Galaxy Nexus: pictures, video, release dates, and more

We've been waiting for a release date since CES, but it's finally official — the Galaxy Nexus is coming to Sprint on April 22nd for $199.99 when you sign a new two-year contract. As an incentive to get new buyers using Google's mobile payment system, the Sprint Galaxy Nexus will come with $50 in cold, hard cash into your Google Wallet, provided you activate by May 22nd. Google already offers $10 instant credit when people activate Google Wallet, so new buyers will get an additional $40 over the standard offer — who can argue with free money?

This release date has been rumored for several weeks now; Sprint's also launching the LTE-capable LG Viper on the same day, so it's not terribly surprising to see the Galaxy Nexus come out simultaneously. However, if you pre-order now, Sprint is promising that customers could receive their devices as early as Friday, April 20th, while supplies last. Spec-wise, it appears this device is identical to Verizon's version — it'll have 32GB of onboard storage and a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, not 1.5GHz as was rumored previously. While this latest Galaxy Nexus variant should work the same as the others, we're curious to see how it performs on both Sprint's 3G and LTE networks — and how it stacks up to Sprint's other LTE flagship device, the recently-announced HTC EVO 4G LTE. Remember, Sprint's LTE network will initially be available in Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, and San Antonio by the middle of the year... everyone else will have to stick with 3G.

All the pieces appear to be lining up for a rapid release of the Galaxy Nexus on Sprint. Two days ago, we obtained a Sam's Club document suggesting the smartphone would arrive on Sunday, April 22nd, and today, Engadget has an Galaxy Nexus training manual for Sprint employees that they allegedly have to finish absorbing within the next two weeks. Moreover, one page in particular from that manual hints at a launch sooner than later, and you can see it below: the Galaxy Nexus LTE will apparently arrive with its LTE connectivity turned off by default.

Perhaps that's standard practice at cellular carriers when a network is still in its infancy, but it seems to suggest that Sprint could sell the phone before its LTE network launches at all, and given that launch is still slated for a vague "mid-2012" the April 22nd release date sounds quite plausible. Of course, Sprint is touting the LG Viper 4G as an LTE-capable phone and preorders begin on April 12th, so perhaps Sprint's LTE network is closer than we know.

We know quite a bit about Sprint's upcoming Galaxy Nexus LTE except the most interesting part — when it'll be available and how much it'll cost. Eager Sprint fans may not have much longer to wait, however, as an anonymous Walmart employee has sent us an internal document stating that the device will launch on April 22nd at Sam's Club — a Walmart-run discount club store. The device is to be identical to Verizon's LTE variant of the device, except it has Google Wallet support and it's still rumored to run at 1.5GHz — a 300MHz bump over its GSM and Verizon LTE cousins.

Other than the Galaxy Nexus, the document reveals a yet-to-be-announced Intensity III for Verizon, sure to be a followup to the Samsung Intensity II dumbphone. The internal paper also says that Sprint's LG Viper LTE smartphone will be available on April 15th. We've cross-checked the dates provided on the document with known release dates and they all line up. Sprint's first LTE markets are set to go live mid-year, so we certainly expect the carrier's Galaxy Nexus to be available sometime around then — whether or not that means April 22nd is still just a rumor for now.

A word of warning: The US-shipping dock is listed as supporting the Verizon and as-of-yet-unreleased Sprint versions of the Galaxy Nexus, and has a different part number than the dock available internationally. We haven't been able to confirm whether this is just a minor regional discrepancy, or if the docks are indeed different. So if you imported a GSM version of the Galaxy Nexus, you might want to hunt down part number EDD-D1F2BE instead of EDD-D1F8BEBSTD, just to be safe.

Samsung's GSM Galaxy Nexus is already available in both white and black in the UK, but US Verizon customers may soon have some choice when picking their perfect Nexus as well. Droid Life is reporting that the carrier will be releasing a white variant of the LTE phone "in the very near future," though it's said to feature 16GB of storage rather than the current black-and-silver model's 32GB. The carrier has made similar moves before, introducing a white variant of the Droid RAZR last December, and then nixing the 16GB SD card that phone was originally bundled with — while lopping $100 off the asking price. A discounted white Galaxy Nexus would certainly be an appealing option for those still on the fence, but of course it's all just rumors until Verizon itself confirms the news.

Update: Though you can't see it directly from the Market, it turns out that there's a way to massage it into installing on Verizon versions of the Galaxy Nexus as well; Droid Life has the details.

