Google‘s issue with Nexus 4 stock has been well documented, and if you’re one of the many who have been waiting to get one, then you know how infuriating these stock shortages can be. There’s a bit of good news on that front coming out of LG today, with the company’s French arm stating that it will begin to ramp up production on the highly sought after device. While you may think that these shortages rest on LG‘s shoulders, that isn’t entirely the case, with LG France director of mobile communications Cathy Robin telling Challenges that Google is partly responsible for the exhausted stock as well.
According to her, LG produced an amount of Nexus 4s that were in line with Google’s projections. Google obviously based these projections on the sales of previous Nexus devices, but there was just one small flaw with that plan: previous Nexus devices never managed to hit the level of popularity the Nexus 4 has. So, the end result is that we’re stuck with a constantly sold out handset that neither Google nor LG thought would be such a smashing success.
Hindsight, as they say, is always 20/20, with the Nexus 4′s line up of solid hardware and excellent price tag coming together to form a deal that many Android users are finding difficult to resist. At the moment, both the 8GB and 16GB Nexus 4 variants are entirely sold out on the Google Play Store, and there isn’t any indication of when they’ll become available again. Instead, the listings for both only tell users to “check back soon.”
Hopefully LG can increase demand to the point where the Nexus 4′s stock issues are squashed entirely. Robin said in the interview that if LG were to increase production, it would take about six weeks before the frequency of deliveries is given a boost, so there’s still awhile to wait before these short supply problems are addressed. Stay tuned, because we’ll hopefully have more details for you soon.
This week it’s being made official: every different kind of Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be at or upgraded to Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean+ except for the version with Verizon 4G LTE. The international edition “GT-i9250 “Maguro” was first to be upgraded, not long after the Google Nexus 4 was revealed, while the newest and last version to be upgraded is model SPH-L700 “Toro Plus”. This last iteration is the one unit to be released without a SIM card slot and connectivity with 4G LTE in the 1900 MHz band (Band 25).
What users who have this version of the device will be allowed to do very soon is get the update in an over-the-air update which will appear in the device’s pull-down notifications menu. If you’ve got this device in your hand and want to update it right this minute, you’ve got a couple other options, the first of them being heading over to this XDA Developers Forum thread where you’ll find the download link via Google. This download link is a ZIP file while you’ll have to load yourself – and it’ll be helpful if your device is rooted and all that good stuff, too.
If you’ve never before “Flashed a ROM” and/or have no idea what that term means, you’ll be better off waiting for the OTA update sent directly to you automatically. You can expect that to be appearing within the next week from your carrier. For everyone who is more than comfortable with upgrading their device via hacking, the file in the previous article is very, very easy to load – you’ve also got the option to work with NIGHTLY builds of CyanogenMod 10. Verizon’s “Toro” also has a CM10 build out there that’s stable – better than nightly, even!
Those of you looking to figure out what the big deal is with this newest iteration of Android, head down to our guide entitled What’s New in Android 4.2 Jelly Bean? There you’ll find Keyboard Gestures, Photo Sphere, User Logins, Wireless Display capabilities (not yet active, but in there somewhere), Notifications menu upgrades, Google Now upgrades, and a big ol’ batch of bug fixes. You can also see our review of the LG Google Nexus 4 as well as the T-Mobile Nexus 4 (also by LG, of course) to see more about the software you’re about to load to your Galaxy Nexus. Good times are on the way!
If there’s one element in the news universe here that tells us Google is doing things right, it’s the constant talk and response to a new Nexus smartphone – even when the current model is doing exceedingly well on the market. Here in first quarter of 2013 heading into Spring (or maybe that’s just wishful thinking), we’ve got rumors galore of a Nexus 5 being worked on for release at Mobile World Congress 2013 from LG, none other than the manufacturers of the Nexus 4. Today they’ve confirmed that no, that doesn’t make any sense, and that yes, they’re still making massive amounts of the current Google hero Nexus 4 for the time being.
