Nexus S might be the next Google phone

[zoiks]

http://phandroid.com/2010/11/11/best-buy-the-nexus-s-is-real-wouldve-been-headed-for-t-mobile-first/

According to Best buy that is. I suppose the 'S' implies the S series of Samsung Galaxy phones.

 

[SunnyD]

No, the 'S' implies that it'll "suck".

 

[zoiks]

No, the 'S' implies that it'll "suck".

You mean the same way the 'i' in the iPhone means 'idiot'.

 

[s44]

It's the rumor that wouldn't die, but this is the best corroboration yet. I sense yet another device change for rudeguy is imminent...

 

[Bateluer]

*twitch* I want a new phone . . . must have high end, open, vanilla Android . . .

 

[SunnyD]

You mean the same way the 'i' in the iPhone means 'idiot'.

Eggzactly!

To be honest, they should have called the iPhone the LPhone. L for lemming.

 

[YoungGun21]

No, the 'S' implies that it'll "suck".

Why would it suck? I seriously doubt it will be the highest end smartphone. I would imagine it will pack the usual 1Ghz, 512MB RAM, probably 8GB built in storage, decent camera. I would imagine it would have a FFC as well for software development purposes.

This phone is all about development.

 

[Bateluer]

Why would it suck? I seriously doubt it will be the highest end smartphone. I would imagine it will pack the usual 1Ghz, 512MB RAM, probably 8GB built in storage, decent camera. I would imagine it would have a FFC as well for software development purposes.

This phone is all about development.

I'd like to see a little more RAM, personally.

Lets keep in mind that Samsung's Hummingbird is currently the fastest ARM chip on the block, a stock Gingerbread on it will scream. With Google handling the software side, one of Samsung's weaknesses is negated.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Man, I just flashed on how many OS revisions Google made before my N1 wasn't a PITA to use.

Am wondering how this collaboration will go...

 

[zoiks]

http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/11/exclusive-is-this-the-nexus-s/#disqus_thread

 

[sciwizam]

Google Nexus S is the Samsung GT-i9020?


http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/11/google-nexus-s-is-the-samsung-gt-i9020/

 

[zoiks]

Pics.

http://www.engadget.com/photos/this-is-the-nexus-s-1/#3562943

 

[ponyo]

Google choosing Samsung and Galaxy S line means Gingerbread will support OS hardware GPU acceleration and Google will now also focus on games for Android. Finally we will be able to take advantage of the fast graphic processor. It would be nice if 2.3 include some custom speed increase for the Hummingbird processor like Google did for Snapdragon and Froyo 2.2.

 

[Anubis]

i really hope this will work on all carriers

 

[s44]

Heh. Note that the box says "i9020/Nexus 2" in Korean.

I basically believe it. Just hope there's a CDMA version too so it's not just Vibrant and Captivate owners here who get early Gingerbread.

edit: OK, it's hilarious that the Engadget commenters tracked down a photo taken with this model phone

 

[YoungGun21]

Yea I was just about to post that it looks to have a SIM card slot on the back, but where is the MicroSD slot?

EDIT: Must be under the battery.

 

[Deeko]

I'd like to see a little more RAM, personally.

Lets keep in mind that Samsung's Hummingbird is currently the fastest ARM chip on the block, a stock Gingerbread on it will scream. With Google handling the software side, one of Samsung's weaknesses is negated.

People love to blast companies for their manufacturer UIs, and if you don't like the look of TouchWhiz, or the slower updates, that's fine...but one thing Samsung absolutely did right with their UI was make it smoother. There's no denying that TouchWhiz 3.0-based phones are smoother than stock, Sense, or Blur of the same version. So while we don't know anything about how Gingerbread will perform - removing TouchWhiz isn't necessarily removing a "weakness" in that regard.

 

[s44]

Btw, there's a cool modded TouchWiz. AFAIK the only people running it right now are the GSM Galaxy S variants on Froyo leaks (it's not Eclair-compatible), but I'm sorta curious if it could run on a non-Samsung Froyo phone as well.

 

[vshah]

People love to blast companies for their manufacturer UIs, and if you don't like the look of TouchWhiz, or the slower updates, that's fine...but one thing Samsung absolutely did right with their UI was make it smoother. There's no denying that TouchWhiz 3.0-based phones are smoother than stock, Sense, or Blur of the same version. So while we don't know anything about how Gingerbread will perform - removing TouchWhiz isn't necessarily removing a "weakness" in that regard.

or it could just be that hummingbird is a better cpu than the snapdragons. we haven't seen touchwiz on a snapdragon or stock android on a hummingbird yet.

