Some of the UK’s largest retailers have withdrawn the existing version of the Google Nexus 4 from sale, adding heft to speculation that a new addition to the Nexus smartphone range will debut this week at Google’s I/O event.

Fansite Android Headlines noticed that Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4U have pulled the Nexus 4 from their websites, ahead of the developers' conference that’s set to start on May 15th.

The reason for this has yet to be confirmed. However, it’s possible that both companies have been running down stock of the handset in the knowledge that a new model was imminent and have now sold out.

Meanwhile, PC Mag has remarked that US retail giant BestBuy has also pulled the current-gen Nexus kit from its home page, presumably also armed with the gen that it will be superseded in a matter of days.

Signs that something is afoot on retailers' websites come amid rumours that Google could debut a 4G-toting version of the Nexus 4, which sites have unofficially termed the Nexus 4S, this week.

It’s also been predicted that the search giant may use the showcase to reveal an entirely new fifth-generation Nexus phone, possibly running a new version of Android Jelly Bean. Dubbed the Nexus 5, again very unofficially, this is thought to have been manufactured by LG on Google's behalf.

Source:

Android Headlines

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Google has announced it will be releasing its own variant of the just-launched Samsung Galaxy S4, powered by a vanilla edition of the Android operating system.

Unveiled yesterday at the annual Google I/O developer’s conference in San Francisco, the Galaxy S4 ‘Google Edition’ is intended to offer owners a ‘Nexus user experience’ that strips away Samsung’s TouchWiz customisations for a cleaner, simpler interface that’s become the preserve of Google’s Nexus-branded smartphones.

It also packs an unlocked bootloader, meaning devs and hackers will be able to enhance and tweak the handset to their hearts’ content.

Better still, because it runs on stock Android (version 4.2), Google will be able to push out new updates to the handset substantially faster than Samsung can, which is sure to please Fandroids eternally frustrated by the lengthy delays caused by bespoke interfaces.

This is especially good news amid reports that Google is readying its next major build of Android - version 4.3 - for an imminent release.

Other than that, the Google/Nexus Galaxy S4 is essentially the same flagship kit from Samsung that hit store shelves last month, sporting a five-inch full HD Super AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor and 13-megapixel camera.

Also on board is 4G LTE support and 16GB of storage. Although it wasn’t revealed if there’ll be 32GB model too, a microSD slot is on board for up to 64GB of expandable storage.

Google confirmed the handset will be sold SIM free and unlocked through its Play store online for $649 in the US, which converts to about £430 in the UK.

However, it’s not clear yet if or when the phone will be available on our side of the Pond. As we soon as we hear more, we’ll be sure to let you know.

Would you choose a vanilla Galaxy S4 over Samsung’s model? Tell us why in the comments section below.

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The folks from uptime monitoring company Royal Pingdom have assembled a gargantuan list of various internet-related stats from 2012, and it's a very interesting read.

Though we've seen nearly all of these numbers before — for example, we covered Facebook passing 1 billion users in October as well as Twitter's 200 million in December — seeing them all in one place reminds you of how small and insignificant we are in the vast ocean of data that is the internet. Read more…

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