Google Nexus 4 to be sold carrier-free through Google Play
LG has confirmed that the new Android flagship with be available to Australians from mid-November, unlocked, through the Google Play store.
Following Google's unveiling of the new Nexus 4 handset overnight, LG has confirmed that the new Android flagship with be available to Australians from mid-November, unlocked, through the Google Play store.
In a statement, LG also suggested that the handset will be available through traditional bricks-and-mortar stores, with details on these sales channels to be announced at the end of November. If sales of the Nexus 4 follow the trend set by the Nexus 7 tablet, we can expect to see the phone in a number of major electronics retailers, like Dick Smith and Bing Lee.
Pricing for the phone is also extremely competitive, with an 8GB version to be sold for AU$349, and a 16GB model to sell for AU$399. Curiously, there have been no larger storage options announced, and no microSD card slots on the devices to expand this memory.
The Nexus 4 is the latest Google Nexus handset in a series of smartphones designed to showcase the latest versions of the Android operating system. As such, the Nexus 4 will run on Android 4.2, codenamed Jelly Bean, and will have a handful of new features, including a new photography tool called Photo Sphere, which can take panorama photos horizontally and vertically to create a dome-like image from a single point of view.
With OEM partner LG, Google has created a powerful handset by today's standards, with a quad-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm S4 processor, 2GB of RAM and a 4.7-inch 720p HD resolution screen. The phone also supports Qi wireless charging, which is a first for an Android phone. Google will sell a wireless charging Orb accessory, but the adoption of the Qi tech means that Nexus 4 owners should be able to take advantage of any public charging mats installed in cafes by Nokia in support of its Lumia 920 smartphone.