The white Galaxy Nexus looks set to be with us by this time next month, but we don't have to wait that long for the first real photos of the device. It's been photographed over on HDBlog.it, showing off an alabaster rear and sides. The bezel around the display up front remains black, unfortunately, so it's not white all over, though we doubt that will stop Android fans from making it their favorite new object of desire.

Though its first four LTE market launches are still a few months away, Sprint decided to do a little advance planning by showing its first LTE-compatible devices here at CES 2012: the midrange LG Viper, the Sierra Wireless Tri-Network Hotspot, and — of course — the Galaxy Nexus.

Finally, the Tri-Network Hotspot is awesome for one very simple reason: Sprint will be selling it with a standard 3,600mAh battery, which means that it should almost certainly last all day even with heavy LTE use. The underlying design is the same Sierra Wireless-sourced hardware that AT&T is using for its Elevate 4G, but the Tri-Network Hotspot is a good deal thicker since the Elevate comes bundled with a battery half as capacious. With mobile hotspots, physical beauty is secondary — I like Sprint's decision to throw caution to the wind and make this thing huge in exchange for all-day battery life. As the name implies, this device will work on LTE, WiMAX, and CDMA alike, so you'll be getting Sprint's fastest speeds regardless of where you are (no GSM global roaming, though).

Ads leaked out last week, but now Sprint's officially taken the cover off of the LTE-capable Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Unlike Verizon's model, Sprint is highlighting the Galaxy Nexus' NFC capabilities and Google Wallet software. There's no mention on whether the processor has indeed been bumped to 1.5GHz as we saw earlier, but we do know that the storage space has unfortunately been cut to 16GB. Other than that, it looks like the Sprint Galaxy Nexus could be the closest to Google's vision of what the device should be. There's still no word on when this device will be available, but we expect it'll be available when Sprint's LTE network goes live later this year.

Update: Apparently, Sprint had a typo on its website — the Galaxy Nexus will in fact have 32GB of storage. Sprint's page has since been updated.

Already for sale on rival Canadian carriers Bell and Virgin Mobile, the Galaxy Nexus will become available to Telus customers beginning January 13th. This according to a post on the company's Twitter page earlier today, which unfortunately lacked anything in the way of pricing details. The competition launched Google's flagship Ice Cream Sandwich handset for around CA$160 (~$157 USD) on a three-year contract, a figure we would hope Telus plans to match if not undercut. According to Samsung, Rogers will also be receiving the Nexus on the same day, making good on an earlier pledge to bring the Android 4.0 device to its subscribers this month. Come January 13th, it'll be a perfect three-for-three among Canada's national carriers — a little better than the US can claim at this point.

Samsung has released white versions of a number of its phones in the last few weeks, and the latest recipient is the Galaxy Nexus — UK retailer Handtec will begin offering a white 16GB Galaxy Nexus on February 6th, and is accepting pre-orders now. It's the GSM model of the handset our own Joshua Topolsky called "the best Android phone ever made," and it should be available for the same £496.79 ($770.96) as the black version — after all, aside from the coat of paint it's the same phone. Handtec will also begin offering a 32GB Galaxy Nexus, though it'll only be available in black. It's UK-only for now, but if previous Galaxy Nexus events are any indication, we'll be seeing a white Galaxy Nexus stateside after several false starts and missed release dates.

Android 4.0 debuted commercially with the Galaxy Nexus last November, and now Google has released the first analytics on Ice Cream Sandwich's adoption. According to the Android Developers site, versions 4.0 through 4.0.2 are now installed on .3 percent of all active Android devices, while version 4.0.3 — which started rolling out to GSM Nexus S phones last month — accounts for another .3 percent. The number is obviously dwarfed by the 55.5 percent of Android devices running some variant of Gingerbread, but what else do the figures tell us, particularly about Galaxy Nexus sales?

Google announced in November that 200 million Android devices had been activated to date, and using Andy Rubin's 700,000 per day activation average and his holiday weekend sales figures, we arrive at approximately 236 million activated Android devices. With versions 4.0 through 4.0.2 of the OS available only on the Galaxy Nexus, we have a rough estimate of 707,700 units of the new device sold thus far. While this wouldn't make the new Nexus as successful as the Galaxy Note, it's not a bad start for Google's latest flagship — but of course, we'll have to wait until Samsung or Google release official numbers to know for sure.

Edu Pereda, a software engineer at Google's Zurich offices, has excitedly posted a gallery of his new Galaxy Nexus. It's not quite like any of the Nexi you've seen yet, however, as it comes with a fancy, Googlified back cover — a special little touch to make the home team feel more loved. The Next Web reports that it's confirmed Google employees in the London office are also receiving the custom Galaxy Nexus as a holiday gift, and the logical expectation is that the same will be true across the company's many teams spanning the globe.

