Nexus Prime Release Date May Be Oct. 11

The Nexus series of Android handsets have been Google’s flagship smartphones since the original Nexus One was released. The smartphones are designed to fit Google’s original vision of Android, and are in many ways the strongest competitors to Apple’s iPhone.

The last (and second) Nexus smartphone, the Nexus S, was released in December. So it’s about time for an update … and it just might be coming in the “Google Episode” at Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2011, an event at CTIA in San Diego.

“A look at what’s new from Android”

I wonder what that could be? The obvious answer, besides the Nexus Prime, is Ice Cream Sandwich: The new version of Android, possible video of which has already been leaked to the Internet. It’s already been anticipated to come out late this year, and Oct. 11 seems like a good bet, especially at a Google Event.

The video shows it to be, in many ways, a cross between Honeycomb and Gingerbread. It doesn’t show the rumored “Honeycomb bar” with the on-screen home button, though, possibly because it’s running on a handset with hardware keys.

The release of the first Nexus One didn’t coincide with a new release of the Android operating system. The Nexus S was the “lead device” for the Gingerbread version of Android, though, and Google may want to show off a new handset with Ice Cream Sandwich … to show them how it’s done, so to speak.

Crisp, clean, and bloatware-free

The Nexus Prime’s hardware can easily be assumed to be top of the line. Rumors suggest that it will have a thin metal chassis, a giant Nexus S-style curved Super AMOLED display, and a dual-core processor running at up to 1.8 GHz.

But what about software-wise? The Nexus smartphones have always been as close to “Pure Google” as one can get, and if a leaked list of preinstalled apps is right, there will be virtually nothing to get in between you and your Android. Nearly all of the added apps are Google’s, such as Google Earth and Google Maps.

There are a few interesting add-ons, though, that Cameron Summerson of Android Police notes; like a possible app to sync your bookmarks with the Chrome browser, and an app that appears to work with an NFC chip. The Nexus S was the first Android smartphone to feature Google Wallet functionality, and it’s probable that Google will build on its success with the Nexus Prime.

But is that really what it’s called?

It’s important to keep in mind that until the phone — or whatever Samsung and Google have up their sleeves — is unveiled, all of this is rumor and hearsay.

Hopefully whatever they’ve got will live up to the hype … and maybe even give Apple’s upcoming event a run for its money!

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.


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