The supply-chain issues that have led to the massive shortages of the newest nexus device have been covered in detail across the androidosphere. I won’t take the time to re-hash them here, but it is worth saying that Google cannot afford another royal screw up like this. Companies have been estimating demand and adjusting their supply to match it for the last 150 years, and surely a company that has revolutionized the way we use the internet can either figure this out themselves or can at least go out and hire someone who knows what they’re doing. Whew… it felt good to get that off my chest.
You want a Nexus 4, but even after clicking refresh for many frustrating hours, you weren’t one of the lucky ones. Well, through the magic of an open source operating system, you can make yourself a Nexus 4 at home in under an hour. The LG Optimus G has virtually identical hardware to the Nexus 4, so our friends over at XDA forums have developed a way for you to get the exact “pure Android” experience of Android 4.2 on your Optimus G.
Of course, as with any custom version of Android that you flash to a device, there are some inherent risks. These would include bricking your phone, so don’t proceed unless you are a very advanced user. This hack will over write all AT&T firmware, your bootloader and essentially trick all of the hardware on your Optimus G into thinking that it is a Nexus 4. ROMs designed for the Nexus 4 will work on your device, and any updates you install from here on out would have to be designed for the Nexus 4. Also keep in mind that you will lose LTE connectivity and your SD card will be re partitioned so no matter what size it was before, it will be capped at 8GB. Again, and I cannot emphasize this enough, don’t embark on this project unless you know what you are doing. But if you are informed and brave, hop on over to the XDA forums and give it a shot. If you are one of the many who have already used this hack, let us know how it went in the comments below.