The word was that even thought the Google Nexus 4, manufactured by LG, was doing much better on the market than anyone had guessed, that they’d be creating a Nexus 5 with ever-so-slightly improved specifications all around plus a modified body with no sparkly back panel. One rumor suggested that a brand new Nexus 5 would be shown off a MWC 2013 (which we’ll be at with bells on one way or another), while another rumor with a bit more realistic an outlook suggested they’d show a new Nexus at Google I/O 2013 later this Summer.
“Our domestic Pyeongtaek manufacturing plant has been producing the Nexus 4 without a hitch. There is no problem in supplying. [Nexus 5 rumors] are unfounded. The Nexus 4 by LG is significant in that it’s becoming more successful than the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and [Mobile World Congress 2013 products] have not been finalized.” – LG Electronics Official (roughly translated)
LG today has spoken to the publication known as Chosun Biz, confirming that they’re still very much invested in the Nexus 4 in its current state, projecting production well into the future for this extremely hot-selling beast. For those of you that are unaware, this machine has sold so well that the online Google Play store had to push shipments back several weeks back in the later weeks of 2012, only now coming up to speed with availability across the USA and Europe. Rest assured, Nexus 4 owners, your device will be the Google hero for many moons.
If you’d like to know more about the Google Nexus 4 by LG, be sure to check our not one, but two big reviews! First have a look at our original Google Nexus 4 review, then see our T-Mobile Nexus 4 review, taken from a slightly different angle. Be sure to jump in to our Android portal as well for more Google mobile OS action than you can possible handle!
The Nexus 4 from LG and Google was officially upgraded to Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean back in November, but it looks like another incremental update to Google’s latest mobile operating system is making its way into the wild. Android 4.2.2 was caught running on a Nexus 4 earlier today, and it’s said to be rolling out in Brazil and Malaysia right now.
Google hasn’t yet officially announced the incremental update, but some users in Brazil and Malaysia are reporting that Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean is showing up on their devices. The first reports mention a 1,000-unit batch of Nexus 4s shipping out in Brazil, and are said to be making their way to Brazilian mobile carriers this month.
Lowyat.net even received a review unit that had 4.2.2 running on it, so it seems the update is definitely out there, and more countries should be seeing it soon. However, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of changes in the update. While it’s clearly running Android 4.2.2, it looks like most of the new features are mostly just bugfixes and other behind-the-scene tweaks, as Lowyat reports.
In any case, we wouldn’t be surprised if we heard confirmation soon from Google about the update. In the meantime, though, these few sightings of Android 4.2.2 means that Google is at least testing the new build as we speak, and hopefully we see it arrive stateside sooner rather than later.
At the start of 2012 the folks at Google were seeing their beloved Android mobile operating system being used on more iPhone clones than we’d care to discuss – near the turn-over to 2013, big manufacturers like Samsung and HTC have made their own hero lines the likes of which Android has never known. What we saw in 2012 was recognition of the model that has worked for Apple extremely well since all the way back in 2007 – a focus on the ecosystem rather than on the individual specifications of any one device. This will continue in a very big way through 2013 with manufacturers holding up a single torch – like the Motorola RAZR brand – to keep themselves lit up brightly.
Motorola will continue to produce devices exclusive to Verizon with the DROID RAZR name attached: this branding has kept them in the limelight for the past couple of years. Samsung will stick with the Galaxy branding (as they have for more than just a couple of years) and will continue to run with the branding (and with the iPhone mocking) through the foreseeable future with both the Samsung Galaxy IV and the Samsung Galaxy Note III. HTC brought the fire in 2012 with their HTC One series (starting with the hero HTC One X) but didn’t exactly see the massive sales they’d hoped for – because of this, HTC’s strategy for 2013 remains a bit hazy.
LG made two fantastic decisions – or were granted the ability to go through with them, however it ended up going – the first being a team-up with Qualcomm for the Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor for their Optimus G smartphone. While they’ve not reported extensive numbers for the sales of this machine quite yet, it’s clear that the ultimate victory was the modified version of the handset in the Google Nexus 4. This machine has most of the features that the Optimus G does, but rounds its corners and makes its Android perfectly pure with a Google-only vanilla flavoring – this means that LG didn’t modify the software for their own, just Google. Because of the feature set and the surprisingly low cost off-contract this device came with (though a T-Mobile version does exist, mind you), it’s been a massive hit (or supply blunder, however you want to see it) compared to the rest of the Nexus devices Google has released in its lineup history.
