Google Launches Nexus S Phone In UK and US

siliconbits writes "Google has made its second bid for a slice of the mobile phone market, with the launch of its Nexus S phone. The Samsung-built device comes less than 12 months after the launch of the firm's Nexus One, built by HTC, which failed to win over many consumers. The Nexus S will initially be launched in the UK and US, and will be available 'from the end of the month'."

Comments

Links

[IamTheRealMike]

Official website

Info about Gingerbread

Re:Links

[EEPROMS]

Nexus S had me interested until I found out the phone has no SD card slot. This may not be important to some but not being able to change rom's on the fly via the SD card is a bit of a downer for me.

It comes preloaded...

[Anonymous Coward]

WITH PORN! Now that's how you sell a phone to geeks!

Re:It comes preloaded...

[ifiwereasculptor]

Porn? In my S?

Re:It comes preloaded...

[rwa2]

Without an SD card, where will you stick it in? Up your S?

KEYBOARD

[Deliveranc3]

Give us a KEYBOARD FOOLS!

The G2 is gonna be sweeeet!

Re:KEYBOARD

[DeathFromSomewhere]

For me, SlideIT has completely replaced the hard keyboard on my milestone. Try it, you won't go back.

Re:KEYBOARD

[JohnnyBGod]

SlideIT and Swype are, indeed, excellent. You still can't use them without looking at the phone, though.

Re:KEYBOARD

[leptons]

NO KEYBOARD, NO PURCHASE. it is simple as that for many people, including myself, and i am looking for an android phone to replace a long line of winmo phones with keyboards that i've owned. there is no substitute for a real keyboard. i am not going to use a device that blocks half of the screen real estate with an OSK. it is like paying for a device with half the screen size. . it just won't fly with the tasks i use the device for.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Pojut]

I was like that too, especially since I used an HTC Ozone for so long (which had possibly the greatest keyboard ever put on a phone.) Now that I have a phone without a hard keyboard though, I don't really miss it at all. Besides, most of the slider keyboards that come on Android phones are ass-tastic...they're either mushy, or small, or oddly laid out.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Doc Ruby]

What about a separate Bluetooth keyboard? If it were really thin, and fitted into a bracket in a shockproofing case for the phone, it would seem to be better to be able to choose which keyboard model you prefer, and to choose to leave it behind for a smaller phone.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Anonymous Coward]

NexSUCKS more like, amirite? High Five!
...
...
(C'mon brah, yer leavin' me hangin'...)

.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Reapman]

Then get one with a keyboard... not sure what the issue is here. This isn't iPhone where there's only the Nexus S to choose from, there's at least several with slide out keyboards.

Now if your PROVIDER doesn't offer one, then that's your Providers fault, not Google.

As someone that doesn't mind not having a hardware keyboard, I rather like being able to choose keyboard or no keyboard. Just because the Nexus S doesn't have it, doesn't mean they all don't.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Nadaka]

Thats why I chose the Samsung Epic, had a ton of features, but the keyboard was a requirement for me.

Re:KEYBOARD

[h4rr4r]

Neither one works worth a damn for ssh or other work related stuff.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Rasperin]

There are literally _tons_ of android phones with keyboards: Verizon Droid2, T-Mobile G1/G2, Sprint Moment and Epic, and that's just dusting the playing field. Now, I agree, I won't be buying the Nexus S for two reasons, A) Why pay full price for a phone that doesn't even support 4g and B) no keyboard.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Enderandrew]

My personal phone is an iPhone 4, and I use a Blackberry for work. I long assumed I'd hate the virtual keyboard, but I actually prefer it to the Blackberry physical keyboard.

Re:KEYBOARD

[hitmark]

Frogpad? And also think there is a 4 key bluetooth chord keyboard out there.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Anonymous Coward]

Get yerself a T-Mobile (HTC) G2. One hell of an awesome phone. FroYo, keyboard, AND will use wifi for voice (inbound and out) if you ask it to.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Anonymous Coward]

Not just a keyboard but how about a decent manufacturer. HTC (Chinese POS) and Samsung (Korean POS) suck at making phones.

Give me a Nokia Android phone or a Motorola with decent styling. Then we might have something.

Re:KEYBOARD

[sexconker]

For me, SlideIT has completely replaced the hard keyboard on my milestone. Try it, you won't go back.

Then you are a terrible person.
Physical keyboards are simply superior.
Hell, even if you claim you're as fast with a software keyboard as with a hardware keyboard (lies), the mere fact that a hardware keyboard doesn't cover have the screen is reason enough to use it.

(I'm talking about slide-out keyboards. Hardware keyboards that cover half of the face of the phone do screw you over by requiring a physically smaller screen, but you get the added benefit of one-handed use, providing you have an opposable thumb.)

Re:KEYBOARD

[DeathFromSomewhere]

You've never used a keyboard like SlideIT have you? Swype (basically the same thing as SlideIT) currently has the record for fastest text message input. Software keyboard are not only faster, the devices lacking hardware keyboards can be smaller and lighter too. And less expensive. http://phandroid.com/2010/08/24/text-message-speed-record-broken-thanks-to-swype-on-the-samsung-galaxy-s/

Re:KEYBOARD

[Anonymous Coward]

G2 has a real keyboard, and 99%-vanilla android 2.2

Re:KEYBOARD

[Anonymous Coward]

KEYBOARD, NO PURCHASE. It's as simple as that for many people, including myself. Go buy a different phone if you want a hardware keyboard, but don't expect every single goddamn phone to cater to your exact tastes. A hardware keyboard is nothing but extra space, weight, and cost for me, so I'm happy they don't have one.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Adm.Wiggin]

The fact that the keyboards are all useless crap is the real issue here. Sure, there are plenty of Android models out there with keyboards, but none of them have a halfway decent keyboard. The G1 has been the best so far, and it's already too antiquated to really consider buying new.

Re:KEYBOARD

[balbus000]

I'm currently looking into which android phone to buy and found this to be amazing for comparing them.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Reapman]

WHOA, nice find, even has my Acer Liquid E on there, bookmarked!

Re:KEYBOARD

[Anonymous Coward]

HTC is Taiwainese, IIRC. The biggest reason I like HTC is that they offer the source code for their stuff from their website; no other phone maker does.

I agree with you on one thing -- I would love a Nokia Android phone, assuming it was rootable/custom ROM-able. Nokia does phones right. For example, the UI on their dumbphones is quite good, especially when comparing it to LG and other stuff in that range.

Re:KEYBOARD

[horza]

Since the Nexus S is just a re-badged Galaxy S, why not wait for the re-badged Galaxy S Pro? It should be exactly what you are looking for. It is also the phone I am waiting for.

Phillip.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Tumbleweed]

SlideIT and Swype are, indeed, excellent. You still can't use them without looking at the phone, though.

That's not necessarily a bad thing.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Nadaka]

Blackberries have a tiny cramped keyboard due to its orientation across the bottom of the phone. Most android phones have a slide out keyboard that spans the entire length of the phone.

The Epic's keyboard is ~4.5 inches wide, that is pretty comfortable for typing with 2 thumbs.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Tumbleweed]

NO KEYBOARD, NO PURCHASE. it is simple as that for many people, including myself

And it's the other way around for many of us. I don't want to have a larger than necessary phone by wasting volume and weight on an unnecessary thing like a physical keyboard. Swype works great, and is WAY faster than I would be able to go with a tiny little cellphone keyboard. I'm a VERY fast touch typist on my computer, but a cellphone keyboard is too small to be of any real use now that we have UI advancements like Swype.

If you want a keyboard on your phone, then get a phone with a keyboard. There is no one design that will appeal to everyone. It's not "wrong" for a phone to not have a physical keyboard, just wrong for you. :)

Re:KEYBOARD

[Tumbleweed]

I won't be buying the Nexus S for two reasons, A) Why pay full price for a phone that doesn't even support 4g and B) no keyboard.

Without HSPA+, this thing is dead in the water for anyone who knows anything about cellphones.

