They do say that “loose lips sink ships,” and while a little secret-slipping might not hurt the prospects of a new smartphone by major manufacturers too badly, it really does take some of the mystery off these firms’ special launch events.

Interestingly, these sorts of leaks prove that information comes from all the strangest places. According to IBN Live, Amit Gujral, the LG India Mobile Product Planning chief, has essentially confirmed the existence of the LG Neuxs 4, the Android 4.2 operating system and their October 29 launch date. Gujral made the claims at a launch event for the Optimus Vu, where he also confirmed a late-November release for the Nexus 4.

This goes quite a way beyond the usual Picasa photo leaks and surreptitious snapshots of the completed hardware, since it comes from an individual in the manufacturer’s top management. The executive also confirmed outstanding rumors that the smartphone would get a 4.7-inch display and a 1.5GHz quad-core processor.

Given that the Optimus G uses somewhat similar specifications, it’s no stretch to suggest that the Nexus 4 will essentially be LG’s latest flagship crammed into a chassis similar in design to the Galaxy Nexus.

If anything, all of the rumored specifications promise a high-end experience, except for the somewhat anemic 8GB/16GB storage option and the lack of a microSD card slot, which follows the footsteps of previous Nexus handsets.

The other element of the Nexus 4 launch is the introduction of Android 4.2. At this point, we can’t really say if this incremental update will deserve a new code name from Google, but earlier leaks suggest that a new “quick settings” menu, beefed-up security features and improved battery life could all be available in this new software.