LG's road to smartphone success has been rockier than most. After false starts with the Optimus series, LG basically took 2012 off; a sabbatical from the top-tier end of the market to gather its thoughts.

During this time it focused on the pre-paid and BYO segment with its cheaper L-Series models like the Optimus L5, and having enjoyed some success with them, now makes its return to the big leagues with the Optimus G.

LG is also responsible for the popular, but difficult to obtain, Google Nexus 4. If you are familiar with Google's mobile unicorn, you will have a headstart in imagining the Optimus G. They share the same glass finish, front and back, and an identically specced 4.7-inch IPS display.

LG relies on Corning Gorilla Glass 2 to cover its phones, and promises some durability in line with how Corning markets the Gorilla Glass products. Still, as it is with glass on any phone, you don't want to be dropping the Opitmus G.

Starry, starry night

Both the G and the Nexus 4 have a sparkling, reflective back plate under the glass that catches the light, and your attention, when you hold it in a certain way. The handset shimmers, like electronic circuitry when the light bounces off this surface.

The Optimus G also has a stainless steel trim that runs around the edge of the phone and really pulls the design together.It feels nice too, with rounded corners, so it sits comfortably in the hand.

All this said, the Optimus G still isn't particularly eye-catching. For all of the criticism leveled at Samsung for its plastic handsets, they are instantly recognisable as Galaxy handsets. The Optimus G is a featureless black box when not in use, but then, perhaps this is your preference.

Button placement is similar to the Galaxy S3, with a power button on the right side and volume on the left. The Optimus has a headphone socket on the top of the handset and a micro USB port on the bottom.

A micro SIM can be inserted into a space on the side of the phone, under the volume rocker. To get this slot out you need a sharp pin, similar to the iPhone and HTC's range of phones.

The handset is completely sealed, removing a user's ability to access the battery, and it doesn't have a slot for micro SD cards either.

The handset does have 32GB of storage though, which is rather generous, so hopefully most people won't miss the expandable memory option.

On the back of the handset you'll find a small, square camera lens and an LED flash. Beside it, on our review unit, it states that the camera is 13-megapixels. This is a promise to photgraphers that the Optimus G never lives up to -- but more on that later in the review.

The first thing you'll see when you power the phone up is LG's very cool unlock animation. It is difficult to describe: it's sort of like a magnifying bubble that grows in size as you swipe your finger across the screen, revealing a distorted version of the screen underneath.

It is one of those small touches that barely impacts on your use of the phone, but has the ability to make your day all the same. We challenge you to handle this phone for a couple of minutes and not spend the whole time swiping back and forth on the lockscreen and watching the mysterious bubble.

There's no official word yet on UK plans and pricing through the telcos, but Expansys is now selling the Optimus G outright for £469.99.

In Australia, the Optimus G is available through Telstra for $63 per month on a 24-month plan or for AU$699 upfront.

BlackBerry knows that success with its new BlackBerry 10 OS relies on getting the new software into the hands of the people it hopes to convert. What better way than through the devices they are trying to overthrow.

In a cunning marketing move, BlackBerry has designed an interactive experience that let's users test drive the new BlackBerry 10 OS in the browser of the smartphone they have in their pockets; namely iPhones and Androids.

The tour takes you through several of the key differences between BlackBerry's new OS and the current market leaders, focusing on how the Hub works, the predictive keyboard and the Time-shift camera.

Our hats are off to BlackBerry for this clever approach to one of its major customer obstacles, it's just a shame that these sorts of demos don't work very well using mobile browsers.

Slow start

For starters, the demo is a guided tour and not a free-flowing trial of the system. You follow the onscreen instructions and move from section to section. It is a shame that there isn't a screen of instructions followed by free use of the gestures to play around.

It is also painfully slow, and while we understand why this is, we wonder whether all of the people BlackBerry is targeting with this site will understand too. It would be a shame if they assumed the real BB 10 system was as clunky to use.

If you can look beyond these quibbles, it is worth a look. Go to http://techradar.com/blackberry.com/glimpse, but remember, you'll need to use phone's browser to see it.

Today’s update for the Twitter app on Android devices just made tweeting 140 characters a little easier thanks to a much-needed redesign.

“Its new design reflects a native Android experience,” said Twitter technical lead for Android Jonathan Le.

