While earlier reports say that LG is not working on the Nexus 5, the most recent report from Korean site Daum.net claims that LG is currently testing a Nexus 5 prototype, and has already shown it to Google’s Larry Page.
According to reports, LG’s Kim Won, in an interview to Dutch All About Phones, had said that the company is not working on a new Nexus 5. Other reports say that the statement could have been wrongly interpreted or translated. The Daum.net report points to LG as the manufacturer of the new Nexus 5, but does not mention anything about the launch date, pricing, or the Android version it will run on.
LG had done a perfect job with Nexus 4, which runs on the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean vanilla version. As Google’s premier smartphone, Nexus 4 generated considerable revenue for Google and also brought LG to the forefront. Apart from its features, Google’s willingness to offer the device at a reasonable price tag contributed to its success.
Current rumors suggest only an upgrade to the existing Nexus 4, such as increasing internal memory and adding 4G LTE capability. By far, customers have complained about the lack of 4G LTE support and microSD slot for expandable memory. LG recently announced a white version of the Nexus 4. If an upgraded Nexus 4 is arriving this year, Nexus 5 will probably hit the market next year. Nevertheless, it is hard to make predictions as neither Google nor LG have uttered anything about the new Nexus 5.
Google recently unveiled Nexus editions of two successful Android phones – Samsung S4 and HTC One. But, Nexus 5 implicates far better prospects, given the success of its predecessor, which sold about 3 million units since its launch a few months ago. Will the Nexus 5 feature the next Android iteration Key Lime Pie?