I have an EVO on Sprint, and the only hardware thing this has that I'd really like is NFC. The rumour mill stated this phone was delayed so they could re-do the design using a dual-core CPU. Apparently not. Too bad - this phone is gonna get slaughtered by the phone announcements at CES next month. This phone will not sell well after the xmas rush.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Flipao]

wgat dp yiu neam? I csn trpe jusy fune

Re:KEYBOARD

[Flipao]

NO KEYBOARD, NO PURCHASE. it is simple as that for many people, including myself, and i am looking for an android phone to replace a long line of winmo phones with keyboards that i've owned. there is no substitute for a real keyboard. i am not going to use a device that blocks half of the screen real estate with an OSK. it is like paying for a device with half the screen size. . it just won't fly with the tasks i use the device for.

Well then don't buy it, there's plenty Android phones that have a keyboard, no need to rant about the ones that don't.

Re:KEYBOARD

[hawguy]

I'm currently looking into which android phone to buy and found this to be amazing for comparing them.

That tool would be amazingly useful if it had a way to search by feature rather than only by model name. I want a phone with a keyboard, but I don't know all of the phone models that have a keyboard.

While I'm posting -- which Android phone has the best keyboard? I have the original Droid now and the keyboard sucks -- it's way too flat. The Droid 2 seems to be a little better, but still not that great. My Blackberry keyboard is much better than my Droid keyboard, but still not all that great.

My ideal phone keyboard would be something like the old Psion 5 keyboard. it seems like something like that would be possible in a form factor a little thicker than my droid since the keys can be depressed when the phone is in its folded state.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Tumbleweed]

Since the Nexus S is just a re-badged Galaxy S, why not wait for the re-badged Galaxy S Pro? It should be exactly what you are looking for. It is also the phone I am waiting for.

Make sure that Galaxy S Pro has HSPA+. I can't _believe_ they didn't include that in the Nexus S. Ridiculously dumb move.

If you want an Android phone with hardware keyboard and HSPA+, on T-Mobile, the myTouch 4G is the phone to get. No NFC, though, which is a shame.

CES next month should see a lot of very big phone announcements, though, so everyone would be well advised to just wait until then. Dual-core phones, LTE phones, etc.

Re:KEYBOARD

[sexconker]

Software keyboards are not faster than hardware keyboards. I'll race you any day.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Just Some Guy]

There are literally _tons_ of android phones with keyboards

There are literally _tons_ of Kins, too, but weight isn't perhaps the best unit of measure here.

Re:KEYBOARD

[AltairDusk]

I can think of a few phones you may be interested in then:

T-mobile: HTC G2

Verizon: Motorola Droid2 or Droid Pro

Sprint: Samsung Epic (Galaxy S line)

I'm honestly not sure about AT&T, I don't consider the Backflip worthy of recommendation.

Re:KEYBOARD

[AltairDusk]

Having spent a lot of time using friends' Motorola Droid and Droid X phones with my own HTC Nexus One to compare against I have a hard time believing someone would put Moto over HTC. The build quality on the N1 is fantastic and HTC is far more friendly to the open-source and hacking community. Motorola on the other hand launched the mess that is the Droid X, just try getting a AOSP-based custom ROM on one.

Nokia I could agree with you on, their hardware is top notch but software tends to be a thorn in the side for them.

Re:KEYBOARD

[treeves]

I've been amazed with Swype on my DroidX. Totally overcame my objection to lack of physical keyboard. No going back.

Re:KEYBOARD

[AvitarX]

G1 had the best keyboard of any mobile device I've ever used (black G1, the other colors had were heard to read the symbols in sunlight).

The G2 looks similar (separated keys, diagonal no grid layout, buttons raised), but does not have the numbers.

My Touch Slide looks like a great keyboard with decent coloring, again without numbers.

FWIW, aside from when I need ssh, the touch keyboard is my preferred entry method when typing (essentially, not too much punctuation vs command line, and words that are almost always in the dictionary).

I find that portrait mode single thumb entry to be incredibly convenient, and two thumbs (but still in portrait mode) when really typing stuff out. Rare is it when I find the keyboard takes up enough screen space to be annoying. In landscape mode the softkeyboard takes the whole screen essentially and sucks.

Of the Android phones the G1 is the only keyboard I really used, and I do miss it for the times when I use ssh, but otherwise I don't. It was the best keyboard I'd used on a phone, and I have used RIM phones quite a bit in the past. The other HTC phones look good, but without really knowing the feel I can't give them a strong endorsement. Your Psion 5 is not going to exist, too think for modern sensibilities.

Re:KEYBOARD

[hawguy]

Thanks!

Your Psion 5 is not going to exist, too think for modern sensibilities.

Yeah, I suspect you are correct, but what I want my phone for most is ssh so I don't have to lug a netbook around whenever I'm on-call and need to fix something. I'd much rather lug a (relatively) thick phone that is still pocketable around than a full netbook.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Dr Max]

and a dual core processor not the same speed as the last nexus we got. I was holding out for this phone but screw this I’ll wait for the next Samsung flagship in a couple of months with dual core Orion and all the toys from this. dammit google I’m not impressed, your not dealing with the iphan crowd here.

Re:KEYBOARD

[AvitarX]

I don't know how money you are, or important it is, but there are options that in some ways may be better (for certain definitions of pocket-able):
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=bluetooth+phone+keyboard#q=bluetooth+phone+keyboard&hl=en&tbs=shop:1&prmd=ivs&ei=DGr9TNzYC8Gp8AbvhNTlCg&start=20&sa=N&biw=1280&bih=871&fp=f17e8b6643f06de

Also, button + I for tab came real quick to be reflexive on my N1, it's still a pain that auto-correct doesn't help though.

I would say you ABSOLUTLY need at least a trackball/touchpad button to do ssh (it's control on the ssh app).

This makes Nexus S pretty much useless for me.

I really do with a G1, with better processor existed, I'd even except the crappy screen and large size for that keyboard, I just don't think it quite exists anywhere (some of the ones I mentioned I believe have rubber keys which I hate).

Re:KEYBOARD

[jisatsusha]

Have a look at BlindType.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Anonymous Coward]

Then get one with a keyboard... not sure what the issue is here.

The issue here is that all interesting phones available with a physical keyboard have manufacturer/carrier branded versions of the OS installed, e.g. you have to wait for the manufacturer/carrier to update the OS to the latest and greatest (talk to any Samsung user about this), and have the carrier add in their "non-removable" cruft and/or disable interesting features that they don't like (like WIFI hotspots, tethering, etc.)

The Nexus S is a pure Google phone (just manufactured by Samsung), and can use OS updates directly from Google. No manufacturer/carrier interference. At least that's the theory.

So if this is important to you, your choice is: no keyboard.

Re:KEYBOARD

[DragonWriter]

Too bad - this phone is gonna get slaughtered by the phone announcements at CES next month. This phone will not sell well after the xmas rush.

I'm rather suspect the point of the phone isn't to sell well in the general market, its to sell to the narrow slice of the market for which an unlocked-out-of-the-box Android phone is key, and to serve as the next Androd Dev Phone.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Tumbleweed]

I'm rather suspect the point of the phone isn't to sell well in the general market, its to sell to the narrow slice of the market for which an unlocked-out-of-the-box Android phone is key, and to serve as the next Androd Dev Phone.

I'm sure that's the case, but I don't think it's much of an Android dev phone, either, since it's not dual core, which is the Next Big Thing to come at CES next month. Really, the only interesting thing on it for a developer would be NFC and gyroscope. I guess $600 won't be a barrier to commercial developers, but the little guys might balk at that, considering it's going to be obsoleted in a month, anyway.

Re:KEYBOARD

[angus77]

Swype-style software keyboards are awesome for English, but they completely blow for Japanese.

I was able to input Japanese far faster on my old flip-phone's keypad than on any of the (four!) software keypads I have on my HTC Desire. Not that I'm going back. I bought the Desire after my old phone broke. Still have a year and a half to pay it off!

Re:KEYBOARD

[DragonWriter]

I'm sure that's the case, but I don't think it's much of an Android dev phone, either, since it's not dual core, which is the Next Big Thing to come at CES next month. Really, the only interesting thing on it for a developer would be NFC and gyroscope.

By Android Dev Phone, I don't mean a generic phone of interest to Android developers, I mean the baseline unlocked reference phone that Google has committed to always have available so that developers are never inhibited from developing from the platform by not having a phone supporting the currently-important platform features except those burden by carrier restrictions or other barriers to development.

Google would be quite happy if third parties were to market better phones for Android developers. Selling phones isn't a business Google seems to want to be in in any serious way.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Anonymous Coward]

The Nexus S is a pure Google phone (just manufactured by Samsung), and can use OS updates directly from Google. No manufacturer/carrier interference. At least that's the theory.

