Google Nexus S Android mobile phone with Gingerbread
Google has announced the latest release of the Android platform, Android 2.3 (known as Gingerbread) and unveiled the next Android device from the 'Nexus' line of mobile phone products - Nexus S.
Nexus S was co-developed with Samsung, ensuring tight integration of hardware and software to highlight the latest advancements of the Android platform. Nexus S is the first smartphone to feature a 4" Contour Display designed to fit comfortably in the palm of your hand and along the side of your face. It also includes NFC (near field communication) hardware that lets you read information from NFC tags. NFC is a fast, versatile short-range wireless technology that can be embedded in all kinds of everyday objects like movie posters, stickers and t-shirts.
Nexus S is also the first device to ship with Android 2.3, the latest version of the software platform and the fastest version of Android yet. It delivers a number of improvements, including user interface refinements, NFC support, a new keyboard and text selection tool, Internet (VoIP/SIP) calling, improved copy/paste functionality and gyroscope sensor support, which is especially useful for games. For developers, the Gingerbread SDK/NDK is now available, and in the coming weeks Gingerbread will be open sourced.
Other features of the Nexus S include:
1 GHz Hummingbird processor with dedicated Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) -- the fast processor combined with GPU makes the Nexus S one of the fastest phones on the market, great for video games and playing back video and browsing the web
The Contour Display reflects up to four times less glare under direct sunlight and is up to 1.5 times brighter than traditional LCD displays
Front and rear facing cameras for video chats on the move
16GB of internal memory
Andy Rubin, VP, Engineering, said, "As the lead device for Gingerbread, Nexus S combines great hardware with great software to provide users with a fast and powerful mobile experience. We believe Nexus S will drive innovation in the mobile space that will benefit our users, our partners and developers working on Android, and the entire mobile industry."
Nexus S delivers a "pure Google" experience, meaning unlocked, unfiltered access to the best Google mobile services and the latest Android releases and updates. Nexus S will receive the latest Android software platform updates first, pushed out directly from Google.
The very first Android phone hit the market in November 2008. Just over two years later, Android's vision of openness has spurred the development of hundreds of different Android devices. Today, over 200,000 Android devices are activated daily worldwide.
Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy UK retailers will offer Nexus S for free from £35/month or SIM free from £549.95.