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Google Launches Nexus S Phone In UK and US

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the better-battery-this-time-maybe dept.

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'."

43 of 202 comments (clear)

  1. Links by IamTheRealMike · · Score: 4, Informative
    Official website

    Info about Gingerbread

  2. KEYBOARD by Deliveranc3 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Give us a KEYBOARD FOOLS!

    The G2 is gonna be sweeeet!

    1. Re:KEYBOARD by DeathFromSomewhere · · Score: 2

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

      --
      -1 overrated isn't the same thing as "I disagree".
    2. Re:KEYBOARD by JohnnyBGod · · Score: 2

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

    3. Re:KEYBOARD by leptons · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

    4. Re:KEYBOARD by Pojut · · Score: 2

      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.

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    5. Re:KEYBOARD by Reapman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

    6. Re:KEYBOARD by Nadaka · · Score: 2

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

    7. Re:KEYBOARD by Rasperin · · Score: 4, Informative

      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.

      --
      WTF Slashdot, why do I have to login 50 times to post?
    8. Re:KEYBOARD by Enderandrew · · Score: 2

      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.

      --
      http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    9. Re:KEYBOARD by hitmark · · Score: 2

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

      --
      comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
    10. Re:KEYBOARD by DeathFromSomewhere · · Score: 3, Insightful

      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/

      --
      -1 overrated isn't the same thing as "I disagree".
    11. Re:KEYBOARD by Nadaka · · Score: 2

      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.

    12. Re:KEYBOARD by Tumbleweed · · Score: 4, Informative

      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. :)

    13. Re:KEYBOARD by AvitarX · · Score: 2

      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.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
  3. now about that only on T-Mobile thing... by rraylion · · Score: 2

    - 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.

    1. Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing... by Some+guy+named+Chris · · Score: 2

      No AT&T 3G, though.

    2. Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing... by ronocdh · · Score: 3, Insightful

      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?

    3. Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing... by cbhacking · · Score: 2

      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.

      --
      There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
    4. Re:now about that only on T-Mobile thing... by nine-times · · Score: 3, Informative

      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).

  4. Whoopi! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

  5. The best part is... by lowlymarine · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ...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.

    1. Re:The best part is... by mdm-adph · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

      --
      It is by my will alone my thoughts acquire motion; it is by the juice of the coffee bean that the thoughts acquire speed
    2. Re:The best part is... by ravenscar · · Score: 2

      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.

    3. Re:The best part is... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

    4. Re:The best part is... by Zebedeu · · Score: 5, Interesting

      ...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.

  6. Release Date by flabordec · · Score: 2

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

    --
    "I see undead people" Warcraft III - Necromancer
  7. Not for Consumers by supernes · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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#

    1. Re:Not for Consumers by Sockatume · · Score: 2

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

      --
      No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  8. The $50 question... by mlts · · Score: 2

    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.

    1. Re:The $50 question... by Zebedeu · · Score: 2, Informative

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

  9. In reality, not a whole lot... by rehtonAesoohC · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.

    1. Re:In reality, not a whole lot... by gotpoetry · · Score: 2

      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.

  10. No HSPA+ by Jonboy+X · · Score: 2

    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!

    --

    "In a 32-bit world, you're a 2-bit user. You've got your own newsgroup, alt.total.loser." -Weird Al
  11. Re:Any GSM Phone on Any GSM Network? by pavon · · Score: 4, Informative

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

  12. aggrieved consumer by stimpleton · · Score: 2

    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.

    --

    In post Patriot Act America, the library books scan you.
  13. Phone isn't about sales by Stuntmonkey · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

  14. Why only US and UK? by hitmark · · Score: 2

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

    --
    comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
  15. Re:Underwhelming by Sir_Sri · · Score: 2

    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.

  16. Some assorted useful information by brian.swetland · · Score: 2

    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!

  17. "world's first" 4in (10cm) curved display by Shompol · · Score: 2

    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!!!

    1. Re:"world's first" 4in (10cm) curved display by Timmmm · · Score: 2

      Yeah but now it's concave!

  18. Re:BestBuy by Tumbleweed · · Score: 2

    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".