In 2013 we’ll continue to see the change-over from a specifications race in hardware to a more solid offering in software with brand ecosystems at the heart of the race. Samsung took this battle to heart in 2012 with the Samsung Galaxy S III – see the Chris Davies article by the name of The Galaxy S III is Samsung’s Coming of Age to see what this release was all about. More evidence that the Galaxy Note and S lines are doing stellar: the response to flip covers and TecTiles given away by the OEM for free.
Manufacturers aside, Google will be making at least one big unique push to stand out on their own as a force in mobile. Not just as a creator of Android will Google be pushing, but as a service provider for mobile devices. Google has confirmed their once-axed phone service plans already, and we’ve had Chris Davies’ column making it all too clear, as well: “A Google plan to kill carriers with wi-fi is all too believable”. Google won’t purchase T-Mobile as our good pals at [Android Community] suggest, they’ll continue to tie close bonds between themselves and wi-fi hotspot companies – or something to that effect – that’ll allow their smartphones to function completely independent of the mobile carriers.
When it became apparent not too long ago that the LG Nexus 4 was selling out of the Google Play online store faster than free bricks of gold, we immediately asked ourselves: was this by design, or was it a mistake? There are two possibilities that remain even after the information being reported today by no less than the head of mobile at LG UK has been released – even after Andy Coughlin spoke up with CNET about the fact that the device “had proven extremely popular” when it was released initially to Google Play. One possibility is that yes, indeed, Google simply did not expect so many devices to be sold, so they didn’t order a supply to meet the demand – the other is more nefarious.
This set of quotes from LG also includes a couple of sentences that should be analyzed by you and I, those interested in how Google went about setting up sales for the Nexus 4. “As with any sales process, LG supplies product quantities against partners’/customers’ (ie retailers, operators etc) forecasts,” LG’s Coughlin said, “demand via the Play Store has been very high in this instance.”
The Nexus family is one made by Google to present a pure version of their newest Android operating system without mobile carrier software add-ons. In the past, Google had presented each new Nexus device as one made for developers primarily – a software developer looking to make Android apps would always benefit from having a device that not only had the newest Android software, but was able to access the newest updates from Google faster than any other device on the market. With the Galaxy Nexus from Samsung ramping up to the LG Nexus 4, the public started seeing the Nexus platform as the true Android hero, a hero for all consumers, not just developers.
The other option that isn’t simply Google not seeing this demand for what it was is the possibility that Google ordered less than they expected they’d sell on purpose, this creating artificial demand and many more interesting stories in the press than there otherwise may have been. Of course this would presuppose that Google did not have enough confidence in the selling power of the Nexus 4 for it to sell massive amounts of its own merit, and we simply cannot believe such nonsense.
Instead we must believe that the projected numbers simply did not meet the end demand and that the scramble Google and LG are experiencing is real – and that the Nexus 4 really is the start of Google’s initial vision for Android in which one device could be released straight from Google across all carriers at once. One hero device, one Nexus. Perhaps with the 5th handset this will be true – we know people want it, now it’s time for Google to make it.
Google has promised fresh Nexus 4 stock for the UK from 5pm local time today, though supplies of the Android 4.2 handset are expected to go fast. The official Google smartphone will be put on sale through the Play store in just a few hours time, according to an email sent to would-be buyers in the UK who had registered for availability details, priced from £239 SIM-free and unlocked.
Sales of the Nexus 4 began in the UK on November 13, but supplies were exhausted within around thirty minutes time. More frustrating was the general unresponsiveness of the Play store itself, with Google seemingly unprepared for the amount of interest in the new phone.
Users complained of payment processes that would not work properly, baskets that would inadvertently empty with no warning, and sluggish responsiveness in general. The fiasco was then repeated when US sales of the Nexus 4 began.
