LEAK: Galaxy Nexus Specifications, Features and Carrier Details

Unless you we’re living in a cave for the last few months, you surely know what not only the android blogosphere, but all smartphone kingdom is desperately waiting for — the next Nexus phone by Google. We’ve been calling it Nexus Prime for most of the time in recent past but it’s not the only name we’ve heard, others being: Galaxy Nexus, Droid Nexus, Droid Prime, etc. But today, it seems the winner is (if there was a serious competition, ever) Galaxy Nexus which has gained voice of the latest rumors, that we believe are true.

While we’ve been looking everywhere for the details about the Galaxy Nexus, we hadn’t had any good luck so far. But no more, the latest round of rumors to hit us has just blown us, with details about Galaxy Nexus specs, features, carriers, etc. all been thrown in one single shot. The only downside is that it’s still a rumor, but we’ll know the truth soon, come Oct 11 next Tuesday which is only 5 days to go.

Here are the Galaxy Nexus Specifications we’re hearing — and they are pretty amazing! — that would make Galaxy Nexus yours and ours next phone (android enthusiast or not):

  • Android 4.0. It’s called Ice Cream Sandwich and it’s the next great version of Android, which will combine the best of Honeycomb (v3.x) and Gingerbread (v2.3) and will be single OS for both android tablets and phones
  • TI OMAP4460 1.2 GHz dual-core processor. We know you were want nothing less than Galaxy S2’s 1.2 GHz dual-core processor — which has proved countless times that it’s the processor to beat — and you’ll not be disappointed. This is TI’s new processor, based on latest OMAP4460 chipset (as compared to current OMAP4430 chipset), which was earlier rumored to power Galaxy Nexus with superb 1.5 GHz clock rates but now due to TI’s R&D not approving the 1.5GHz clock rate, it seems Google had to content with 1.2GHz clock rates. OMAP460 chipset will be new and untested as a retail unit, but when Google has chosen TI as flagship processor for Android 4.0, we think it would prove better than Samsung’s Exynos screamer, partly thanks to advancements in hardware by TI and mainly because of the hardware integration Google is gonna throw in with Galaxy Nexus.
  • (hold your breath!) 4.65-inch Super AMOLED HD display with resolution bumped to 1280 x 720 pixels — we’re very very delighted to see an HD phone so soon, it’s still 2011, dudes! And we’re still in awe of Super AMOLED plus display on our Galaxy S2
  • 1GB RAM (nice!)
  • Whopping 32GB of internal storage. Although iPhone 4S will offer 16/32/64GB of storage space (for $199/$299$399 on 2 year contract), this is the first time an android phone is launching with huge 32 GB of storage in-built. Since Nexus S didn’t have expandable sdcard slot, we’re not sure whether Galaxy Nexus has it. But you’d rarely miss it since 32Gb is already there, without the $100 jump in cost like the Apple’s iPhone 4S
  • NFC — obvious for a nexus device, eh! Pretty amazing tech, we hope all android device manufacturers start attaching an NFC chip with their gadgets
  • LTE/HSPA — that’s the fiercest combo of data speeds, ever! We’re not sure but it does hints towards Galaxy Nexus being a global phone supporting both LTE 4G and HSPA+ speeds, but we need to hear about exactly is presence of both CDMA and global GSM bands to make it a true and first ever global nexus phone
  • Oh yeah, this iPhone 4S buster is just 9mm thin — despite packing in NFC chips, LTE/HSPA+ chips and that 32GB built-in storage space
  • WiFi a/b/g/n
  • 1750 mAh battery
  • 5MP rear camera and 1.3MP front facing camera. You might be disappointed to not see a 8MP shooter in the back — so are we — but we think this 5MP cam will have the best of sensors to make up for that and rumors already have it that it will shoot/record and play 1080p videos effortlessly.

So, this is your next nexus device. We’ll know more about it pretty soon on October 11, when Google Episode happens at Samsung’s unpacked event at CTIA.

Oh, the carrier — it’s said Galaxy Nexus is destined to Verizon Wireless in U.S., exclusively. That’s a bit of a disappointment, frankly, if it doesn’t get all-carrier launch. But it might get later, like the Nexus S. Anyway, this is why perhaps Verizon passed on its Galaxy S2 variant while other carriers had their own S2 variant, getting an early edge over Verizon for short period of time. No matter how much of a great phone S2 is, Galaxy Nexus looks ahead of the curve of not only the S2, but also ahead of any other smartphone that exists today.

Software: It’s pure Google experience phone, with stock Android OS running on it. No manufacturer customization whatsoever, and no carrier bloatware whatsoever! We love Samsung’s custom UI, TouchViz 4.0, but with Android 4.0 on the Galaxy Nexus, we won’t miss TW4 at all, and we’re pretty sure about it.

Launch: No word on the release date, neither for Verizon nor for the global launch we guys are waiting for.

This is it for now, until we hear exciting new stuff next Tuesday, Oct 11.

Oh btw, there is one feature already out of Android 4.0: you would be able to check data usage of each app in Ice Cream Sandwich by default.

We know you’ve plenty to say about the Galaxy Nexus, sound off in comments below, please — let’s hear it!

Posted by
Kapil Malani

A die-hard Liverpool FC fan, Kapil is a big fan of Batman, Android and street Cricket. In that order, probably. Email: [email protected]