Ingenious modders have turned LG’s Optimus G into a fully fledged Nexus 7, complete with a broken LTE chip, and have released the mod into the wild.
Getting hold of a Google Nexus 4 is almost impossible right now. The device has been available for quite some time, both in the United States and elsewhere, but that doesn’t mean you can buy one.
Blighted by a complete lack of available stock since day one, the Nexus 4 has popped in and out of the Google Play Store alarmingly regularly since its initial debut, and the only current way of guaranteeing you can pick one up is to swallow the the price of a contract in order to buy a subsidized version. If you want to go SIM-free, you’re out of luck.
By contrast, the LG Optimus G is available right now, and can be bought with little difficulty, if any. It’s this major positive over the Nexus 4 that has lead one group of Android-favoring developers to take to their computers and work their own particular brand of magic. Believe it or not, you can now turn an LG Optimus G into a Nexus 4. Well, almost.
Thanks to the almost identical internals, the LG Optimus G is an obvious choice for modders G33k3r & Rohan32, and they’ve certainly taken to their task. We’re told that converting an Optimus G into a Nexus 4 is not for the faint of heart, but the replication is exceedingly faithful. So much so, in fact, that applying the mod actually disables the 4G LTE radio inside the handset, something that those complaining of the lack of a 4G Nexus 4 will no doubt frown upon. If that wasn’t enough, modded handsets will need to use the Nexus 4 ROM to update themselves, though the whole process is reversible should the need arise.
When three people behind the mod are warning even the most hardened of ROM flashers to be careful with a mod, it’s fairly obvious it’s not going to be for everyone. With that in mind, we’re sure there will be plenty of eye rolling going on in the Android community over this Optimus G mod. If you’re brave enough to give it a whirl though, the rewards may just be worth the risk.
(Source: XDA-Developers)
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