Thus followed several weeks of no availability, barring more expensive carrier-subsidized deals. Some new stock appeared in the US Play store in late November, but again quickly sold out, and the next estimated shipping date slipped into 2013.
So, if you want to bag a Nexus 4 in the UK before Christmas, it’s probably worth crossing your fingers while you click refresh on the Play store. Find out more on the Nexus 4 in our full review.
In the smartphone universe you’re going to have some sorting to do starting with the carrier your gift receiver is working with. More than likely you’re a parent or a significant other if you’re purchasing a smartphone on-contract for that special someone, this meaning you’ve got a fair understanding of which carrier they’ll be working with. After that, it’s all about finding the best device for them based on their specific wants and needs.
The first and probably most obvious place your mind should be wandering to is the iPhone. With this Apple hero device landing on three major carriers with the launch of the iPhone 5, it’s almost a given at this point in our western society that a person wouldn’t mind receiving an iPhone as a gift. If your special someone is out of the iPhone universe specifically for one reason or another, you’ll want to head down one of two paths: Android or Windows Phone.
With Windows Phone 8 came the launch and relative re-birth of Nokia in an extremely vibrant and fun-loving wave of devices that hit most major carriers in the USA. The biggest and the best of these devices is the Nokia Lumia 920 which is exclusive to AT&T at the moment. After that you’ve got the Nokia Lumia 822 from Verizon, the Nokia Lumia 820 from T-Mobile, and more than likely one or two more additions to the Lumia line before the end of the year. Another heavy contender in this space is the HTC Windows Phone 8X carried by AT&T as well as Verizon and T-Mobile.
As for Android, you’ve got a fierce battle going on between lines and heroes, with four titans making up the entirety of our selections for best-of-the-moment. The most recent big-name drop has been the Google Nexus 4, one of two of LG’s recent beast releases. LG also brings on the Optimus G with AT&T 4G LTE, a slightly more high-powered version of the hardware brought on in the Nexus 4, both of them working with one of the most powerful processors on the market, the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro. This Google hero phone is sold as a 2-year-contract-holding T-Mobile Nexus 4 and as a no-contract Nexus 4 sold online via the Google Play store – they’re both exactly the same device, just different prices based on data plan acceptance.
HTC came out swinging this year and didn’t let up all the way through to Fall with the HTC DROID DNA with Verizon 4G LTE, the current record holder for highest-definition-display on a smartphone. It’s backed up by the whole HTC One crew, leading off with the brand new HTC One X+ for AT&T, a a much more high-powered version of the original with a fantastic NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor in it – hot stuff! The original version is still out there as the HTC One X (without the +), exclusive to AT&T here in the USA. Next in line is the slightly smaller HTC One S carried by T-Mobile in the USA – this device has been upgraded to a much more awesome casing quite recently – a hot pick! The HTC One V is also floating around out there for those of you looking specifically for the HTC branding but not wanting to drop a ton of bills – though the One S is free at times, depending on when you’re shopping – good luck!
Motorola was purchased by Google earlier this year and since they’ve had that extra bump of influence, they’ve made some fantastic handsets that retain their hardcore hardware build and bust out with a newly refined user interface on the inside. The Motorola DROID RAZR M has one of the smallest bezels on the market, making it appear to be just a wickedly bright display sitting in the palm of your hand. The M’s bigger brother DROID RAZR HD sticks with the greatness that was the original DROID RAZR and boosts the processing power as well as the density of the display. The DROID RAZR MAXX HD crowns the collection with all that good stuff plus a massive, gigantic, beastly battery (and it’s still rather thin!)