 

[Deeko]

or it could just be that hummingbird is a better cpu than the snapdragons. we haven't seen touchwiz on a snapdragon or stock android on a hummingbird yet.

That's true - but the CPU in the Hummingbird is similar to the one in the OMAP 3630 used by the Droid X. The Hummingbird has a better GPU, but unless Gingerbread starts enabling powerful GPU-assisted UI features we haven't seen before, that won't make much of a difference.

People don't want to give manufacturers credit for the good things they do with their software...but seriously, its not all bad. Lets not forget that until the last 6 months or so, Sense was considered by most to be the premier form of Android.

 

[MrX8503]

I like the look of the original Nexus better. Geeze Samsung, there are other materials out there in the world besides plastic.

Google choosing Samsung and Galaxy S line means Gingerbread will support OS hardware GPU acceleration and Google will now also focus on games for Android. Finally we will be able to take advantage of the fast graphic processor. It would be nice if 2.3 include some custom speed increase for the Hummingbird processor like Google did for Snapdragon and Froyo 2.2.

Whoa there, slow down, none of those claims have come true yet. Its just all assumptions for now.

or it could just be that hummingbird is a better cpu than the snapdragons. we haven't seen touchwiz on a snapdragon or stock android on a hummingbird yet.

Anand suspects that Samsung, who works closely with Apple, applied their own GPU acceleration through their TouchWiz. No amount of CPU horsepower can result into a smooth UI without using the GPU.

Check out the superclocked Android phones out there that people have, the UI is still slow on them.

Lastly check out WP7 and its pitiful Adreno GPU, yet WP7 UI is really smooth.

 

[YoungGun21]

People love to blast companies for their manufacturer UIs, and if you don't like the look of TouchWhiz, or the slower updates, that's fine...but one thing Samsung absolutely did right with their UI was make it smoother. There's no denying that TouchWhiz 3.0-based phones are smoother than stock, Sense, or Blur of the same version. So while we don't know anything about how Gingerbread will perform - removing TouchWhiz isn't necessarily removing a "weakness" in that regard.

I'm sorry, but I disagree. I don't hate TW or Sense, but they aren't smooth at all. My Fascinate has quite a bit of lag even when just swiping through homescreens or opening/closing apps. I rooted it and am now using ADW Launcher (came baked into the ROM I flashed) and all of that lag is gone. Yes I am using a custom kernel, but it is not OC'ed and it isn't Voodoo-enabled. So not much changed, other than losing TW, yet my performance increased.

TW and Sense add features, but they aren't very smooth.

 

[MrX8503]

I'm sorry, but I disagree. I don't hate TW or Sense, but they aren't smooth at all. My Fascinate has quite a bit of lag even when just swiping through homescreens or opening/closing apps. I rooted it and am now using ADW Launcher (came baked into the ROM I flashed) and all of that lag is gone. Yes I am using a custom kernel, but it is not OC'ed and it isn't Voodoo-enabled. So not much changed, other than losing TW, yet my performance increased.

TW and Sense add features, but they aren't very smooth.

You're running a custom rom with a custom launcher. Sense, Stock, or Touchwiz, there's lag involved.

 

[Bateluer]

You're running a custom rom with a custom launcher. Sense, Stock, or Touchwiz, there's lag involved.

Thats what he said.

FYI TouchWiz/Sense/Blur don't really add features so much as duplicate features already present in the OS.

 

[Deeko]

I'm sorry, but I disagree. I don't hate TW or Sense, but they aren't smooth at all. My Fascinate has quite a bit of lag even when just swiping through homescreens or opening/closing apps. I rooted it and am now using ADW Launcher (came baked into the ROM I flashed) and all of that lag is gone. Yes I am using a custom kernel, but it is not OC'ed and it isn't Voodoo-enabled. So not much changed, other than losing TW, yet my performance increased.

TW and Sense add features, but they aren't very smooth.

A) I didn't say Sense was smoother - I said it was considered better. For a long time, it was.
B) You are running a custom ROM and comparing them to a custom launcher, not the default Google launcher. Many have commented that they wonder why Google can't make the default launcher as smooth as ADW/Launcher Pro. Not the same comparison as, say, the Nexus One to the Fascinate.

I had a Droid, which ran pure, stock Android. Granted, its a year old, and doesn't have the fastest CPU, but even OC'd it was choppy as all hell. When I briefly had the Epic, it was considerably better - better than Android running on my HD2 (which admittedly is not a fair comparison either). Smoothness is just not stock Android's forte, reviews all will tell you this.