Hasta La Gadget!

With more than a year having passed since the last time Google revealed a brand new Nexus smartphone – yes, it’s been that long – it would appear that the late-October tip appearing today for a Google-clean LG device could be very possible. It’s CNET that has a source speaking on how the end of October will be the time for LG to bring on the heat with their first-ever contribution to the Nexus lineup. This information comes immediately following a MoDaCo leak with essentially the same information plus specifications.

What’s able to be constructed from the various nameless sources on this subject thus far is that this is indeed an LG Nexus device, likely called “LG Nexus G” or very similar, and carrying with it a set of specifications that very closely resemble those of the LG Optimus G we’ll be seeing on several carriers in the USA soon. For those of you wondering what the LG Optimus G looks and feel like, have a peek at our LG Optimus G hands-on post for the full skivvy. As for the Nexus G, check this out:

• Android 4.2 *unknown dessert name*
• Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor
• 2GB RAM
• 1280×768 True-HD IPS screen
• No capacitive keys (all on-screen like the Galaxy Nexus)
• Non-removable battery (to retain overall device thinness)
• No microSD slot (like the Galaxy Nexus)
• 8GB or 16GB internal storage
• Wireless charging

We’re currently hearing two options for the release of this device, one of them being late October – that’s the newest rumor coming from CNET – and another in mid-November. These date tips are so close together that we’re going to go ahead and guess that one will be a reveal date and the other will be an actual release date. Now we’ve just got to see if anyone in the USA will carry it right off the bat.

If the carriers of the Optimus G are any indication, we can expect that the Nexus G will be coming to T-Mobile USA and Verizon (with 4G LTE, of course) inside a few weeks. Now we’ve just got to cross our fingers for a swift kick in the bootloader – let’s have it!

LG Nexus G tipped for late October reveal is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of September 24th, 2012

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile

Refresh Roundup: week of September 24th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 20:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It has been almost an entire year since the last Nexus smartphone from Google was released, that being the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Now that the Galaxy S III rumors have subsided, Nexus rumors have heated up again. Some are suggesting Sammy will be releasing a Galaxy Nexus 2, and today we have some leaked pictures that could at least make it a possibility.

Samsung uses model numbers rather than code-names for their smartphones and tablets. The original Galaxy Nexus was GT-i9250, while devices like the Galaxy S, SII, and SIII were i9000, i9100, and i9300 for the latest. Today we are seeing a new device that looks to be the successor to the Galaxy Nexus (GT-i9250) showing up on Picasa in the form of a few sample photos taken with the smartphone.

A device code-named the Samsung GT-i9260 has appeared in some photos EXIF data, making it right in line with previous update jumps to device names — and following its older brother. Recent rumors have suggested the Galaxy Nexus 2 would rock the same 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display, but get an increase in all other areas with an improved camera, bigger battery, double the RAM to 2GB, and of course a faster dual or quad-core processor.

The photos appearing today seemingly confirm some sort of new device that resembles the Galaxy Nexus, but whether or not it’ll be the two is really anyone’s guess. With Android 4.1 Jelly Bean being so new do we really expect the next iteration (dubbed Key Lime Pie) to be making an appearance on a brand new phone already? Previous releases like the Nexus One, Nexus S, and then the Galaxy Nexus points to yes — just look at the history below. Thoughts?

[via GSMArena]

Samsung Galaxy Nexus 2 camera samples leak is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Verizon has begun rolling out the Jelly Bean upgrade for its LTE Galaxy Nexus, finally bringing the Android smartphone up to date with the latest release. The update is detailed in a new document on Verizon’s support site [pdf link], SW Version JRO03O, and includes Google Now functionality as well as changes to the UI.

For instance, entries in the notifications drop-down are now more detailed, with previews of emails and text messages among other things. Voice Search has been bolstered with Knowledge Graph data, working alongside Google Now which prompts the user with information on travel, weather, and other news that it believes is pertinent.

Text-to-speech and keyboard auto-prediction have also been improved, and there’s offline voice dictation. Perhaps most importantly for day-to-day use is Project Butter, Google’s new UI engine for Jelly Bean, and which improves the fluidity of the interface during general navigation.

There are newly resizing widgets, photo and video sharing via Android Beam, and numerous other tweaks to improve the overall user experience. The document suggests more information will be available at this page, though it was not functional at time of writing.

[via IntoMobile]

Jelly Bean for Verizon’s Galaxy Nexus arrives is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

At the end of last year, we took an in-depth look at the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and less than a year later, we have what is probably the successor to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, known by its model number as the Samsung GT-i9260 thanks to details revealed in the User Agent Profile. Of course, we are not ruling out the possibility of the Samsung GT-i9260 ending up as the Galaxy Nexus 2, Galaxy Nexus Plus or perhaps with a totally different naming convention like the Galaxy Premier. Just what about the upcoming Galaxy Nexus sequel do we know in terms of hardware specifications?

For starters, we are looking at a resolution count of 1280 x 720 that is similar to the existing Google flagship, sporting an ARM processor with whispers of a 1.5GHz dual-core A9 CPU, and 2GB RAM amongst others. What do you think the successor to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be called, and are you willing to hold off any future smartphone purchases until you see what Google’s new flagship has to offer compared to the Galaxy S3 and the iPhone 5?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4G LTE receives AOSP Jelly Bean ROM , Galaxy Nexus to resume sales next week, updated to Android 4.1 to address issues in dispute, says report,