Google's Nexus 4 smartphone reappears briefly for Canadian buyers

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The much desired yet ever-elusive Google Nexus 4 smartphone was made available briefly yesterday at Google's Play Store. As a prospective buyer who signed up to be notified of the Nexus 4's availability weeks ago, I received an email at 1:35PM from Google stating that the Nexus 4 would be available for purchase starting at 3:00 PM Eastern time.

Having missed the chance to get a Nexus 4 the first time it was offered, I decided I felt lucky enough to try again. I cancelled my afternoon appointments, bought a big double-double from Timmy's, and fired up Chrome on my notebook. The hunt was on.

Remembering that Google opened up the sale of 30-minutes early the last time (sneaky bastards), I started abusing the refresh button at around 2:45 but nothing was happening.

Then at 3:00 there was finally an option to order a 16GB Nexus 4, so I fired away holding my breath as I waited for a shopping cart to appear, then for the order confirmation. 

I was only able to order one unit (which is great, because the first time around that wasn't the case so prospectors ordered multiples which they likely resold at insane prices). Limiting one per buyer makes much more sense for the common good.

Still not convinced the order ahd gone through, I waited around four minutes with my fingers crossed and finally got an e-mail confirmation that the order had indeed gone through and should be on its way to me in 1-2 weeks. I hear that by 40 minutes into the ambush sale, delivery times were estimated at 7-8 weeks. Geez, the demand for this smartphone is insane. 

It seems the 8GB models sold out way faster than the 16GB models (or may have not been offered this time at all) and the rubber bumper, which is the protective 'case' that fits around the Nexus 4, was similarly out of stock. No mention of the cool inductive charging stand or any other accessories. 

That was my experience buying the Nexus 4 (full review to follow once the unit is received). It seems that Google learned from the challenges it faced the first time it made the phone available. The Play Store website refreshed a lot faster than the first time around and I didn't experience the shopping cart glitch. It seems that, while still limited in stock, Google was able to successfully deliver the goods this time around.

Update on Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at 11:38AM by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

It's Tuesday December 18, 2012 and my Nexus 4 is supposedly en route as per UPS. Expect my first impressions in a few days as well full review after the holidays.