The Asus PadFone 2 is now official and it might just beat the LG Optimus G to become the first phone out there with Qualcomm's extremely powerful Snapdragon S4 APQ8064 quad-core chip. Not just that - both devices go neck to neck in terms of performance, and will probably be one of the hottest devices this Holiday season.

The PadFone 2 covers everything that you might wish for. Starting with the larger, 4.7-inch 720p screen, going through the 2GB of RAM and quad-core chip, and finishing with the 13-megapixel camera.

The PadFone 2 however has the unique advantage of the PadFone Station, a $210 accessory that is a tablet chassis. What this means is that for $210 more dollars, you get a 10.1-inch 1280x800-pixel screen with a 5,000mAh battery, that is powered by your phone.

How does it fare against devices like the LG Optimus G and the LG Nexus 4? We only have the preliminary specs of the Nexus 4 (those are likely to change), but we'd still like you to see the three devices go in a cold-blooded spec battle. Witness it in the tablet below, and don't hesitate to let us know: which one wins your heart?

DESIGN
OS	Android (4.0)	Android (4.0.4)	Android (4.2)
Dimensions	5.43 x 2.71 x 0.35 (137.9 x 68.9 x 9 mm)	5.19 x 2.71 x 0.33 (131.9 x 68.9 x 8.45 mm)
Weight	4.76 oz (135 g) the average is 4.1 oz (116 g)	5.11 oz (145 g) the average is 4.1 oz (116 g)

DISPLAY
Physical size	4.70 inches	4.70 inches
Resolution	720 x 1280 pixels	768 x 1280 pixels	768 x 1280 pixels
Pixel density	312 ppi	318 ppi	318 ppi
Technology	Super IPS+ LCD	IPS LCD	IPS LCD

BATTERY
Capacity	2140 mAh	2100 mAh

HARDWARE
System chip	Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064	Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064	Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro
Processor	Quad core, 1500 MHz, Krait	Quad core, 1500 MHz, Krait	Quad core
Graphics processor	Adreno 320	Adreno 320	Adreno 320
System memory	2048 MB RAM (Dual-channel)	2048 MB RAM (Dual-channel) / DDR2 (500 MHz)	2048 MB RAM
Built-in storage	16 GB	32 GB	8 GB
Storage expansion		microSD, microSDHC up to 64 GB

CAMERA
Camera	13 megapixels, Immobile	13 megapixels, Immobile	8 megapixels, Immobile
Flash	LED	LED	LED
Camcorder	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps), 1280x720 (720p HD) (60 fps)	1920x1080 (1080p HD)	1920x1080 (1080p HD)
Front-facing camera	1.2 megapixels	1.3 megapixels	Yes

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The upcoming LG Nexus phone might have leaked all over the place in the last couple of days, but these here are the best and most detailed pictures of the upcoming smartphone. This time it's Belarus and local etailer Onliner that got a prototype LG Nexus, and it looks like a crossover between the LG Optimus G and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

With so much smoke, we can only conclude there must be fire - the LG Nexus is likely coming on October 29th. The device is known by many names: the LG E960 Mako, the LG Optimus Nexus and the LG Nexus 4 (it’s the fourth-generation Nexus).

So here’s what’s on this prototype. LG’s Nexus in its current version runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, but chances are it’d get an update to Android 4.2 just before its launch. There is a 4.7-inch screen with a resolution of 768 x 1280 pixels, a whopping quad-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm chip under the hood (hopefully an S4 Pro like on the Optimus G), and 2GB of RAM.

Internal storage is only 8GB and we’ve heard nothing about an expansion slot, and that would seem like a downer. The rear camera is an 8-megapixel one.

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Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 Pro, or the APQ8064, is a monster of a chip - it easily beats the Nvidia Tegra 3 on phones like the international HTC One X and the Samsung Exynos 4412 on the Galaxy S III. Now, Qualcomm has unveiled that LG is working on the first S4 Pro smartphone that will be available globally. 

Earlier, Chinese Xiaomi announced the Mi-Two with the same S4 Pro chip inside for a mind-boggling price of only $310, but that phone is expected to be sold only in China. 

To give you a better idea of how much faster the quad-core S4 Pro is than the current crop of chips, lets just mention that out of the box, Qualcomm’s mobile development platform for it scored around 7,700 on Quadrant, more than twice better than the Tegra 3-based Nexus 7. Here is Qualcomm’s official announcement: 

Qualcomm will supply the latest Snapdragon™ S4 Pro platform to LG, enabling LG’s new quad-core smartphone, which is currently in production with anticipated commercial availability in Korea in September and global rollout to follow. This smartphone will be the newest commercial and global device to offer a quad core CPU Snapdragon S4 processor along with 3G/LTE multi-mode capabilities, delivering a superior mobile experience for voice, web browsing, games, user interfaces and other graphics applications.

It has also been confirmed that along with the Qualcomm APQ8064 quad-core processor, the phone will come with Qualcomm’s multi-mode LTE-enabled MDM9615 baseband. 

Could this upcoming LG smartphone be the LG Optimus G we heard about recently? Now, that would truly be a monster phone, if rumors come true. So far, we’ve heard that it’d come with Android on board, a 4.7-inch TrueHD screen, 2GB of RAM and a mind-boggling 13-megapixel camera. We've also seen the mysterious LG E970 running on the S4 Pro with Adreno 320 graphics and it was the first device to beat the iPad in terms of graphical performance. If all those happen to be one device, it could easily become one of the hottest phones this fall - stay tuned.

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(Credit: LG/Philips)

Manufacturers LG and Philips have joined forces to create a universal platform for apps on your TV, and the companies say the system has the support of Japanese manufacturers.

The newly-created Smart TV Alliance is designed to create a single platform making it easier for customers to share apps across multiple TVs and encourage more developers.

"Before today, the Smart TV industry was a very difficult market for both TV manufacturers and application developers as TV's from different brands used different platforms and technologies," said Bong-seok Kwon of LG Electronics, president of Smart TV Alliance.

The system will be a competitor to the embattled Google TV interface which is the only other cross-brand ecosystem.

The Smart TV alliance will make the tools available for free on its website for use by all manufacturers and hopes that it will help simplify the process of creating new apps across multiple brands.

Given that the tools will only be available at the end of 2012 it's unlikely there will be any TVs sporting the new interface, from brands other than Philips or LG, until 2013 and beyond.

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