Then there’s Samsung. If the person you’re buying a gift for doesn’t want an iPhone, chances are they’ll be entirely stoked to get either a Samsung Galaxy S III or a Samsung Galaxy Note II. The big difference is in the ultra massiveness of the Galaxy Note II, that and it’s build-in S-Pen for writing on the screen. The Samsung family of devices creates a friendly software and hardware compatibility ecosystem the lines of which you’ll only otherwise find at Apple – and that’s saying a lot. The Samsung Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note II are available on most if not all of the major carriers in the USA and abroad – have a peek at the Galaxy S III here on Verizon as well as AT&T and T-Mobile. The Galaxy Note II we’ve also got several reviews of, hitting on the T-Mobile version and the Verizon version – and keep note that we’ll be taking another look at the Verizon version likely by the time this post is published to see how lovely its data speeds are – otherwise the differences between each of these devices on each carrier is relegated to the carrier-pushed apps and the costs inflicted upon your person. Also the Verizon version of the Note II has a massive beast of a Verizon logo on the front button – it’s fierce!
Another rather odd contender that will certainly surprise your gift-getter is the Nokia 808 PureView running Symbian – that’s not Android, it’s not iOS, and it’s not Windows Phone. This device also has a 41-megapixel camera – truly the most intense camera phone in the history of the world.
Welcome to Wednesday evening everyone, just two more work days to go and then we’re at the weekend again. Today we found out that new Nexus 4 orders won’t ship for another 4-5 weeks, and that’s if you’re ordering the 16GB model – those who order the 8GB model might be waiting as long as two months. Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer said that Windows Phone sales these days are four times greater than they were in autumn 2011, which is definitely a good sign, while we learned that RIM has lost a big patent case against Nokia in Sweden.
Windows Phone 7.8 will be hitting handsets in early 2013, though we’re not sure of an exact release date at the moment. A couple of unlucky SMS spammers have been hit with a hefty fine after their company was accused of sending out millions of annoying text messages, but they claim that they had permission to send all of those text messages to the recipients. Google announced today that it has purchased Incentive Targeting, a company that focuses on helping advertisers deliver coupons to consumers more effectively.
Apple parts providers will be increasing their yields in Q1 2013, which should help with those stock shortages we keep hearing about, and today we got our first glimpse at Will.i.am’s new line up of iPhone accessories. There’s a new Facebook bug that is adding users to groups they left long ago, and HTC has brought on a new CMO to retool the company’s marketing efforts. TSMC might not be able to keep up with demand once Apple starts relying on the company for its CPUs, and Ballistic has a new line up of cases for the iPhone, Nokia Lumia 920, and Samsung Galaxy S III. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said that the Grand Theft Auto series is still special because it doesn’t release annually, and Sharp unveiled its new IGZO 32-inch 4K display today.
Finally tonight, we have a couple of reviews for you check. First up is Craig Lloyd with his review of the HTC Windows Phone 8X from Verizon, while Chris Burns gives us his review of the T-Mobile Nexus 4. That does it for tonight’s evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the rest of your night folks!
Yesterday, the LG Nexus 4 returned to the Google Play Store after selling out in just 24 minutes on launch day, and we weren’t surprised in the least to see a flood of prospective Nexus 4 owners quickly overwhelm the Play Store with orders. We were thinking for a moment that the phone would sell out once again, but fast forward to today and the Nexus 4 is still available for purchase. There’s just one little problem: regardless of which Nexus 4 model you order, you’re probably going to have to wait until we’re into 2013 to get it.
At the time of this writing, the Play Store listing for the 16GB Nexus 4 says the phone won’t ship for another 4-5 weeks. That sounds pretty bad, until you flip over to the listing for the 8GB Nexus 4. According to the Play Store, new 8GB Nexus 4 orders will ship in 8-9 weeks. That means if you buy an 8GB Nexus 4 today, you can expect it to ship out around the end of January.
Those wait times are cringe-inducing, but at least Google is still selling the phone. For a few weeks after the phone launched, you couldn’t even order one, and Google’s stock situation was so dire that it had to delay some of the orders made on launch day by three weeks. Who knew that a phone with an excellent price tag and some solid internals would sell so incredibly well?
Indeed, we liked the time we spent with the Nexus 4 quite a bit, so it’s not hard to imagine why it’s in such high demand. If you’ve been thinking of picking up a Nexus 4 now that they’re back in stock, it kind of goes without saying that you should make your decision soon, otherwise it might be spring by the time your order finally ships. Check out our story timeline below for more on the Nexus 4.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
