Nexus 4
Photo courtesy of Google Play
So not having power and what not in light of what has happened in the north east coast of the US, I missed the announcement of Google’s next Nexus phone, the LG based Nexus 4. Granted I only got into my first Nexus phone a few weeks ago (Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus), and even if it’s a year old (like a million years old in cell phone technology years), it feels very new, very quick, very modern, compared to my Motorola Droid Bionic, which is only a few months older than the Galaxy Nexus, and I can see how it’s a special phone, being the first one to get any update on the Android OS landscape, and it is basically bloatware free. It’s also vanilla Android, is as good as it gets (without skins) in terms of Android. I’ve used Androids with one of HTC’s skins of Android, Sense 2, and Motorola’s watered down version of MotoBlur, and nothing beats plain vanilla Android.
Samsung Galaxy Nexus
Photo courtesy of Digitaltrends.com
What am I getting at? Well, this version of Nexus will NOT have CDMA variants. Meaning it will not come out for Sprint or Verizon wireless, the latter of which I am subscribed to. It will only be out for T-Mobile, and ATT, using HSPA+ speeds and not LTE. I did some digging and it seems like Google had problems with the CDMA versions of the Galaxy Nexus, in terms of releasing the hardware, and rolling out Jelly Bean. Pricing also plays a big part of it, the GSM variants can be sold for $300 off contract, as opposed to the CDMA versions costing $200 more. I got my Galaxy Nexus for $250 off contract, but it’s a certified refurbished unit. Now, this poses a problem for me when it comes time to get a new handset. I think I made a good decision to get the Galaxy Nexus. It didn’t cost a whole lot, and it should last me another 10-12 months.
I was ready to leave Verizon, and perhaps jump to Sprint as they also offer unlimited data (I am still riding on my old unlimited data plan from way back in the day on Verizon Wireless), but I can’t even get the Nexus 4 from them. I know there are other handsets out there that are just as capable, but, I don’t know, it feels like I have to do less work on Nexus, and it seems to get more support officially, and from the AOSP community.
Only time will tell on where I go from here. I am really happy with my Galaxy Nexus, and it should keep me happy for many more months, and it shames my Droid Bionic ten times over. Speaking of my old Bionic, it alone turned me off from getting any Motorola handsets in the near future. Sure, Google owns Motorola Mobility, so we’ll see what comes out from that partnership. It’s just funny, that the next Nexus phone is based off of the LG Optimus G, and not a Motorola handset (*CHEESECAKE NOTE! The reason that this is so, in what I have read and what I do believe, if I do remember correctly, is that Google did not want to give Motorola special treatment in the partnership when it comes to Nexus phones, after all, Android is open-source). Why I hate the thing is subject to another rant/post another time.
Motorola Droid Bionic
Photo courtesy of Amazon
Right now though, I do have other issues to think about other than what my next smart phone should be. But it’s just something else to get my mind on, and a step to moving closer to normalcy.
Links:
http://www.zdnet.com/google-nexus-4-why-im-saying-goodbye-to-verizon-7000006636/
http://www.google.com/nexus/4/
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