The Samsung Nexus S
Photo: Samsung
Samsung announced today that it will debut its newest Galaxy-class smart phone, the Nexus S, on December 16. So far, the phone's only announced availability is from Best Buy, in an unlocked version for a price as yet undisclosed. Though a carrier was not announced, the phone specs indicate that the Nexus S will be optimized to run on T-Mobile's 3G data network.
The new phone will run the latest version of Android Version 2.3 (also known as Gingerbread) and will be equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. NFC allows the phone to read information on everyday objects such as stickers and posters with embedded NFC chips; it also allows shoppers to pay for things by waving the phone before an NFC-equipped register.
Besides enabling NFC, the new operating system is reportedly faster, with improved gaming capabilities as well as better power management controls to improve battery life. A "new and improved" multi-touch keyboard is also promised, along with native support for VoIP/SIP telephony.
The new phone's hardware is equally impressive. Besides NFC, the phone sports a 4-inch Super AMOLED touch screen, a fast 1-GHz processor, and for gamers, a gyroscope sensor that reacts when you tilt the Nexus S up or down or pan to the left or right. There's also a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and a front-facing camera (VGA) for video chats.
Look for our First Look of the Nexus S when it arrives in our labs in the next few days.
—Mike Gikas