First and foremost, that translates into a Twitter app with wider and taller timelines which make use of a device’s entire screen.

There’s also a flat navigation bar, and the ability to tap and hold for quick actions.

Twitter users on Android can now quickly navigate between tabs by swiping across their phone or tablets display.

Another time-saving perk to today’s update is the ability to see username and hashtag suggestions when a user begins typing his or her tweet or initiates a search.

iPhone, mobile versions also update

While the Twitter app update for Android received most of the social networking company’s love, there were some design tweaks for the iPhone and mobile versions, too.

“All three mobile apps, plus twitter.com, now show more types of content in expanded Tweets,” announced Le.

This expandable content includes photo galleries, apps, and product listings.

Twitter users will notice that there is a new link below embedded content that is shared from another mobile app.

Now, if a user clicks a link below a Foursquare check-in or Flickr photo, for example, it’ll send them from the Twitter app to the native mobile app - not the website, which probably doesn't have them logged in.

Twitter, playing nice with other social media companies, will even send users to download the linked app if it’s not already installed.

New Twitter Android design rolling out

The Twitter updates for Android, iPhone, the mobile web are rolling out over the next several days, according to the company.

However, Android owners who still have Twitter app version 3.8 or lower can go straight to the Google Play and update to Twitter for Android 4.0 today.

iOS device owners are also seeing the Twitter app, version 5.5, in the Apple App Store right now.

The Rdio streaming music service that launched in 2010 has been joined by a related pay-per-video video service known appropriately as Vdio.

Unlike Rdio, though, Vdio has more in common with iTunes' video on demand model than it does with Netflix; Vdio is pay-as-you-watch, allowing users to "rent" movies and TV shows from major studios.

Rdio, on the other hand, is a subscription-based service (like Spotify).

The new VOD service is currently available in the U.S. and U.K., but there's a catch: only paying Rdio Unlimited subscribers can access it.

Say what?

Currently Vdio is only available to customers who are already paying for Rdio subscriptions. Those subscribers get $25 of Vdio credit to promote the launch of the new service.

Anyone else is currently out of luck, though Rdio Vice President of Product Malthe Sigurdsson told GigaOM that that will change this summer.

Sigurdsson also reportedly revealed plans to expand to Canada "in the coming months."

What sets Vdio apart?

Vdio has a few unique features to differentiate itself from competing streaming video services.

Chief among those are Vdio's social features, which are closely tied to Rdio and allow users to follow their friends and see recommendations based on their tastes.

Sigurdsson stressed to GigaOM that basing the service on users' personal networks "rather than a marketing department" is a major plus.

Content from major studios and networks including Disney, Fox, Warner Bros., Universal, NBC, CBS, ABC, Comedy Central, Showtime, and the BBC can be streamed over the web and an iPad app (though unfortunately you can't purchase anything through the app itself).

Rdio is already available on a number of platforms, though, and Vdio could hypothetically expand outward to Android, Roku and other connected devices too.

Sigurdsson also teased that Vdio subscriptions could be added in the future, according to the report.

Yet more has leaked out about what Facebook supposedly plans to show during an event at 10 a.m. PDT Thursday.

Thanks once again to @evleaks, we may have our first fleshed out look at the Facebook Home UI.

Published by 9to5Google, which has provided a number of details over the last few days regarding Facebook Home and a device now known as the HTC First, the images show an in-color UI with a focus on photos.

The images show a phone screen that has photos taking up the entire screen, with bubbles of info - missed calles, Instagram alerts and messages - floating above.

Coming into focus?

Yesterday, @evleaks posted an image it claimed was of the HTC First, though the rendering was suspiciously generic. It also had the markings of Photoshop, never a good sign towards authenticity.

Today's images matche with the phone shown yesterday, so at least @evleaks gets points for consistency.

We get a glimpse at what might be the app launcher, and while it looks like any Android app center, you'll notice the Status, Photo and Check In options along the top.

Another leaked image presumably shows a photo and the various share options users can hit to get their pic on their various social networks - Instagram, Messenger, Picasa, Google+, Twitter, Messaging and, of course, Facebook - as well as Gmail, texts or trash.

We'll know if all the images - and all the leaks - are legit tomorrow. Tune into TechRadar for the lowdown on Facebook Home, HTC First, or whatever it is FB has in store.