When the Nexus 4 was first released Google advertised it as having USB-OTG but within a few days they removed this from the product page once it was discovered that the Nexus 4 did not provide enough power to the usb port to power an external USB device. This left many of us disappointed, assuming it was LG’s fault. This time it seems that LG have fixed this issue and USB-OTG is set to be supported in the Nexus 5. The other day we saw in a leaked bug log file the hardware that comes in the Nexus 5, including a Snapdragon 800 complete with Adreno 330 GPU, a JDI 1080p command mode dsi panel and a TI USB adaptor/charger .
According to the Texas Instruments product page this USB adapter/charger “supports a wide range of input sources, including standard USB host port, USB charging port and high power DC adapter”. While this seems great it still needs to receive enough power to power an external USB drive. From the logs the other day more information has been ascertained supporting USB host (USB OTG) support. Although the Google translation from Androidworld.it is a bit sketchy the logs refer to read/write ability to external storage which,as we all know Nexus devices don’t have. Apparently, when a USB it attached it will open the Gallery app to allow transferring of images and videos via USB. The Nexus 5 has also been spotted in USB Host logs from Chainfire EU, the developer who created one of the first DSLR controller apps.
While all this is good news, it’s like buy a set of steak knives off TV, wait, there’s more! There is also reference to optical image stabilisation. While we suspect the Nexus 5 will be based on the LG G2 we weren’t sure if their OIS software will be included on the Nexus 5. It seems it may be, in some form or other. There is a string in the logs contains “ android.control.availableVideoStabilizationModes (1001a): byte[1]” which apparently refers to both cameras which may also be a bad thing but who doesn’t want OIS for their selfies?
Nothing is certain yet but for me it just whets my appetite for this upcoming Nexus device even more.
Anyone else hanging out for October 14, when the Nexus 5 will supposedly be announced? Anyone else already letting their CFO know they will be buying a new toy soon?
