After all the hype and hoopla, not to mention a week-long delay in its official unveiling, the world’s first Android Ice Cream Sandwich handset has been given the nod by Samsung and Google. Dubbed the Samsung Galaxy Prime, it packs in some stellar new features on top of its Android 4.0 OS. And best of all, we’ve confirmed it’ll be landing in Blighty soon too. Read on for all the details.
The Samsung Galaxy Nexus had been expected for weeks. And while its OS, Android Ice Cream Sandwich, was detailed back at Google I/O in May, it’s now been finalised and offers a sleek new take on Google’s open source operating system.
There’s a new Face Unlock feature, letting you peer into the phone’s front-facing snapper and fire it up by using your own mug. NFC has been put front and centre with the Android Beam feature, letting you share YouTube clips, web pages and contacts by simply holding the phone close to another NFC-packing Android device. Plus a new Voice Typing function, for dictating texts, emails or tweets has got its sights set on the iPhone 4S’s Siri app.
Hardware-wise, the camera packs a stunning single motion panorama function, which brings to mind Sony’s ace sweep panorama mode, although at 5 megapixels, the snapper lacks a killer sensor. Under the hood there’s a 1.2GHz processor, with a gorgeous 4.65-inch ‘sAMOLED’ panel and 4G speeds (in the US). The 8.84mm thin frame makes it more slimline than its newly minted Apple rival too.
Vodafone, Three and Phones4U have all said they’ll be selling the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. There are no specific release dates or tariffs yet, but expect a raft of deals to be made available soon.
