Yeah, yeah. Everybody's waiting on pins and needles to see what (if anything) Google's going to announce today, given that the Nexus event in New York City was canceled because of Hurricane Sandy.

Nexus ain't the only game in town today, though. We're Android through and through, but we also like shiny new toys as much as anyone. So we're going to be kibitzing on WPCentral's coverage of the Windows Phone 8 launch.

Frankly, I'm more than a little interested, given how impressed I've been so far with Windows 8.

So head on over to WPCentral, and let's see what's what. But don't forget to swing back by these here parts -- we've got a feeling it won't be an entirely quiet afternoon.

Huawei announced the Honor 2 smartphone today, which is due to hit stores in China on November 4 for 1888 yuan (or $302). 

The Huawei Honor 2 has a 1.4 GHz quad-core processor, 2 GB of RAM (with a 1 GB option available for some reason), 8 GB of local storage, a 2230 mAh battery, and a 4.5-inch 1280 x 720 IPS display which works out to an impressive 326 pixels per inch. Gleaning the awkwardly-translated Weibo updates from Huawei, it sounds like they're boasting 72 hours of battery life, which would also be a great selling point if true. The phone measures 10.5 mm thick and has an 8 megapixel camera on the back. The only real downside is that's running Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich. Overall, the Honor 2 a significant step up from the original, even though odds are we won't be seeing it outside of China any time soon. T-Mobile has a Huawei device launching soon, but it's more likely to be an entry-level device.

For those of you that know Chinese, there's a video demo of the Huawei Honor 2 over here, or you can check out an early review here. Those are some pretty solid specs given the price. Anybody in China thinking of picking one up? What are the odds of an international launch eventually? 

via: Engadget

And here we have another video of the LG Nexus 4, which might or might not be announced today. Looks like this one comes from Three in Sweden. As it so happens, we've got a Swede on staff (more than one, now that we think about it).

The video talks up the beautiful, thin design of the "Nexus 4 by LG." It mentions the power button on the right-hand side, and the volume and micro SIM on the left. (Nothing we couldn't tell by watching, of course.) "Here is the familiar pure Android interface," it continues. Folders, main menu. Fast web browsers, high-resolution screen.

Also mentioned is the status bar, with "easily accessible settings." And, indeed, there are quick settings, though different than we might have expected.

Update: And the video's been pulled, as we figured it would.

Thanks, Dennis!

Attention old-school gamers: Chrono Trigger has just launched on Google Play, bringing the classic role-playing game to Android. The Dimensional Vortex and Lost Sanctum are two new areas that were included in the Nintendo DS port which have found their way to this iteration as well. Despite most of the graphics and gameplay staying intact from the SNES original, some of the controls have been tweaked for touch interfaces. Language support spreads English, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. 

As the title suggests, Chrono Trigger features a lot of time travel, from prehistory to the far future to the the end of time. Even the original contemporary setting that the heroes start in is only Earth-ish and has some of its own unique fantasy flair. Along the way, your party grows to include a robot, a half-man half-frog, a cavewoman, and plenty of other colorful characters. 

As with most Square Enix games on mobile, you'll be paying a premium for the privilege of playing their games on mobile devices, but $9.99 isn't quite as bad as what they're charging for some of their other titles. Although I played a bunch of Final Fantasy 3, I never had a chance to dig into Chrono Trigger. This might be my cue, but what about you guys? Did anyone here play the original, but are still tempted to pick up the mobile version? Any DS players able to vouch for the quality of the new content? 

Google's "Playground" event may have been called off, but it seems some changes to the Google Play Store may be arriving regardless. We're seeing movie purchase options appearing for some Google Play Movies titles here in the UK, though the selection is extremely limited at the moment. Likewise, Ausdroid reports that Google's started rolling out movie purchases in Australia, where previously only rental options were available.

In the UK, we've spotted titles such as Ill Manors on sale for £7.99. Down under, prices reportedly range from AU$8 for older movies all the way up to AU$25 for more recent offerings.

Considering today was originally going to be a big day for Google Play and Android, we'll be watching throughout the day to see if any other changes quietly drop.

International folks -- seeing anything new on Google Play today? Drop us a line in the comments.

Source: Ausdroid

A reminder that with Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the East coast of the U.S., Google recently made the decision to cancel its "Playground" event, originally scheduled for later today.

A T-Mobile event, also planned for today, has been called off too.

Google's Android event was expected to bring the official announcement of a new Nexus phone, the LG Nexus 4, and new high-res Nexus tablet, the Samsung Nexus 10. Both devices were expected to go live with Android 4.2, which was to be unveiled at the same event. But it looks like we'll have a little longer to wait for these devices -- we'll probably hear more about a rescheduled event in the coming days.

In the meantime, there's plenty of non-Android news today for you multi-platform mobile fans. Our sister site wpcentral.com will be live from Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 launch event in San Francisco later today.

If you're expecting Sandy in the next day or so, stay safe and keep 'em charged. We'll see you on the other side.

Barnes & Noble's Nook brand continues its advance into the UK, with today's news that its Android-based Nook HD and Nook HD+ tablets are available to pre-order from the company's Nook.co.uk site.

Announced late September, the 7-inch Nook HD and 9-inch Nook HD+ boast higher resolution displays than competing small form factor tablets. B&N will be hoping that this combined with the tablet's lower price point will tempt consumers away from the Apple, Amazon and Google competition as the holiday shopping season approaches.

The Nook HD boasts a 1440x900 display, and is powered by a 1.3GHz dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM. The Nook HD+ bumps this up to 1920x1080 ("Full HD"), along with a small CPU speed increase to 1.5GHz. The HD is up for pre-order at a Nexus 7-matching £159, while the HD+ can be yours for £229.

Both Nook HD and HD+ will begin shipping to UK buyers from Nov. 22.

Source: Nook.co.uk (1, 2); via: Business Wire

With the success of the original Galaxy Note, and critical praise for its successor, the Note 2, it seems Samsung may be looking to expand its Note line even further, possibly bringing to market a smaller Note tablet device. That's what's suggested by a new DLNA certification filing, which lists a Samsung "GT-N5110" with digital media server and playback capabilities. So far all "GT-N" series devices have come to market as Galaxy Notes -- the original was GT-N7000, the Note 10.1 is GT-N8000 and the Note 2 followed as GT-N7100 -- so there's little doubt in our mind that the N5110 is most likely another Galaxy Note product.

Conventional wisdom suggests that it could be a 7 8 or 9-inch tablet, filling the gap between the Note 2 and Note 10.1, as SamMobile speculates this morning. However, aside from the name, we know nothing about this device, so we're willing to keep an open mind.

Assuming Samsung is working on a 7-9-inch Galaxy Note tablet, CES in January and Mobile World Congress in February are both strong possibilities for launch venues. MWC in particular might be likely, as that's where we saw the Note 10.1 last year, along with the entire Galaxy Tab 2 range.

Any wild theories about what we might see on such a device? Shout out in the comments.

Source: SamMobile