Here’s some interesting and very specific dish from an anonymous tipster to The Android Show. This caller is a regular to the podcast, who has given them some reliable early-stage leaks before that have been right on.
First, the setup: The Google Nexus One forums are being closed to new posts, as of November 1st. That led to rumors that a Nexus Two had to be coming. Would HTC manufacture the new one? Well, there’s a Samsung Mobile Event on November 8th and there’s a rumor they’ll be building the Nexus Two.
While this is being discussed on the show, the tipster called in with some very specific comments. First of all, the new phone is going to be called the Nexus S.
It’s a Google-experience device, and will be released running Android OS 2.3. (Google-experience used to mean all the Google apps and the Market were unrestricted on the phone, now it seems to mean stock Android without a User Interface on top.)
Like the Samsung Galaxy S family, the Nexus S will have a four inch AMOLED screen, and the same Hummingbird processor. And like the Samsung Vibrant (the Galaxy S variant sold by T-Mobile), it won’t have any physical buttons on the front.
It will have at least GSM, but the carrier isn’t determined yet and no word about whether CDMA is an option. (If it isn’t, that means Verizon and Sprint are out of luck until they build out those “4G” networks more thoroughly.)
And, like the Nexus One, rooting is supposed to be “easy.”
So, is the Nexus S just a Samsung Vibrant with Gingerbread (Android OS 2.3)? No dual core Tegra processor? No front camera for video chat? No next-generation GPU (not that the Hummingbird chipset is weak on graphics)? The Galaxy S is a fantastic smartphone, but didn’t you expect the next Nexus to push further ahead?
Would you want one? Why or why not?
Update: As I was writing this, Taylor Wimberly posted his opinion that the “Nexus Two” will be announced at the Samsung 11/8 event. He says he’s getting a consistent story from insiders about the Nexus Two. Plus he figures that Samsung makes the best hardware, so they should work to their strength and let Google deal with the software. He loves the Galaxy S, but it’s still running Eclair! If Samsung launches a new phone with its awesome hardware, then slaps on stock Gingerbread, that could be the best of all possible worlds.
But did it occur to him they’d slap Gingerbread on a Vibrant?
Source & Image: The Android Show