LG's G3 has enjoyed wild success in 2014, and rumors of the G4 are already covering the internet, but a recent patent spree from the South Korean company indicates that we can expect a numerical G model for the next few years in the form of the G5, G6, G7, G8, and G9.
While we don't imagine that LG is working on all of these higher-number models right now, it's not too far-fetched to say that at least the G5 is in its early planning stages as the G4 is aiming for a release later this year.
But since the patent also included the G4 name, that serves as all but official confirmation on the arrival of the latest smartphone from LG. And if that's not enough, the trademark application also mentions something called the LG G4 Stylus.
While the LG G3 Stylus was released in October of last year to compete with Samsung's Galaxy Note and the S Pen, the LG G3 Stylus wasn't as well-received as the company had hoped. UberGizmo called the device "disappointing," noting that the phone will only work with 3G connections.
So many believe that this new patent for the G4 Stylus is LG's way of correcting the mistakes made with the G3 Stylus and giving it another shot.
The LG G4, on the other hand, is already an impressive piece of technology that is rumored to release in early 2015, possibly even earlier than the May date that LG used to reveal the G3 last year. It's already been confirmed by an "anonymous LG representative" that the G4 won't be shown at the Mobile World Congress in March due to competition with Samsung, HTC, and Sony, but that puts a nice possibility on April. Chances are, the LG G4 will even enjoy its own event catered to the device.
One question on the minds of LG fans is whether or not the company would potentially release two separate models, with and without the stylus, as many companies are doing these days. If there is a separate G4 Stylus edition released, it may be the last chance LG gives the unproven stylus market.
And what's interesting about LG's smartphone releases is that they are either sporadic or they form a pattern that we should watch. The original G Pro was released in May of 2013, and then the G2 was released in September of that same year. The G3 launched in May of 2014, but we didn't see anything in September of last year. If we do see the G4 launching in May of 2015, could we also see the Stylus version released in September?
The display on the G4 is said to be edge-to-edge 2880 x 1620 3K resolution on a 5.5-inch screen. It's also said to sport 32/64 GB of storage with micro SD support, a 16-megapixel rear camera, a whopping 3,000 mAh battery, 3 GB of RAM, and Android 5.0.1 Lollipop installed. But it's the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor that may be a sticking point as Samsung has recent scrapped plans to use the same processor in its upcoming Galaxy S6, but LG reports that it's not experiencing the same overheating issues in its own tests.
Other rumors center on the fact that LG may actually be going smaller with the G4's screen while other companies are going bigger. A 5.3-inch display is rumored while the bezel itself gets a thinning treatment down to 0.7 mm thin. LG was the first to introduce 2K resolution with the G3, so it's possible that the company continues that innovation with a smaller, but more pixel-packed screen at 624 pixels per inch.
The price of the G4 is speculated to be slightly higher than the current price of the G3, which is around $630 off-contract, and U.S. carriers are expected to continue with Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. Expect official confirmation and pricing to be released in the next two months.
