Google may have canceled the Android event which was scheduled for 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET on Monday morning because of Hurricane Sandy, but that doesn't mean we're being deprived of gadget news. The Mountain View, Calif. company has announced a new LG-made Nexus smartphone and a 10-inch tablet by Samsung.
As expected, thanks to rumors and leaks, the new Nexus smartphone is dubbed the Nexus 4. It has a 4.7-inch screen with a "retina"-dense 320 pixels per inch which rivals the 326 ppi found on recent iPhones. The phone has a powerful quad-core processor, and will run Android 4.2. (This is still nicknamed Jelly Bean, in case you were tracking those silly things.) It will be available in an 8GB version for $299 and a 16GB version for $349. You can snag it as early as Nov. 13, unlocked and without contract. If you don't mind signing a two-year service agreement, then you can get a 16GB version from T-Mobile for $199.
What Google hasn't mentioned is whether or not there will be an LTE version of the Nexus 4, or one that would runs on carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint, which don't support the announced specs. All the models listed are GSM/HSPA+, meaning in the U.S., they'll only run on AT&T and T-Mobile. Hopefully a phone supporting CDMA and LTE will be released in the coming months, so we'll keep asking.
The new Nexus 10 tablet also doesn't come as a surprise to those who have been paying attention to the rumor mill. The device is a larger version of the popular Nexus 7 tablet. The Samsung device offers a high-resolution 2560 x 1600 display (that translates to 300 ppi — more dense than the latest iPad's 264 ppi). According to Google, the Nexus 10 can handle up to nine hours of video playback and more than 500 hours of standby time on a single charge. Like the Nexus 4, it will ship with Android 4.2. You can snag a 16GB version of the Nexus 10 for $399 and a 32GB version for $499. It will be available through the Google Play Store on Nov. 13.
But wait! There's more! Google also decided to offer up several more Nexus 7 models as well. The smaller tablet will now be available in a 16GB version and 32GB version, priced at $199 and $249, respectively. An additional 32GB model with HSPA+ connectivity will be offered through AT&T for $299, starting on Nov. 13.
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