So if this is important to you, your choice is: no keyboard.

Well, not quite. If this is important to you, you can take the 3 minutes to root the phone. The T-Mobile G2 for example requires the extra step of removing write-only from the emmc, but that is now done simply and quickly with the "gfree" program, which besides giving radio S-OFF has the added benefit of SIM-unlocking the phone.

Once unlocked, you can put whatever OS you like on it. Cyanogenmod works nicely and will deliver gingerbread to many, many phones before the manufacturer/carrier dies, keyboard or not.

Re:KEYBOARD

[rwa2]

I dunno, I'm pretty damn happy with my HTC Slide. Every once in a while I glance over at one of the high-end ARMv7 phones that could possibly be running Google Earth Mobile or one of the 3D intensive games, but then I go back to happily typing away on my Slide.

Kinda have to sit funny, though, thanks to the bulge of the $300 wad of cash I saved by not going with one of the high-end phones.

My one gripe is that it's still hard to get to the | (vertical bar / pipe) key in ConnectBot... I still have to activate the software keyboard and go through 2 layers of num alt to get to it :-/

I've played with swype and voice recognition briefly, but the inane things I tend to say just makes them frustrated.

Re:KEYBOARD

[rwa2]

I'm pretty happy with my HTC Slide and ConnectBot. I use it with screen, and it's pretty straightforward. The HSDPA on T-mobile's network noticeably cuts down latency when it's active. With the default font it does 80x25 in landscape mode, and stays connected in the background.

My two gripes: it's annoying to get to the some of the special keys such as | and \ ... have to close the physical keyboard so you can activate the virtual keyboard and navigate through two layers of Num + Alt to display them. But at least it's possible, and aliases and history are your friends.

Second gripe is that the touchpad button is often finicky as a cursor.... but hopefully not a big issue if you use vi or are comfortable with lots of Ctrl-f / Ctrl-b to navigate.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Anonymous Coward]

Welcome to the future, the G2 was released a long time ago... Here is a link to it on the T-Mobile site:
http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/phones/Default.aspx?features=48CC3997-D234-4683-8B5A-F026B9DB5528&WT.z_unav=mst_shop_phones_android#T-Mobile-G2-with-Google

Re:KEYBOARD

[DMUTPeregrine]

KEYBOARD PRESENT, NO PURCHASE. It is simple for many people, including myself, and I am looking for an android phone to replace my current phone. There is no substitute for a software keyboard. I am not going to use a device that invites mechanical failure by having a slide out keyboard or has half the screen size all the time (even when I'm not typing) by having a non-sliding keyboard. Since I don't touch-type a hardware QWERTY keyboard is just dumb, something like DSK with the vowels and most common consonants on opposite thumbs would be far better. I also use languages other than English on occasion, and can't type them easily with a keyboard I can't remap. It just won't fly with the tasks I use the device for.

Re:KEYBOARD

[stiggle]

So use a bluetooth keyboard. Then you can get a nice keyboard and use it on any of the phones which allow you to link to it.

Re:KEYBOARD

[metamatic]

The MyTouch 3G Slide / Espresso keyboard is excellent. Better than my BlackBerry was.

Re:KEYBOARD

[Anonymous Coward]

high five dude. how bout nexSHIT

Re:KEYBOARD

[JohnnyBGod]

This looks like a decent idea, but... where can I find it? It's not on the market and blindtype.com seems to have died, so where can I try this?

now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[rraylion]

- now if they could get more than T-Mobile as a carrier they might get more market penetration -- which was their big stumbling block last time as well.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[gmuslera]

Seem to be unlocked, so you could use it with any carrier. Of course, no contract special price.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

[citation needed]

AT&T, Sprint and Verizon have bigger US marketshare.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[Some guy named Chris]

No AT&T 3G, though.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[s73v3r]

As was the Nexus One. Didn't help it much.

Also, remember that, due to the mental giants that set up the US's cell phone infrastructure, phones are largely stuck to the carrier they were made for, especially if you want 3G signals.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[hedwards]

Precisely, people wanting to buy a cell phone, even one that's unlocked, have to think about what carrier they want to use it with. And while my Nexus One will work with either T-Mobile or AT&T, I only get 3G with T-Mobile, with AT&T I just get the older standard.

At some point the FCC is going to have to step in and force a change. Probably when the real 4G makes it's debut in this country.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[bluefoxlucid]

Special price for my Motorola Cliq was 2 year contract at $80/mo instead of $60/mo for a $300 phone I got for $50, with 24 x $20 == $480 of contract fee == $530. It's $5/mo for phone insurance with a $170 deductible as well. For a $300 phone. Some discount.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[recoiledsnake]

That's what he said too.

Here is your citation: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1898170&cid=34461356

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[Nadaka]

Most US cell providers do not charge more on their contracts if you get a "special" on a phone. They also do not charge less if you don't.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[ronocdh]

No AT&T 3G, though.

On the tech specs, it's clearly listed as a quad-band phone with 850MHz compatibility. Given that AT&T's 3G in on the 850MHz band, I thought this meant the Nexus S would work fine at 3G. I recall the N900 wouldn't work on AT&T's 3G (but it would on Edge), because the phone's radio only supported 900MHz.

Or am I missing something here?

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[bluefoxlucid]

Yes this was T-Mobile.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[cbhacking]

T-Mobile does in fact charge less on their contract-free month-to-month plan. Even with the expense of the up-front unsubsidized phone purchase, you come out significantly ahead over 2 years.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[Anonymous Coward]

How about you get your own damn citation next time you lazy sod. "OMG, I have to post this now! No time to do any research!"

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[Anonymous Coward]

Not quite. Even non-SIM phones (like the CDMA Droid X) can be reprogrammed to work on other compatible carriers... such as Boost Mobile, or MetroPCS. It's fantastic, for $50-60/month @ unlimited everything incl. 3G.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

Oops.

Never post on slashdot before the first diet mountain dew of the day.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[Anonymous Coward]

The person making the assertion backs up said assertion with citations and research. It's not up to the audience to find the data to back it up.

Researcher: An Oxydextrose-fluorine solution in combination with a arseno-glutin injection treatment can help reduce prostate cancer risks by 43%
Peer reviewers: What's your data supporting this claim?
Researcher: Do your own homework, I'm not here to spoonfeed you data. Is basic research so hard? god.

(Though I do believe his particular comment doesn't seem to argue against what the OP said)

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[Anonymous Coward]

RTFA
The phone supports only UMTS (what people often call 3G) bands 900/1700/2100 MHz.
It supports GSM (what people often call 2G) bands 850/900/1800/1900.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[Nadaka]

unfortunately T-mobile has crappy coverage in southern MS and northern Florida where I spend most of my time.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[Nermal6693]

It's quad-band GSM (2G) but lacks 850 MHz 3G.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[Anonymous Coward]

The quad band is GSM, which means its only quad band for Edge support.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[nine-times]

From L Nexus S specs page:

Quad-Band GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
Tri-Band HSPA: 900, 2100, 1700

AT&T's HSPA bands are 850 and 1900 (I can't find a good authoritative source).

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[Anonymous Coward]

HSPA (3G) only has the 1700MHz frequency (TMob), not 850/1900 (AT&T).

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[AltairDusk]

I'm starting to wonder if the US carriers are leaning on the hardware vendors to prevent any phones with interoperable 3g from being released. I've often wondered why the Nexus One wasn't shipped with AT&T and T-mobile 3g capability, it would help those of us who stay off contract and want the option of easily switching a great deal.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[lytles]

from google.com/phone: nexus-s
Quad-band GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
Tri-band HSPA: 900, 2100, 1700 HSPA type: HSDPA (7.2Mbps) HSUPA (5.76Mbps)

fcc filings seem to confirm (umts iv is 1700/2100) everything but the hspa-900

so the 850 is for gsm, not 3g
believe at&t 3g is 850 and 1900, so it looks like no 3g with the nexus s on at&t
the t-mobile version of the vibrant (on which the nexus s appears to be based) is umts 1700/2100 + 1900, and it's reported to get at&t 3g on the 1900
think umts 900 is for europe, but not sure how widely it's deployed atm

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[Algan]

At&T uses HSPA at 1900Mhz in high density areas and 850Mhz in more rural areas, so you might be able to get some 3G service in cities. Europe is mostly 2100 with 900 installations occurring in a few places.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[Algan]

Replying to my own post: I just noticed that 1900Mhz is not supported by Nexus S, so no 3G service on At&T. Sorry.

Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing...

[Anonymous Coward]

From L Nexus S specs page:

Quad-Band GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900

Tri-Band HSPA: 900, 2100, 1700

AT&T's HSPA bands are 850 and 1900 (I can't find a good authoritative source).

Unfortunately for AT&T users (like myself :( ) that's the problem. AT&T's HSPA (high speed/3G) bands are 850 and 1900. The Nexus S uses 850 and 1900 for its 2G data, but not for its 3G data. T-Mobile uses 1700 and 2100 for their 3G network though. These also happen to be the bands that the Nexus S uses for 3G data.

I assume the reason they chose to have the Nexus S support T-Mobile's 3G network at launch as opposed to AT&T's is because it's my understanding that T-Mobile's 3G bands are compatible with the most commonly used 3G GSM bands used in much of Europe (thus they can reach a larger global market with this one hardware iteration than if they'd launched it as a device compatible with AT&T's US 3G network).

This is pretty much just like what they did with the original Nexus One. Fingers crossed that they'll eventually make an AT&T 3G version of the Nexus S like they did with the Nexus One. Otherwise I may consider switching to T-Mobile. :)

Whoopi!

[Anonymous Coward]

That Google phone isn't just some random energy phenomenon traveling through space... it's a doorway. It leads to another place... the Nexus. It doesn't exist in our Universe... and it doesn't play by the same rules either. It's like being inside... joy. As if joy is a real thing that I could wrap around myself. I've never been so content... If you go into that Nexus, you're not going to care about the Apple iPhone or the Blackberry Storm or Palm Pre. All you're going to care about is how it feels to be there. And you're never going to come back.

Re:Whoopi!

[Pojut]

I still can't get over the fact that Malcolm McDowell was in that...I kept expecting him to look at Picard and tell him to come get one in the yarbles.

No need to ask if he has any...we all know he does.

Re:Whoopi!

[silveride]

Larry, is that you ?

The best part is...

[lowlymarine]

...it's just a re-badged Galaxy S. So those of us with GT-i9000s, Captivates, and Vibrants can basically expect every future version of Android within days of the source release. That's very good news, since last I heard Samsung had sold over 8 million Galaxy S devices so far.

Re:The best part is...

[mdm-adph]

Not... exactly. There's just enough difference between all the Captivates, Vibrants, Epics and the like to make what you talk about not possible. That might've actually have been Samsung's goal.

Re:The best part is...

[Anonymous Coward]

...it's just a re-badged Galaxy S. So those of us with GT-i9000s, Captivates, and Vibrants can basically expect every future version of Android within days of the source release. That's very good news, since last I heard Samsung had sold over 8 million Galaxy S devices so far.

I somehow doubt this claim. Considering I'm still sitting here with my Samsung Epic in hand running 2.1, having been promised 2.2 at the start of November, end of November, start of December, end of December, and now "sometime early 2011" I wouldn't hold my breath for gingerbread.

Re:The best part is...

[s73v3r]

Somehow, I don't share the enthusiasm. I have a Vibrant, and last I heard, they were just starting to roll out Android 2.2 to the i9000, and still were holding off on the Vibrant for another week or two. Unless they just decided to move straight from 2.1 to 2.3.

Re:The best part is...

[Anonymous Coward]

Rebadge or not, I'm glad they're putting out another Google branded phone. I'm an iPad dev (an iPhone port seems inevitable), and one of my hang-ups about Android is the disconnect between the software makers and the hardware makers -- I don't want to buy a device and worry that its software will lag behind. Even if this is just a Samsung, branding it Google gives me some assurance that they're going make sure it stays up to date and functions well. (Albeit, I should double-check the record for the Nexus One.) I might end up buying one as my personal device, which would get me to think more about developing for the device and platform.

Re:The best part is...

[hedwards]

The usual problem is that the carrier will insist upon a custom UI. And because Google releases the firmware when it's deemed to be ready, rather than waiting for the carriers to have the new UI, those phones will always be behind the vanilla copy.

It's the price you pay for getting a non-custom interface. And it's one of the biggest reasons why I wanted the Nexus One rather than one of the alternatives.

Re:The best part is...

[Anonymous Coward]

2.2.1 for the epic came out yesterday...

Re:The best part is...

[ravenscar]

And Samsung hasn't been kind enough to post the source for the drivers. That's why you didn't see froyo on any of the Galaxy S phones until the Samsung release candidate was leaked. Driver source would be the key that would allow the independent development community to keep all the Galaxy S phones as close to 'up-to-date' as possible. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening any time soon.

Re:The best part is...

[shutdown -p now]

You missed out one important aspect: it's a rebadged Galaxy running stock software. That is why it'll be getting updates fast. Other Samsung phones probably won't.

Re:The best part is...

[speculatrix]

er, not quite. the gal s 9000 is an older model, this one is improved, and is the 9100.

Re:The best part is...

[Adm.Wiggin]

All I heard there was "This one goes to 11!"

Re:The best part is...

[Zebedeu]

...it's just a re-badged Galaxy S. So those of us with GT-i9000s, Captivates, and Vibrants can basically expect every future version of Android within days of the source release.

Ahah!
Oh, you were serious.

Look, it's Samsung. Don't expect any updates on time. In fact, don't expect any updates at all and you'll live happier.

That's very good news, since last I heard Samsung had sold over 8 million Galaxy S devices so far.

Yes, and they're already sold, meaning they already got your money and now they'd rather you buy the next one on the line.

I feel your pain. I bought the original Galaxy. It had one very late update to 1.6 when everyone else was upgrading to 2.1.
Your best bet is to either get a phone which somehow gathered community support around it, or get one of the Google supported "Nexus" devices.

I'm probably getting this one someday, it just pains me to be giving money to Samsung.

Re:The best part is...

[AltairDusk]

The record for the Nexus One is excellent. 2.3 is already being pushed out to those still on the stock ROM. Modded ROMs don't receive the OTA updates but judging by the prior track record I'm hoping for a CyanogenMod release candidate built off 2.3 a few weeks after the AOSP source is released.

If I really wanted 2.3 now I could always flash back to a stock ROM but I'm happy to wait for CM to be updated.

Re:The best part is...

[AltairDusk]

I apologize, other sites are now reporting that the 2.3 OTA update for the Nexus One will be taking place in a few weeks. It seems Engadget jumped the gun and I didn't cross-check the info.

Re:The best part is...

[LoudMusic]

This is one of the most rational posts I've ever seen on Slashdot. If more consumers operated with this perspective we'd see a big shift in the way things are created.

Re:The best part is...

[lowlymarine]

I meant by way of custom ROMs. I of course don't expect Samsung or the US carriers to be forthcoming with updates, but with kernel and driver sources it's not incredibly difficult to port between the various GSM Galaxy S devices.

Release Date

[flabordec]

The official release date is December 16 in the US and December 20 in the UK

Not for Consumers

[supernes]

The summary has it wrong, this phone isn't aimed at average consumers at all and is by no means a "bid for a slice of the market". It's reference hardware that will support the latest Google-branded builds of Android over the next year or so, so that developers can test their applications. The inclusion of technologies such as NFC and a gyroscope is what probably necessitates a hardware revision besides the usual software update (that's available for the N1 as well).

Oh, and it's basically a rebranding of a phone that Samsung will sell on their own, and is guaranteed to sell more than Google is going to move through its distribution channels. The difference is again that Samsung phones will be subject to the will of the carriers as to if and when they'll get the latest updates.http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/12/06/1629239/Google-Launches-Nexus-S-Phone-In-UK-and-US#

Re:Not for Consumers

[Sockatume]

Wrong. You can pre-order it from the Carphone Warehouse already, which is about as massmarket as UK phone stores go.

Re:Not for Consumers

[Sockatume]

In fact, they have the exclusive.

Re:Not for Consumers

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course the craphonewhorhouse ruin this exclusive. They in fact the price of sim-free, off-contract phones beyond the RRP effectively charging the customer the full unsubsidised price plus the commission they would otherwise receive.. This is why this UK exclusive at £549 ($863) is 63% expensive than the US..

Rip.. off..

