New York – Google is set to unveil its first tablet and smartphone with the latest version of its Android operating system, Android 4.2, according to press reports.
During a press conference on Monday, Oct. 29, the company will reportedly unveil a high-end Nexus-brand tablet, the Samsung-made 10-inch Nexus 10, and the Nexus 4 smartphone, made by LG. An updated version of the Asus-made 7-inch Nexus 7 tablet, launched in July at $199, is also expected to be shown.
The smartphone will mark LG’s first time as a maker of a Google-branded phone; HTC and Samsung held that honor in the past. The smartphone is expected to be a version of LG’s high-end Optimus G, which Sprint and Samsung plan to offer. The Optimus G features Android 4.0 (Ice Cream sandwich), quad-core 1.5GHz processor, 4.7-inch 15:9 WXGA True HD IPS Plus display with 1,280 by 768 pixels, 32GB of memory, 2GB RAM, 13-megapixel rear-facing camera and 4G LTE, but it isn’t certain whether the Nexus version will offer LTE.
The tablet is said to come in Wi-Fi and 3G HSPA+ versions and feature 16:10 screen with 2,560 by1,600 resolution, said to achieve more pixels per inch than the new iPad’s 264.
For its part, the Android 4.2 OS will incorporate such new features as enabling users to access the Google Play store through widgets. A tablet-sharing feature will enable easy switching between several users on the tablet, giving each user access to their own preferences, including apps.
The planned launch of the three devices was reported by CNET and The Next Web.
