Google's latest Nexus smartphone was officially unveiled today and will be on sale from tomorrow, November 1st, in nine countries including the UK.
The Nexus 5 is manufactured by Korean firm LG, and runs the updated Google Android operating system known as KitKat (or simply 4.4).
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In the company's blog Sundar Pichai, SVP of Android, Chrome and Apps at Google, explains the Nexus 5 has been created by LG to showcase the Android KitKat. The Nexus 5, he says, features a 5-inch full HD display, and offers 4G/LTE and wifi connectivity. Pichai also claims that the camera has been improved.
"The advanced new lens on Nexus 5 captures more light for brighter night and sharper action shots... A new HDR+ mode automatically snaps a rapid burst of photos and combines them to give you the best possible single shot," he says.
The handset is due to go on sale on November 1st in the UK at a price of £299 for the 16MB version. It weighs 130g and features wireless charging and NFC.
Pichai claims that KitKat uses less memory than previous versions of Android requiring 512MB RAM. It will be rolled out to devices that currently ship with the 4.2 version over the coming weeks, but given its lower memory requirements, KitKat should also be suitable for use on older devices, such as those running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).
Other improvements touted by Google include the following:
Hangouts and SMS messaging merged in one app; Improved speech recognition; Upgrade search capabilities, including "deep app linking", displaying results from within relevant applications as well as the web; Google Now will have " important new card types that bring you information about contextual topics that interest you such as updates from a favorite website or blog."