Re:Not for Consumers

[Bruce Stephens]

Presumably the price is just the predictable "let's see who wants it before Christmas" price, though. They surely don't expect many sales at that price.

Re:Not for Consumers

[Tumbleweed]

The summary has it wrong, this phone isn't aimed at average consumers at all and is by no means a "bid for a slice of the market". It's reference hardware that will support the latest Google-branded builds of Android over the next year or so, so that developers can test their applications. The inclusion of technologies such as NFC and a gyroscope is what probably necessitates a hardware revision besides the usual software update (that's available for the N1 as well).

And it's going to be a failure for a lot of devs over the next year who want to test their apps on a dual-core phone, which is going to be the next big thing at next month's CES. And also no HSPA+? Jesus! This thing has failure written all over it. It would've been a great phone 6 months ago. *shrug*

Re:Not for Consumers

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course the craphonewhorhouse...

ITYM Carphone Warehouse, by Appointment to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Purveyors of Overpriced Mobile Telephones...

Re:Not for Consumers

[supernes]

The summary has it wrong, this phone isn't aimed at average consumers at all and is by no means a "bid for a slice of the market". It's reference hardware that will support the latest Google-branded builds of Android over the next year or so, so that developers can test their applications. The inclusion of technologies such as NFC and a gyroscope is what probably necessitates a hardware revision besides the usual software update (that's available for the N1 as well).

And it's going to be a failure for a lot of devs over the next year who want to test their apps on a dual-core phone, which is going to be the next big thing at next month's CES. And also no HSPA+? Jesus! This thing has failure written all over it. It would've been a great phone 6 months ago. *shrug*

You might want to hold your horses there. Dual-core chips may start appearing in tablets early next year, but it will be a while before they make their way into smartphones. And that's certainly not going to happen in Q1 in any case.

I don't get all the bitching about it being underpowered. Maybe Android users feel that every major phone hardware release should push the envelope in some way, but that just goes to show that this is not a major phone by any stretch of the imagination. There are a lot of valid points to critisize about it (design, price, etc.), but failing to meet the fanbase's overinflated expectations doesn't make it any less powerful.

And does T-Mobile even have HSPA+?

Re:Not for Consumers

[Tumbleweed]

You might want to hold your horses there. Dual-core chips may start appearing in tablets early next year, but it will be a while before they make their way into smartphones. And that's certainly not going to happen in Q1 in any case.

The phones ARE going to be announced at CES next month. Shipping? Unknown at this point. Some Nexus S testers had dual core versions, though. Dual core phones are coming faster than you seem to think.

And does T-Mobile even have HSPA+?

Yes, they do. It's faster here in the Seattle area than Verizon's LTE and WiMAX on Sprint/Clear (I have an EVO. I tested T-Mo's myTouch 4G on their HSPA+ and got 2Mb/sec faster download than on my EVO. :(

The other horror about the Nexus S, if true, is that I'm reading that it has no microSD slot? Seriously? I'm really hoping that's wrong. That's just insane.

Re:Not for Consumers

[Anonymous Coward]

That surely must be the reason, why they can charge GBP549.95 (~$867) , that's clearly overpriced

Compared to what?

[Anonymous Coward]

"The Samsung-built device comes less than 12 months after the launch of the firm's Nexus One, built by HTC, which failed to win over many consumers. "

Is there a standard value in the cell phone market for "many consumers?". Sounds like opinion. Of course I haven't read the article don't be silly!

Just wondering.

Re:Compared to what?

[hedwards]

I'm guessing that they're comparing it to Blackberry and the iPhone for their value of many. Which really misses the point. The main reason for the Nexus One was that Google wasn't particularly thrilled by the sluggish pace at which the handset makers were going about things, and this gave Google a direct way of inserting some competition.

Admittedly, the phone is a bit dated now, compared to when it was released, but at that point it was just about the fastest thing out there in terms of computational power.

Underwhelming

[Anonymous Coward]

The Nexus S was rumored to have a dual core 1.2GHz CPU, more RAM, and so on.
This is basically not significantly better than the current top of the line phones.

Shame really, as I was hoping to get something better this christmas... I think I will wait for the Tegra 2 based devices to appear, like the LG star.

Android 2.3 itself has little to offer in the way of performance improvements. Sure a concurrent GC is long overdue, but GC times were not the performance killer, it was the poor tracing JIT. The current 2.2 JIT simply misses a huge number of potential optimisations that the more established JIT engines do and therefore even simple loops are poorly optimised.

Re:Underwhelming

[Sir_Sri]

ya, I'm surprised at the lack of a dual core. Not that hummingbird is bad, but apparently the Orion is based on ARM9 and is about 5x faster (using both cores fully of course). I'm not up on the software side of android since I'm stuck with an iPhone and blackberry until august.

The $50 question...

[mlts]

Will it be rootable with the oem-unlock command? That is one of my biggest criteria -- ease of rooting and making custom ROMS for the device.

Re:The $50 question...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes. Like the N1, the NS ships with an unlockable bootloader out of the box. Enjoy.

Re:The $50 question...

[Zebedeu]

It's a developer device, so it should come rooted from the box.

In reality, not a whole lot...

[rehtonAesoohC]

Maybe this is a Gingerbread gripe moreso than a Nexus S gripe, but there aren't that many great features added.

No phones have an NFC chip at all, so uh... thanks? Also, the Nexus S isn't geared towards gaining consumers, I think it's more geared towards developers. The big things that are great are:

1) Text Selection (FINALLY!)
2) VoIP and SIP stack (yeahhhhhh! Incoming video chat apps)
3) New dalvik improvements for speed.

Everything else is fluff.

Re:In reality, not a whole lot...

[Imagix]

Was there mention of Video over SIP? Many SIP stacks only deal with the Audio portions of the call. Although I don't see any mention of which codecs the SIP stack will support.

Re:In reality, not a whole lot...

[Rifter13]

You know, good hardware, and Google has more say in the OS... I am all over this phone. My Vibrant just went up for sale.

Re:In reality, not a whole lot...

[gotpoetry]

While this release is named Gingerbread, this is actually Android 2.3. The Android 3.0 release will be called Honeycomb and is where you should expect the bigger improvements.

Re:In reality, not a whole lot...

[hitmark]

No. There was however a separate mention of a added camera selection system, so that any app making use of cameras could select between rear and front facing cameras during use.

Re:In reality, not a whole lot...

[sanderb]

Yep, very disappointed by Gingerbread.
I mean, they say a focus was video/ audio encoding, but a quick look at the APIs show it is still not possible to encode a video from anything except a camera, so video editing of any kind is still not possible. iPhone users get to produce high quality video's with all kinds of effects, Android users can't even *bleeping* crop them! And again encoding was a point of focus, yay we get dead-on-arrival WebM support!
Let's just hope that they really actually added some relevant things for game development, the only type of app 90% of smart phone users (not me) are interested in.

Re:In reality, not a whole lot...

[rehtonAesoohC]

Yeah, they released 2.3 to pacify us until 3.0 comes out.

But I'm really wondering what changes will be in 3.0 that they will use to WOW people, or if Honeycomb will be way more geared toward tablets...

Re:In reality, not a whole lot...

[Fnkmaster]

Eh? I can select text with Froyo on my Nexus One, and on my G Tablet. The UI for it isn't always great or consistent, but I've used copy and paste with text selection plenty of times.

Re:In reality, not a whole lot...

[rehtonAesoohC]

The UI for it isn't always great or consistent

Yeah that's exactly what I was referring to. For instance, in the GMail application, you have to go to Menu --> More --> Select Text.

In Gingerbread, you will be able to do a long-press on any app to bring up the Text Selection menu. It isn't this way in 2.2.1 and earlier.

Re:In reality, not a whole lot...

[djtachyon]

What about the support for a barometer?! Finally, I will be able to rest at ease...

Re:In reality, not a whole lot...

[IDtheTarget]

No, the one majorly awesome thing here is the native Google experience. Which means that when Google releases an update, I don't have to wait for months for Samsung or T-Mobile or whoever to release the updated OS.

I've got a T-Mobile Vibrant, and the only thing making it worthwhile is the fact that Team Whiskey is releasing custom ROM's. Froyo was released how long ago? And we STILL don't have an official Froyo release for the best-selling Android phone in the U.S?????

Re:In reality, not a whole lot...

