No worries, the more you know ;). In any case, keep an eye on your XDA forum, they've already dropped 4.4 for the GSM version of the gNex, so yours might not be far off...

Hip?

... You can't just "Download 4.4" and put it on your phone anyways. In order for it to work on your phone you'll have to have a port that functions properly with your phone's radios/hardware/etc. In the process of building a port to work with your hardware, why wouldn't a developer include the keyboard?

My n5 is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, but I'm using Vanir on my gNex (Sprint variant). I guess I'll revert my phone back to CM and put it up on Swappa once my new toy gets here xD

If someone makes a port for that device, I'm sure they'll include the physical keyboard in the port...

Not for people with hardkeys. You're completely right with respect to softkeys, but how many phones actually use that.

It's not the easiest process in the world to make an OS work with all the different hardware in these phones. It's also tough because of how many different companies provide the parts for each phones. There's also a degree of testing and fine-tuning before they just drop an OS into the world.

Devs will get it out to users, if you're willing to root (with the new CM installer, it's REALLY simple). Also, there's a petition floating around g+ and elsewhere for Google to drop KitKat for the gNex.

Not sure where that's coming from.. According to Wikipedia (I know, i know, but in this case it's true...), the S3 came out in May of 2012... Just about 16 months ago. It's a huge fail, IMO, on the part of the manufacturers for not developing OS updates on their hardware. I don't blame Verizon or Sprint for these…

Yea, you MIGHT be able to get a signal using an activated SIM, but the SIM only allows for a functioning LTE connection, CDMA is a built-in function.

You're (sort of) correct. The n5 has a 4.95" screen. So, using the Pythagorean theorem:

No, some idiot rumored that and a bunch of dupes jumped on the bandwagon (no offense). There's no reason the manufacturer would have done that, especially for ONLY $50 more when you're looking at a 30% increase in battery power and then doubling the memory...

Actually, the development of HealthCare.gov wasn't even bid for... Which really raises some questions about the whole process. The company that got it was a no-bid contract, and it's looking like the total cost was upwards of 400-500 million dollars for just a website (that hasn't functioned properly for more than 30…

It won't work on Verizon, Google Support has confirmed it, and it's limited in CDMA/LTE bands to the ones that aren't used by Verizon. Basically, it CAN'T connect to VZW, even if it wanted to.

Seconded

Great question!
With all the warning sirens Kouch & Co. were putting out back when someone found a weird messaging handler in 4.4, I'm assuming that's a steady push to make Hangouts the best/only option for messaging in general. If what they were worried about is a real thing, then I would say, yes, that's their goal…

You, my friend, need Voice+ by the CyanogenMod team...

"Project Gem"... That outrageous... Truly, truly, truly outrageous!

The thing is the hardware HIGHLY suggests that it's more about physical source of the audio than it is about noise cancellation. I say this because there have been many references to the Xbox allowing voice controls and interactions from 2 people at a time, and the device is using the same microphone array as it did…

Actually, while I'm sure it has some kind of self-noise-cancellation features built in, the main trick to the kinect, in terms of audio recognition, is the fact that the microphone array is so good at picking out sounds from specific physical regions in the room. Meaning that with the kinect cameras it can visually…