LG and Google Announce the Nexus 4, Starts at $299
by Jason Inofuentes on October 29, 2012 12:39 PM ESTThis isn't how they wanted to do it, but LG and Google are going ahead with the announcement of the Nexus 4, and it's a steal. The lineage of the device is clear, with specs aping those of the LG Optimus G, but blessed with the latest update to Jelly Bean: Android 4.2. The Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro features four Krait cores clocked at 1.5GHz , the Adreno 320 GPU, and paired the requisite 2GB of RAM. The same 4.7" TrueHD IPS Plus display has a 1280x768 resolution, and the design is updated with a new back surface. Available in 8GB and 16GB configurations, the new Nexus will start at just $299, and top out at $349 unlocked and off-contract, through the Google Play Store on November 13th.
When Google's Galaxy Nexus was sold unlocked for $349 it was a stupendous bargain, despite somewhat dated hardware. With today's announcement, though, we have top of the line hardware being sold at prices that bend the price curve drastically against buying on-contract devices. We'll see how that all plays out over the coming months.
There's also some indication that announcements are imminent for the other devices that were in the works for today's canceled event, including the 32GB Nexus 7 and the new Nexus 10 slate from Samsung. We'll update as we hear more.
Update: And there it is! In addition to the Nexus 4, we'll also be seeing the Nexus stable expand with two new SKUs for the Nexus 7 and a brand new stablemate, the Nexus 10 from Samsung.
The first update to the Nexus 7 comes in a 32GB variant that takes the place of the original 16GB SKU at $249. The 16GB model now slots in at the $199 and both are joined by a new "mobile data" variant of the 32GB SKU that will be available unlocked for $299. The unlocked nature of the device indicates it may be 3G only, we'll dig in more in a second.
The Nexus 10 was first rumored just a few weeks ago, and piques our interest in a big way. Built in partnership with Samsung, the 10" tablet is powered by Samsung's Exynos 5 Dual (nee 5250) SoC, making it the first Android device powered by ARM Cortex-A15 cores. In this case, two Cortex-A15 cores, clocked as high as 1.7GHz, are mated to the Mali-T604 GPU and 2GB of RAM. On the front of the device you find a 2560x1600 10" display, making it the highest resolution Android tablet to date. The display is made possible by the Exynos memory subsystem that puts two-port DDR3-800 on the table for 12.8GB/s of bandwidth. The Nexus 10 will be priced at $399 (16GB) and $499 (32GB) and be available along with the rest of the line-up on November 13th on the Google Play Store. Interested shoppers can sign up for more information today through the store.
Source: Google
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Krysto - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Should be as easy to unlock as any other Nexus device, with one command:fastboot oem unlock
RollingCamel - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Hope so...Randomblame - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
want the new sdk api level so I can play with 4.2 :Puhuznaa - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
The prices are just insane. As soon as the Nexus 4 goes on sale it will just kill sales for all other high-end Android Smartphones (and probably others too) which cost almost twice as much. There's no way others can meet this while still making profits. The market is dead, Google killed it.As a strategy this is interesting, but Google right now is going around and nuking the competition (and even its partners) left and right. It's almost like some business partners having a meeting and one pulling out a gun and just killing everyone else to make a point. Violence certainly works, but has a habit to disrupt things in a big way.
pmartin - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
I doubt it will kill the competition. Us nerds will buy it but the masses will still go to Walmart, Target, Best Buy or their carriers store (where this phone will not be on display) and buy whatever's the hot phone of the moment. Unless Google does a major ad campaign for this phone Samsung, HTC and LG have nothing to fear from Nexus 4.Muyoso - Tuesday, October 30, 2012 - link
It won't be a smash hit in the US, but I think the rest of the world will go nuts for it. The rest of the world for the most part doesn't have LTE and is used to buying unsubsidized phones.uhuznaa - Tuesday, October 30, 2012 - link
Exactly. People are used to paying an arm and a leg for a decent smartphone and then pay just a handful of bucks for services every month. Cutting the upfront price in half leaves all other phones out in the cold. $560 for a SGS3 or $299 for a Nexus 4 won't leave many sales for Samsung, believe me.worldbfree4me - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
For Google, Nexus is a flagship brand that represents the best of Android, with Google leading by example to show other hardware manufacturers what Android can be. And though partners build the hardware, Google wants direct control of the software on Nexus devices with no carrier intervention. That alone means Google can't sell an LTE device, as there's simply no access to LTE networks without working with carriers in one way or another: Verizon and Sprint's LTE networks still require compatibility with their 3G CDMA systems, and there's essentially no such thing as an unlocked CDMA device. AT&T's fledgling LTE network runs on different frequencies than other LTE networks around the world, so Google would have to build a custom phone for just 77 markets in the US. Doing that without AT&T's financial assistance makes little sense.http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/29/3569688/why-nex...
NeonFlak - Tuesday, October 30, 2012 - link
Ahh, WTF?Naruto_Luffy - Tuesday, October 30, 2012 - link
Is there any downside to getting nexus4/10 from US/UK and using as it is in India. I mean, will there be any network compatibility issues or product warranty/support problem?