Rumor round-up: what Google may have announced at its event - Ars Technica

Google was slated to announce a slew of new products and features for the Android platform this morning in New York City. Then, a certain rogue super-storm caused those plans to gang agley. Still, there have been so many leaks and confirmations over the past week leading up to the event that we feel pretty confident about the things Google had on tap. Most significantly, the rumors indicated Google would have announced its new Nexus flagship phone, the Nexus 4, running Android 4.2. There was also talk about a new 10-inch Nexus tablet from Samsung, as well as a storage bump for the Nexus 7.

Enlarge / The chassis on the LG Nexus may look a little different from its handset cousin, the LG Optimus G.

Spy shots circulating the Web have revealed the new Nexus phone will be manufactured by LG and contain the same innards as the recently launched LG Optimus G. If this is true, the Nexus 4 will feature a quad-core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon 4 processor, 4.7-inch 1280x768 display, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chatting, and a 2100mAh battery (though a leak by Carphone Warehouse last Friday pegs the device's storage at only 8GB). Preliminary benchmarks of the LG Optimus G show that it scores among the top Android handsets featured on the Geekbench leaderboard. The Optimus G managed an overall score of 1862 when set to quad-core mode, wedging it into second place on the list, behind the Samsung Galaxy Note II at 1981. If these numbers are any indication for how fast the Nexus 4 could perform, it should be one of the fastest handsets launching this quarter (if Google gets the launch re-scheduled, of course).

Next up on the announcement roster seemed to be Android 4.2, which will most likely not be the anticipated full-fledged iteration of Androidâ€"it was previously rumored to be called Key Lime Pie. Rather, this may be an incremental update that brings a few key features to Jelly Bean. Google has previously done this type of release with Android 3.0 Honeycomb, where versions 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2 all shared the same name because each update provided only fairly minor changes. Google also maintained the "Eclair" codename for the shift from 2.0 to 2.1. Otherwise, major point releases have all carried name changes.

Some of the 4.2 features expected to have been announced include a second pull-down menu for quick settings in the Notifications panel, a graphical face lift for the native Gmail and Gallery applications, multiple user accounts for tablet users, and improvements to Google Now, Google's version of Apple's Siri. Google will also introduce a feature called "Content in the center," which will essentially allow users to access their Play Store content from a single widget, rather than having to dig for it within the marketplace app. Other rumors point to Google introducing an improved panoramic picture mode that functions in both landscape and portrait orientation.

Found in Android 4.2's alpha version, Quick Settings may soon become a part of the drop-down panel.

One of the most eagerly-awaited 4.2 features is Google's implementation of SELinux and always-on VPN within Android to help beef up security for enterprise users. Another highlight anticipated bit is the additional built-in virus scanning feature that will warn users if they’re installing an application with malicious code. Android has been under quite a bit of fire for its security vulnerabilities and apps laced with malware, and these new features may help the mobile OS recover from its shaky reputation as one of the more unsecured mobile platforms.

Should the event still happen, it could also feature Samsung stepping up to stage with a new 10-inch tablet, whose instruction manual was leaked last week. Codenamed "Manta," the tablet will run Android 4.2 and come with come with a 1.7Ghz dual-core Exynos 5250, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and NFC capabilities. Additionally, its 10.1-inch Super AMOLED display will offer a 2560x1600 pixel resolution at almost 300 pixels-per-inch, rivaling the iPad’s 1024x768 resolution and 264 PPI. It might be the first tablet to break the 300 PPI barrier. While there is no word yet on what the official name for the Samsung tablet will be, many are already referring to it as the Nexus 10.

A photo taken by Google's Senior Vice President of Engineering, Vic Gundotra, from what is purportedly a Nexus 10, according to the EXIF information.

But what about its photo-taking abilities? Senior Vice President of Engineering, Vic Gundotra, also leaked a photo apparently taken with a Nexus 10 (as evidenced by the EXIF data that appears on his Google+ page). The picture shows a beach, as you see above, but the data shows the photo is only 2048x1536 pixels. That's only a 3.1MP resolution, as pointed out by Android Central, even though the specification leaks show a 5MP camera attached. Hopefully the discrepancy is due to a Google+ resizing and isn't an indication of another bad Samsung tablet camera.

Lastly, users who may have been holding out on the Asus-manufactured Nexus 7 might be interested to know there have been leaked advertisements for a 32GB versions of the 7-inch tablet. This is interesting news, considering that the Google Play store has run out of 8GB Nexus 7 tablets and hasn't exactly been in a rush to restock. There's also speculation the 32GB Nexus 7 will offer a HSPA+ 3G connection, which would enable business types and jet-setters devoted to the Android platform to take their tablets with them when they travel to other cellular markets.

We're still waiting on word from Google on when or if the launch will be rescheduled, so stay tuned. In the meantime over on the other side of the country, Microsoft will be formally launching Windows Phone 8. So if you want to keep an eye on the smartphone competitive landscape, hit our liveblog of the event!