[ergo98]

Gaming on the Android platform has generally been terrible because of frequent, experience-killing pauses, and generally poor performance. The concurrent garbage collector offers to improve the former (including every existing game), while the latter is being dealt with by a much wider gamut of usability from the NDK, with optimized, efficient, lifetime-controlled native code that has the ability to manage and capture events, handle sound, etc.

Those two things are HUGE, and will help make up for the massive quality gap between Android gaming and entertainment relative to the iPhone. I seldom pull up a game on my Nexus One, but when I do it is generally a disappointment. Gingerbread will start the change away from that.

Re:In reality, not a whole lot...

[Tacvek]

That was rather obviously an upcoming feature to anybody who had read the Android 2.2 compatibility definition, which forbid allowing access to a front-facing camera via extention options on the Camera API.

The only good reason for that prohibition would be that Google had been planning multi-camera support for a while, but it was not ready for FroYo.

Any GSM Phone on Any GSM Network?

[Doc Ruby]

Can't I just take any Android GSM phone and put in a SIM for any GSM network, so long as the SIM's accounts are active (and both the phone and the network use the same frequency, as they all do in the US)?

Re:Any GSM Phone on Any GSM Network?

[LiENUS]

Can't I just take any Android GSM phone and put in a SIM for any GSM network, so long as the SIM's accounts are active (and both the phone and the network use the same frequency, as they all do in the US)?

Sure but you need your phone to be unlocked... which most aren't. You also need to be using the right frequency for gsm (which in the us they don't) now you can make voice calls... oh you want 3g, hope your phone has the right 3g frequency (protip: this phone will work on t-mobile but and at&t but will only get 3g on t-mobile)

Re:Any GSM Phone on Any GSM Network?

[Imagix]

Depends on the phone and country. From what I understand, it's common in Europe to have unlocked phones. Not so much in the US and Canada (don't know about Mexico...). Commonly the phone is locked to the provider it came from. That's a big reason I bought a Nexus One. It has no attachment to my provider, so I can use whatever SIM card I want in it.

Re:Any GSM Phone on Any GSM Network?

[pavon]

Yeah, that will definitely work for voice calls. Data service is more complicated. You might have working 2G or 3G or neither depending on what the phone supports, and what service is in your area.

Re:Any GSM Phone on Any GSM Network?

[pavon]

T-Mobile will provide unlock codes for any phone they sell, at no charge. AT&T is a different story.

Re:Any GSM Phone on Any GSM Network?

[lightversusdark]

No.

The two big GSM providers in the US use different 3G frequencies. (AT&T 850/1900, T-Mobile 1700/2100).

You can get voice and GPRS/EDGE, so long as your handset has been SIM unlocked (this is different to rooting or jailbreaking).

This is not an Android limitation, the same restrictions apply to iPhone/N900 etc.

I am not aware of any phone that has a flashable radio chipset allowing reconfiguration of the wireless bands, there may be a requirement for a physically different antenna.

The magic words used to be "quad-band", but nowadays you would want a radio that supported upwards of six bands for 3G capability across AT&T, T-Mobile, and rest of world.

Re:Any GSM Phone on Any GSM Network?

[horza]

Most of Europe has phones unlocked, I think only UK locks to providers. Even then you can buy software that will unlock pretty much any GSM phone. All European phones support 900 and 1800 Mhz so any GSM phone will work on any network operator. I've used French, English, Italian, Ukranian, and other SIM cards in my Nokia E71 without any problems.

Phillip.

Re:Any GSM Phone on Any GSM Network?

[Anonymous Coward]

...AT&T is a different story.

Right...AT&T will only provide you with unlock codes so long as you're not using an AT&T-exclusive phone.

Not seeing a huge difference here.

Re:Any GSM Phone on Any GSM Network?

[Bill_the_Engineer]

Yep. T-Mobile sent me unlock codes for my MyTouch 3G while I was in Australia. Thanks to their help, I was able to use a Vodaphone prepaid account while I was TDY for 3 months. I don't know of any other US phone company that would do that for their customer.

Re:Any GSM Phone on Any GSM Network?

[Bill_the_Engineer]

Speaking from experience. The best you can expect is 2G (Edge) if you are using a T-Mobile handset outside of a T-Mobile network. But if you are in the US, you may be able to use a prepaid phone provider that uses T-Mobile's network. I haven't tried it so it may not work...

Re:Any GSM Phone on Any GSM Network?

[AltairDusk]

Until someone makes a handset supporting both AT&T's and T-mobile's 3g bands there are two requirements for that scenario in the US:

1.) The phone is unlocked or was not carrier-locked to begin with

2.) You don't mind not being able to use 3g on one of the two carriers

Re:Any GSM Phone on Any GSM Network?

[idfubar]

Unlock codes for AT&T-exclusive phones only is a recent phenomena (I was able to receive an unlock code for a Nokia 2610 phone acquired by way of a $20 GoPhone package); perhaps the policy can change over time?

No SD card and No HSPA?

[Anonymous Coward]

No SD card slot and no HSPA+? ffffff

No HSPA+

[Jonboy X]

I've been waiting for this phone to renew my T-Mo contract, but the lack of "4G" network capability means I'll probably end up switching to Verizon. Way to fail, Goog-Sung!

Re:No HSPA+

[Anonymous Coward]

That really does take a lot of the wind out of this phone's sails, considering that other phones already on the market have this ability. What a disappointment.

I still want it, but not nearly as much as I did when I heard it would be a dual core phone. No HSPA+, no expandable memory slot, no dual core. Hopefully Rogers will get this phone, and it can be used on AT&T.

Re:No HSPA+

[dbcad7]

The Samsung screen was the the big thing, but there is not much of a real improvement here over the Vibrant other than the front facing camera (and probably fixed GPS), which is strange that they would include without the 4G. The stock Android updates is a selling point I suppose.. But with TMobile, I think I'd have a tough choice choosing this over the myTouch 4G or the G2.. Verizon doesn't have anything yet that appeals to me to switch to.. I'll wait for a few months to see what happens with Tegra 2 phones..

Re:No HSPA+

[Tumbleweed]

I've been waiting for this phone to renew my T-Mo contract, but the lack of "4G" network capability means I'll probably end up switching to Verizon. Way to fail, Goog-Sung!

The myTouch 4G has HSPA+ on T-Mo.

I'd recommend waiting for the inevitable flood of phone announcements next month at CES. Dual-core phones are coming _soon_.

Re:No HSPA+

[Jonboy X]

I'd recommend waiting for the inevitable flood of phone announcements next month at CES. Dual-core phones are coming _soon_.

Yup, that's the fall-back plan. Verizon should announce their LTE (dual-core?) phones then, and my g/f has been bugging me to join her on Big Red for a while. Verizon is evil, but T-Mo is getting lame...

Pricing themselves out of the market in UK

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks to the exclusivity to Carphone Warehouse, an unlocked Nexus S would sell for £549 in UK, as opposed to $529 in US. Compared to that an iPhone 4 costs £499 unlocked here in UK. So don't think Google are going to see much cut through in the UK market. The question of course is whether the US version would work in UK, like the Nexus One did. If so, we would see a thriving import market for these here.

aggrieved consumer

[stimpleton]

I am less than happy about Samsung. I bought a Galaxy S about 6 months ago, and they have been promising the 2.2 Froyo update is always "Just around the corner".

I am not being just an impatient techie, the Galaxy S has one significant flaw - the GPS is next to useless. i was warned - Samsung lie about update schedules and may not realease at all in some markets.

Re:aggrieved consumer

[madprof]

2.2 Froyo is out for the Galaxy S. Depending on where you live of course.

It could be worse. You could have a Sony Ericsson and have been waiting for 2.1 Eclair instead!

Re:aggrieved consumer

[Zebedeu]

Samsung makes nice hardware, but sucks with the post-sale support. Don't expect that update to come anytime soon, if it will ever come at all.

Me and some other guys keep writing this everywhere because we were burned with their first generation Android devices and we wanted to get the word out.
Funnily enough, around the time that the Samsung S devices were coming out, some of my posts in at least 2 different sites mysteriously disappeared.

If I was a cynic I'd have thought that the Samsung marketing machine was pressuring (or paying) site admins to clean up their comments.

Anyway, it's at least warming to see that I was right to swear off Samsung, and I guess it'll be safe to continue doing so for the near future (except for this Nexus device which will be supported by Google).

