Notion Ink hinted at it, we thought it, and now Google has come through with the goods, today (well rather, this morning at 2AM) announcing the release of Android 2.3 “Gingerbread” on the Samsung/Google Nexus S (Next Success, see what I did there?). The device is set to hit US stores from December the 16th with a price of $US529 and UK stores from the 20th. There’s currently no word on it coming to Australia, but if it does we’re sure Vodafone will be there to snatch it up.
As for the details of Gingerbread, it’s going to bring the following features to the table.
- Better gaming (faster Dalvik VM)
- New forms of communication (Near-field Communications, Video Calling, Internet Calling)
- Richer Multimedia experience
- Better IME
- Improved power management
- UI refinements for a better overall user experience
I hope you guys are excited about Gingerbread as I am! I’ll be among the thousands putting a custom build on my HTC Desire when it becomes available, and Chris will be reviewing the Nexus S as soon as we get our hands on one.
To be honest I am dissapointed. Check out this comparison:
http://www.google.com/phone/compare/?phone=nexus-s&phone=nexus-one&phone=samsung-galaxy-s
There was obviously too much hype surrounding this phone but if you excluded Gingerbread it is a dumbed down version of the Galaxy S. WTF???? We expect technology to keep improving (both hardware and software) and there is no hardware improvement here.
True the hardware does not seem very revolutionary it may not matter that much as iphone users do not seem to mind too much with their fixed storage options. As Google has said before they are not a hardware but a software one and I guess they have purposely produced this phone to be good but not the must have option that the ONE was allowing the phone makers to produce more innovative options. It may also work out to be a cheaper option which Google hopes to set as the default feature set they will support.
oh man, I’m tempted to buy this thing! missed out on the Nexus One, can’t miss out on this! 😀
last comment I saw was there are no current plans for distribution outside of US and UK. So might be a while till it arrives in Aus.
yeh very lame that it has no expandable memory or HD video. However i can only hope this is not exclusive to any network, so that everybody can experience vanilla goodness.
galaxy S + stock android = nexus S?
Gingerbread is awesome, but the Nexus S is a disappointment;
– no microSD (what were they thinking!)
– no 720p recording
The nexus 1 was a hardware and software revolution. The nexus S is simply Software. There exists already so many phones on the market that are better in hardware.
The question now is should i buy the Nexus S or the Desire HD and put cyanogenMod on it to get the stock android (enhanced)
ofcourse i’m assuming cyanogen will release 2.3 as soon as an image is released…
Wow exciting news can’t wait to see new updates in my HTC DHD.