Google expected to unveil Android 'Key Lime Pie,' new Nexus handset at Oct. 29 event

Less than a week after Apple's "iPad mini" event, Google will host its own media briefing where the company is expected to unveil the next major version of Android, as well as a new Nexus-branded smartphone.

Media were invited this week to event scheduled for Monday, Oct. 29, in New York City. The invitation shows the Android search bar with the tagline "The playground is open," set against a cartoon New YOrk skyline.

In addition to a new Nexus phone expected to be built by LG, Google is also expected to show off the next major version of its Android mobile operating system, dubbed "Key Lime Pie." The successor to Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" is expected to come preinstalled on the new LG handset, based on the Optimus G design.

Beyond falling less than a week after Apple's Oct. 23 event, Oct. 29 marks the same day that Microsoft will hold its own press briefing across the U.S., in San Francisco. That's where Microsoft will formally launch its own Windows Phone 8 platform, which aims to compete with both Apple's iPhone and devices running Google Android.

Google's event will be held at the Basketball City venue in New York, and will kick off at 10 a.m. Eastern, 7 a.m. Pacific. Microsoft has not yet revealed the venue in San Francisco for its Windows Phone 8 presentation, but it will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific.

And next Tuesday, Apple's event will be held in San Jose, Calif. at the California Theatre. The presentation, in which the company is expected to unveil a smaller iPad along with new Macs, will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific.