powered by a 720p 4.7″ Super Amoled HD screen with a Qualcomm quad core snapdragon LTE chipset and a 3,000 mAh battery.

Will a Nexus phone change the fortunes of Motorola? I highly doubt... And that is why this should be interesting.


There we go, 5 companies, 5 phones, 5 reasons to make small talk. High five to Google on their brilliant idea of coming up with multiple Nexus devices and this is a huge leap in that direction. Enough blogging, someone get one a sandwich and an ice cream.

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