Re:aggrieved consumer

[zyzko]

Froyo has been out for Galaxy S for over a month (yes, the first version was pulled back because of problems but new one is now available).

If your carrier doesn't offer it, bitch to the carrier. For unlocked phones just use the Kies updater, it's there.

Galaxy S has it's flaws (GPS had bugs with release firmware, Froyo mostly fixes these, the custom filesystem is not very good, camera is average compared to what for an example Sony Ericsson and Nokia offers) but it is a solid Android phone for the price (I'm talking unlocked prices here) - the dimensions are good (some even complain that it feels cheap because it is so light) and the screen is nice to look at and as long as you don't use the official Facebook app but the Samsungs version battery life is pretty good.

It would be all nice and shiny if every configuration was supported immediately (how many different names the Galaxy S has depending on carrier? 4?) but as long as you a) have multiple devices and b) multiple carriers selling locked devices with different requirements this is going to be costly, and everyone and everything will not be supported at the same time. This has bitten Nokia and they now have announced a strategy of incremental updates to Symbian^3 instead of new releases just for new devices and I hope they manage to pull that off. The alternative is of course to buy from manufacturer which has only 1 device on market at a given time ;)

Re:aggrieved consumer

[stimpleton]

Kies is tied to the local market and reports current 2.1 as the latest. Reading up, the option is rooting your phone and other hacks. I dont want to go there.

Re:aggrieved consumer

[stimpleton]

Hi, I disregarded a Sony Ericsson option for this reason. A 1.6 android version was indicitive. I dont mind older versions per sey, but with the crippled GP on the Galaxy S 2.1, I feel 2.2 is essential, rather than a just-to-have-the-latest attitude.

Re:aggrieved consumer

[Dr Max]

so root your phone and install plain 2.3 google gingerbread.

Re:aggrieved consumer

[severn2j]

I updated mine to Froyo a few weeks ago, It was due out "any day", but Orange were a bit slow off the mark, so I did it via Odin.. Its a lot faster now, the battery life seems better and GPS works as intended.. My advice, don't wait for the official update, just do it yourself.. Google has links to many howto guides.

Phone isn't about sales

[Stuntmonkey]

This is not a "bid for a slice of the mobile phone market." Google's purpose is to offer a reference device to the marketplace, to bring order to the Android chaos.

Look at why it's so hard for Microsoft to innovate in operating systems. It's because the hardware vendors went in a million different directions, leaving MS with this huge diversity of configurations to support. And because MS has no hand in the hardware arena, they can't implement simple improvements like fast sleep/unsleep that require HW support.

This phone serves two purposes: (1) it gives Google a direct line to developers and the geek elite (who want OS updates first, and tend not to like the UI "enhancements" offered by the carriers) for testing their latest software, and (2) it signals to other manufacturers the direction of the Android platform and encourages them to support the same features (NFC, etc.) This phone doesn't have to sell millions of units to achieve its objective, most importantly it has to be the phone that developers and the geek elite want to have.

Re:Phone isn't about sales

[Anonymous Coward]

That's funny considering the WP7 UI essentially blows Android & iPhone away. If only the current WP7 phone generation didn't suck so much (no 4G, no HDMI, washed out/glary screen, non-expandable, only one 4.3" device, Snapdragon CPU). And the OS seems to need a bit of finishing up (apps organization, some lag while video rendering, plus a few other things). I used to swear my allegiance to Android. But overall WP7 makes the other phones look hideous. I would probably switch right now if it wasn't for the super-crap h/w.

Re:Phone isn't about sales

[AltairDusk]

I had a lot of interest in WP7 initially but it still has a ways to go before it can match Android in functionality. Depending what direction Microsoft decides to take with multitasking it may never be a viable option for me.

Re:Phone isn't about sales

[Stuntmonkey]

That's funny considering the WP7 UI essentially blows Android & iPhone away.

I should have been clearer, I was talking about Microsoft's desktop OS. What WP7 and the X-Box demonstrate is that Microsoft can be very innovative when they aren't bogged down by endless platform fragmentation. I think Nexus One/S is Google's bid to avoid a similar fate. An interesting historical what-if is what the PC market would look like today if Microsoft played a more direct role in steering the platform hardware (beyond their peripherals business).

Re:Phone isn't about sales

[Dr Max]

If it’s about impressing the geek elite then it’s a pity its not running a dual core processor with 5 times the graphics power of the hummingbird soc. It might suit developers if they want to make apps that will work on average phones, but Motorola; Samsung; htc; lg are all releasing dual core phones with better graphics cards and hspa+ for Q1 2011 and the geek elite (who shouldn't afraid of rooting and installing standard gingerbread) like cutting edge.

NFC? Does it contain a secure element?

[Anonymous Coward]

Does it contain a secure element, so you can put (javacard) applications in that secure element?
Stuff like an electronic wallet (e.g. mastercard paypass or visa paywave) or electronic ticket systems
for public transportation (like suica in tokio, octopuss card in hong kong etc.)?

If implemented properly the secure element in nfc phones still works, if the battery in the phone is dead -
i.e. you can still use it for payment, public transports and so on (whatever was loaded in it). and of course
it is secured from the rest of the phone. think of a mobile phone with a contactless smart card reader,
plus a contactless smart card (e.g. a jcop contactless card), but of course only one antenna for both
together.

The only nfc phones I know with such secure elements are old and badly working nokia phones with java me.
having a modern smart phone as alternative would be great!

NO KEYBOARD

[Anonymous Coward]

The only reason I bought the Vibrant is because it doesn't have a keyboard as added bulk and moving parts. I don't put a stupid case because I never scratch or drop the phone (especially since the screens are made of real glass these days). It's slim and it fits nicely in my pants pocket.

Furthermore, I work mainly with graphics, and the large screen allows me to show off my portfolio to potential clients when I'm on-site during breaks at film/ photo shoots. It won't get me a job on the spot, but it certainly gets me a call back, which was a big step from just verbally explaining my work. Despite the stereotype that all 'creative uses apple', i stick with android because of the complete google business apps integration. My screen rivals that of the Iphone4 everyone seems to carry, only because it's bigger and I don't butcher the quality it with a pointless screen-protector.

In conclusion, I don't lose screen real-estate like the Blackberry; and I want it to fit in my pants without the added bulk like I have a brick.

Sure, my pants are gay, but wearing those stupid belt-clips are even gayer.

Why only US and UK?

[hitmark]

Why not make it available, in unlocked form, for everyone, everywhere?

Re:Why only US and UK?

[Tumbleweed]

Why not make it available, in unlocked form, for everyone, everywhere?

Ecommerce in every country doesn't magically happen on its own - that takes a lot of preparation. Also, the rules covering cell phones are different for every country. Just because the FCC in the U.S. approves a phone, doesn't mean it's automatically approved for use or sale everywhere else. Global release of an electronic product that broadcasts, plus making it work on all the different phone networks, negotiating with all those phone companies around the world, etc. It's just not practical.

Re:Why only US and UK?

[thegarbz]

Actually the rules are similar if not identical in most countries. Pretty much every piece of electronics in my house has the CE badge on it, and a label saying it complies with the rules of the FCC. Not that I think any small device would interfere with America from here on the other side of the world. The only real barrier to making a mobile phone to be sold on the global market is what standard it uses.

So given the fact that this phone is essentially a re-branded Galaxy S, given the fact that the UK uses the same CDMA2000 3G standard as most of Europe and Australia, why can I not get the phone here? The last phone didn't fail to win over consumers, Google failed to provide it to users who were won over greeting most of it's international customers with a website that says "not available in your country". Wake up guys it's 2010 and your competitors offered coordinated releases of their phones all over the world.

I do agree on the e-commerce bit though. Google has no name in electronics in Australia and failed to come to an agreement with Vodafone to sell the phone here. But why may I ask was I not able to buy it from Google's website? We all know it would have worked on Vodafone's network here, it was literally pulled at the last minute due to licensing issues.

Re:Why only US and UK?

[hitmark]

woa there, CDMA2K is in no way the same as UMTS. Yes, both use Code Division Multiple Access, but beyond that they are not related.

Re:Why only US and UK?

[hitmark]

I seem to be able to use my VISA card to buy stuff online from damn near anywhere.

