In Only hours ago, at an event in Hong Kong, Google and Samsung unveiled their much-anticipated mobile device. There was speculation in the media that the device would be called Nexus Prime, but the name has turned out to be Galaxy Nexus. Samsung has made the device, which is the first to run a new version of Googles Android 4.0, more popularly known as Ice Cream Sandwich. The Galaxy Nexus is the third phone to be made in direct collaboration between Samsung and Google.
J.K. Shin, head of Samsung's mobile business, said in a statement, "Samsung and Google have closely collaborated to push the mobile experience forward."
"Ice Cream Sandwich demonstrates the Android platform's continued innovation with one release that works on phones and tablets and everything in between," Andy Rubin, head of Google's mobile business said in a statement.
Impressive specifications
Perhaps the device packs enough punch to eat into the market of Apples iPhone 4S. The Galaxy Prime features a 1.2 gigahertz dual-core processor, a 4.65-inch Super Amoled screen with a resolution of 1280 by 720, 1 gigabyte of RAM, 32 gigabytes of storage, a 5-megapixel camera and a pronounced curved shape that is intended to cradle the face. The body is a svelte 8.9 millimeters thick. The key attraction in the phone is, of course, the Ice Cream Sandwich OS.
The Ice Cream Sandwich OS is capable of making the device completely free of physical buttons, which have been replaced by on-screen equivalents. This is Googles first OS to run on both tablets and phones. Google hopes that this will encourage app developers to work on their platform, rather than on Apples iOS. The thing is that iOS 5 packs a ton of improvements, something that 25 million people have discovered firsthand in just a week since the software became available.
The idea of voice recognition has become hot with Apples announcement of Siri. Google has long had some basic voice recognition in Android, including a series of voice actions, but does the Ice Cream Sandwich have something comparable to Siri? Perhaps we have to wait for the user feedback on the phone before reaching a final verdict on Ice Cream Sandwich.
Rise of Samsung
Samsung has a lot to gain from the success of Galaxy Nexus. Currently Samsung and Apple are neck and neck; both have overtaken Finland's Nokia in the smartphone space. A successful Nexus Prime could enable Samsung to equal, if not overtake Apple, in the smartphone race. Four million iPhone 4S units got sold in the first weekend the product was on store shelves. Hardly anyone expects the Galaxy Nexus to have the same kind of response.
However, it still remains unclear how Google will continue to pick its favourite Android partners. The search giant plans to get into the hardware business itself with the planned $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility. Of course, Google has stated that it would remain a neutral partner to all of its vendors, but things can changed very rapidly in the mobile space. Samsung has been keeping its OS options open. It has not given up entirely on its homegrown mobile OS, Bada.
The event for Galaxy Nexus launch had been scheduled to take place last week, but it was postponed out of respect for Steve Jobs, who died earlier this month.
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