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Review: LG Nexus 4 — a world class smartphone for $300

Seth Weintraub

Honestly, when I heard the Nexus 4, the long-rumored LG entrant into the Google-phone legacy, was going to come sans LTE, I almost threw in the towel. After all, the last version, the Galaxy Nexus, is equipped with LTE in its Verizon and Sprint incarnations. Is this a step back?

In my experience, not at all. This is the best Android phone ever made. And, for many purposes, it is the best phone I’ve ever used. It is almost a no-brainer to hit the buy button once you add that it only costs $299 for 8GB or $349 for 16GB.

But, before you do, let’s talk hardware:

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Google pushes Android 4.1.2 OTA to Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S and Xoom Wi-Fi

Jake Smith

Google released an over-the-air update for the international version of the Galaxy Nexus late this afternoon, bringing the latest Android version 4.2.1 to users. We first got word of Android 4.1.2 when it was released to the Nexus 7 on the Android Open Source Project last week. The update is pretty minor, as it only offers the ability to open notifications with one finger and bug fixes. Additionally, the update was released for the Nexus S and Xoom Wi-Fi this afternoon.

For those who purchased the Galaxy Nexus on Google Play, do not worry. The folks in Mountain View are probably close to pushing out the update in the next few days. At any rate, if you are feeling adventurous, you can hop in this XDA Developers thread to install the update manually. [Phandroid]

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US court reverses Apple’s injunction on Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Jordan Kahn

U.S. Judge Lucy Koh granted Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction against Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus smartphone in June, and the decision resulted in the temporary removal of the device from Google Play pending a software fix with Android 4.1. Today, Reuters reported that Apple’s U.S. injunction on the Galaxy Nexus has been reversed. 

TheNextWeb got its hands on the official order. Samsung argued that its product would ”sell almost as well without incorporating the patented feature” :

Samsung argued, somewhat humiliatingly, that the sales of the Galaxy Nexus were so poor that they didn’t pose a threat to Apple’s iPhone and that the unified search feature was not essential to the success of its device. The appeals court apparently agrees, as it states in its official order:

…it may very well be that the accused product would sell almost as well without incorporating the patented feature. And in that case, even if the competitive injury that results from selling the accused device is substantial, the harm that flows from the alleged infringement (the only harm that should count) is not.

According to Reuters, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled the court “abused its discretion in entering an injunction” and will send the case back to the California court for consideration.
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Verizon finally pushes Jelly Bean upgrade to Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus

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Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus is the first smartphone at Verizon to get Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, announced the leading 4G LTE carrier today, with the software upgrade rolling out over Wi-Fi now.

Those interested in getting the latest, buttery-smooth version of Android can go to System Updates under the “About Phone” Setting’s menu. As noted, a Wi-Fi network is required to complete the download. The update comes to Verizon more than three months after Jelly Bean was released on the GSM version of the Galaxy Nexus.

“The interface on Jelly Bean is also the most responsive Android OS to date,” said Verizon in its announcement. “Customers can interact with messages, photos, emails and event details from the notification screen, allowing them to directly access important information without navigating their phone.

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Report: Samsung says removal of Google’s universal search on UK Galaxy S III was ‘inadvertent’

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The blogosphere recently swelled with speculation as to why Samsung removed Google’s universal search function from its premiere Galaxy SIII smartphone, but a new report today revealed the ousting was simply ”inadvertent.”

AndroidCentral first revealed the problem: 

  • There’s a new over-the-air update rolling out for the international Samsung Galaxy S III (aka Galaxy S3 GT-i9300) this evening. The OTA message identifies it as a “stability update,” but what it also does is remove local (on-device) search functionality in the phone’s built-in Google Search app. The new version — XXBLG6 — is a relatively recent build, having been cooked just a few days ago on Jul. 20. A new baseband version, XXLG6, is also included, but we haven’t noticed any other changes thus far.
  • Following legal action by Apple, which temporarily resulted in the Galaxy Nexus being banned in the U.S., Samsung has taken to pre-emptively disabling the ability to search within on-device data (like contacts and applications) on some U.S. Galaxy S3′s. However, the decision to kill local search on the unlocked international model — which isn’t sold in the U.S. — is a little perplexing, not least because Apple has yet to challenge Sammy over local search in the EU or UK, where the GT-i9300 is sold.

Samsung just confirmed to TechRadar, however, that the removal of search functionality on the U.K. version of the Galaxy S III had nothing to do with a legal action by Apple. The mysterious occurrence, which stopped the ability to search for files, contacts, and apps through the built-in Google Search widget, was apparently unintentional.

According to Samsung:

“The most recent software upgrade for the Galaxy S III in the UK included the inadvertent removal of the universal search function. Samsung will provide the correct software upgrade within the next few days.”

A new update will roll out over the next few days to fix the problem.

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Confirmed: Galaxy Nexus removed from Google Play due to injunction, slated to return next week with Jelly Bean [Updated]

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The Google Play store abruptly removed the Galaxy Nexus earlier this week for unknown reasons, but Google just confirmed that it pulled the device from the Android marketplace due to Judge Lucy Koh’s recent decision to not lift the injunction against the smartphone.

The device will continue sales on Google Play next week, according to ABC News, with Jelly Bean preloaded as the operating system to solve the contending issues within the dispute:

Google confirmed to ABC News that the Galaxy Nexus had been pulled from its Google Play store as a result of the judge’s decision, but said it would begin selling the device again next week running the latest version of Android — Android 4.1, known as Jelly Bean. The updated version of Android would address the issues in dispute, Google said.

The Galaxy Nexus is currently listed on Google Play as “coming soon,” and visitors have the option to receive an email notification for when the smartphone becomes available.

Update: As The Verge reports, this afternoon the Court of Appeals has suspended the ban on the Galaxy Nexus until a formal response is given from Apple. From there, the Court will decide if the ban should go in effect or not.

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