The only problem i have seen is that Google have tried to set up their own payment portal (checkout), rather then partnering up with visa or similar. This then results in Google having to get approval in various places before they can accept payment from there.

Re:Why only US and UK?

[Anonymous Coward]

No kidding. Is this just going to be more hype & fail like Nexus One?

Go to the Nexus One page, and click "Looking for detailed information about the Nexus One? Visit the Nexus One Support Page." and you get a bloody 404, no explanation.

Want one? Click "Buy From" for Canada and you get a Quebec-only outfit. (I'm Canadian and physically closer to New Orleans than Quebec.) It /was/ available for use on our major cell services for just less than four months before Google pulled the phone. At which time they said online support will still be available -- see 404 note above.

Re:Why only US and UK?

[thegarbz]

Sorry named the wrong technology, but the point of the post is the same. The UK's 3G service is UMTS based, so is Australia's. The Google Nexus One supported UMTS, so why wasn't it available in Australia.

The reality is that the phone networks between countries are not so different and making a product for the global market isn't as difficult as the OP made it out to be.

BestBuy

[sunderland56]

The bad news: initially available only at BestBuy.

How does Google rationalize selling at BestBuy with their "don't be evil" policy??

Re:BestBuy

[Tumbleweed]

How does Google rationalize selling at BestBuy with their "don't be evil" policy??

It's the cellphone equivalent of extraordinary rendition. They're sending you to somewhere else to get eviled. Also known as "techno torture by proxy".

Re:BestBuy

[Pollardito]

From http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/introducing-nexus-s-with-gingerbread.html:

"Nexus S can be purchased (unlocked or with a T-Mobile service plan) online and in-store from all Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores in the U.S."

I guess that's not clear if that's from the Google online Nexus store (like the last one was) or only from bestbuy.com, but it seems like the first scenario is more likely. I think they're partnering with Best Buy because last time so many people complained that they'd like to try the phone themselves.

NFC

[fredan]

It has Near Field Communication (NFC) so now you can throw out your id card from your wallet! ;-)

Some assorted useful information

[brian.swetland]

Nexus S will ship with support for "fastboot oem unlock", allowing for reflashing of the system software "out of the box", like Nexus One.

Something that may interest this community is that the NDK (native development kit) for Gingerbread now supports native apps (intended to simplify mobile gaming ports, etc) -- providing: libc, libm, libz, opengl|ES, opensl|ES, input/events/sensors, app lifecycle management, etc. JNI is available to access various higher level Android APIs as necessary.

2.3 (platform 9) SDK: http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-2.3.html
2.3 (revision 5) NDK: http://developer.android.com/sdk/ndk/index.html

Platform sources should ship at or shortly after commercial launch of Nexus S.
Kernel git repository (2.6.35 + android + s5pc111/nexus-s) will be available at or shortly before launch.

Enjoy!

Another stillborn phone from Google?

[Bill_the_Engineer]

If this is nothing but a rebranded Samsung Galaxy S running stock Google Gingerbread OS, then this may be another misstep by Google. This would mean that it wouldn't support T-Mobile's "4G" data network.

No 4G, which is bad since we can get a "4G" phone that runs at 1GHz from HTC called the MyTouch 4G.

Not to mention the less than stellar support Google provided for the Nexus One.

Will it be available at an actual T-Mobile store? Currently it looks like it's exclusively at Best Buy which is also a no go. Apple sells the iPhone in their stores AND AT&T. Google needs to sell the phones at the carrier's retail store too.

Re:Another stillborn phone from Google?

[Richy_T]

The carriers want to fuck with the phones too much for that. Look at what AT&T did, took off the front facing camera and disabled the FM radio. That's even without all the junk they want to install.

"world's first" 4in (10cm) curved display

[Shompol]

Throughout the 100 year history of CRT TVs, engineers and scientists worked on bringing the flattest screen to the market. This endeavor succeeded around 1998, with the release of Sony Trinitron WEGA.
Today, only twelve years later, we get a curved screen again, signaling the start of a new 100 year race: curve it all the way back to 1897!!!

Re:"world's first" 4in (10cm) curved display

[iinlane]

but this time it's concave so it's an improvement :)

Re:"world's first" 4in (10cm) curved display

[Timmmm]

Yeah but now it's concave!

Pricing info (was: Re:Links)

[mysteryvortex]

I just got off the phone with Best Buy's "dedicated Nexus S Help Line at 1-866-813-2021." Where I confirmed the Dec 16th release date, and found out that the pricing will be:

$529 without contract
$199 with 2yr T Mobile contract

The guy on the phone couldn't provide any info about ETFs, (early termination fees) and said that it seems to be a Best Buy exclusive for now. (He said something about Google partnering with Best Buy to introduce the Nexus S)

I'd rather not give Best Buy any money, so hopefully it will come to T Mobile soon.

If anybody has info on whether ATT will pull the same thing with this phone as they did with the Nexus One and start charging people using it on their slow edge network the "smart phone data rate" it would be appreciated.

Link to Best Buy's Page

-Mysteryvortex

Re:Pricing info (was: Re:Links)

[vuke69]

If anybody has info on whether ATT will pull the same thing with this phone as they did with the Nexus One and start charging people using it on their slow edge network the "smart phone data rate" it would be appreciated.

Link to Best Buy's Page

-Mysteryvortex

It's triband (850/1700/2100) HSPA so you should have 3G on both T-Mobile & AT&T.

Re:Pricing info (was: Re:Links)

[vuke69]

Oops, that would be 900/1700/2100.

Ugly?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think that it is ugly, I liked Nexus one though. I would have bought that one if it would have been possible in my country.

A galaxy S with and without

[giorgist]

Its a Galaxy S with flash for the camera (I walways wanted that)

Without SD card slot !! What are they thinking ?

Oh well, I get to keep my Galaxy S now

G

Only works on T-Mobile!

[Anonymous Coward]

As usual, the phone manufacturers (except Nokia with the N8) refuse to make a phone which is compatible with ALL 3G frequencies i.e. 850 and 1900 in addition to 900, 1700 and 2100. i.e. if you're in the states, you're effectively stuck with T-Mobile and can only use AT&T on 2G speeds with this phone. In Canada this phone only works on 2G speeds on Rogers and does not work at all on Bell and Telus. Phone manufacturers should be required BY LAW to include all five common worldwide 3G frequencies (i.e. 850/900/1700/1900/2100) in their phones to prevent vendor lock-in.

Not good enough

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a nexus one and I like it but it has some serious flaws and until they are fixed - I wont be upgrading
1) No FM Radio - Ive got 20 GB of Music on my Nexus one but sometimes the Radio is handy !
2) Poor battery life. I carry an external battery back and run the phone from that - its the only way it can last a full day if you are actually using its features.

3) It also sometimes struggles with the load - I want better multi tasking - so a dual core processor.
4) It also struggles getting the phone signal at times when my Cheap nokia (same carrier) has 4 odd bars signal - the nexus often doesnt have any. It also often fails to Send SMS (I think theres a patch for that but Vodafone hasnt released it yet but hopefully gingerbread will fix that) I have to say I reckon Nokia hardware with Android apps would ROCK ! but alas no !

5) I also wouldnt get a phone with no flash. Its the main reason I didnt get the galaxy. the flash acts as a really handy torch as well as helping take better pics.
The S is an evolution - not a revolution. Ill wait !

Swype

[Compaqt]

He's not talking about software keyboards a la iPhone.

He's talking about Swype. It's from the same guy who invented T9.

You don't peck the softkeys. You just trace a motion through the letters of a word. E.g., "sad" would be s, left to a, right to d, without taking your finger off the screen. You don't even have to be precise; it has a dictionary, and you can add your own words. Lift your finger for a space.

Watch a video demo. Other cool stuff. It's owned by Nokia, but available for Android as well.

Re:Swype

[metamatic]

I have both Swype and a physical keyboard on my phone (MyTouch 3G Slide aka Espresso). Physical keyboard is faster than Swype, and a lot less frustrating.

Re:Swype

[sexconker]

I know what swype is. I've used it. I've used other similar ones as well.

A physical keyboard is always better. You get tactile and visual feedback, and you can watch your program's text area as you type. You're not staring at the keyboard the entire time getting only delayed visual feedback. You can add whatever auto-correct/suggest/complete shit you want to a physical keyboard. You can also have physical keys for shift, symbol input, copy and paste, etc.