Flash is now playing on Ice Cream Sandwich. Adobe just released an updated version of the soon to be abandoned app on Android Market that offers compatibility with Google's latest OS. It arrives just in time for those new Galaxy Nexus owners on Verizon Wireless here in the US — though those carrying the GSM device have had to endure a bit of a wait. A couple nagging issues remain: the on-screen preview will not change when scrubbing through a video, and some videos are experiencing playback trouble. Hit the release notes below for the full details. Other improvements include the standard bug fixes and stability improvements that you might expect. The update awaits you in Android Market now.

The Verizon version of the Galaxy Nexus has just gone on sale today, and as Droid Life noted yesterday, it's already getting an Android 4.0.2 update after activation. We can confirm that our review unit pulled an update immediately after powering it on, so it's a safe bet that retail handsets will do the same. The 10.7MB download adds a number of improvements, featuring improved mobile hotspot when used with VPN, louder audio in Google navigation with turn-by-turn directions, and most interestingly, optimized 3G / 4G data connections for faster response times. Giving the timing of this update and the different firmware required for LTE, perhaps the rumors that Verizon was holding out for a new version of Ice Cream Sandwich prior to launch hold some truth after all. Regardless, it's a relief to finally be able to put all the Galaxy Nexus release date rumors to rest — and better reception is a nice bonus.

The long-awaited Galaxy Nexus US launch is finally taking place today and online retailer LetsTalk is making a very earnest bid for your hard-earned dollars by pricing it a mouthwatering $154.99 with a new two-year contract. That's just over half the price you'd have to pay when buying directly from Verizon and is the result of a $229.99 base price combined with a $75 discount coupon. Verizon upgraders would have to spend $20 more, with a $249.99 base price and the same coupon eligibility. In both situations, you're looking at a mighty impressive price — just make sure to check out the small print about early termination fees here. Overnight shipping is free and the code you need in order to activate that $75 discount is $75VZN.

Just for kicks we priced our model with plans for unlimited voice, unlimited messaging, and the 20GB data bundle for a total monthly bill of $169.99. But hey, it's the LTE Samsung Galaxy Nexus, why not live a little?

Update: LetsTalk is now selling the GNex for $154.99 with new contract.

Finally, we know! Verizon has put an end to all the speculation and announced the release date and price for the LTE-capable, Ice Cream Sandwich-equipped Galaxy Nexus. It launches tomorrow, December 15th, and will cost $299.99 with a two-year contract.

The Galaxy Nexus is the third pure Google experience device, following on from the Nexus and Nexus S, and is the first and so far only phone to run the biggest upgrade to the platform yet, Ice Cream Sandwich (aka Android 4). It took its good time getting to the US, but Verizon will finally release it tomorrow and end all our suffering. Also in the emailed press announcement, Verizon notes that its Double Data Promotion for buyers of LTE devices (new customers and upgraders alike) will be extended through the holidays. That doubles the data allowance of your smartphone plan so long as you continue using a 4G phone, and the Galaxy Nexus will obviously be eligible and in a prime position to exploit that extra bandwidth.

Verizon still hasn't confirmed whether the Galaxy Nexus will be on sale starting tomorrow (all rumors point to "yes"), but would-be buyers have a new toy to play with this afternoon while they wait: an interactive how-to guide posted to the carrier's support site. We're not seeing anything new or notable here, but until you're able to put an actual device in your hand, this is the next best thing.

The phone was priced at $299.99 on-contract as expected, and screenshots indicate it comes with at least three different Verizon apps pre-loaded: the My Verizon Mobile account management tool, Verizon Login, and VZ Backup Assistant (of course, thanks to Ice Cream Sandwich, all three can be easily disabled). With Big Red still refusing to make an official announcement, no doubt many more will try to "encourage" retail employees to sell the phone early. If you're so inclined, please be aware that Verizon doesn't take pre-launch sales lightly when it comes to employees and retailers, so if you're denied it's better to commisserate with your local representatives than berate them. While we'd like to say an official launch date will be announced soon, unfortunately neither Verizon nor its retail partners are offering any new information at this time.

The only thing that's left is the final OK from Verizon, and that seems to be the crux of the matter. Many store managers and employees are at a loss to explain why they cannot sell the devices while conspiracy theories about the decision to nix Google Wallet and even a delay for a 4.1 software update are swirling. We certainly don't want to add to the pile, but it's hard to avoid the conclusion that there is some sort of strategic disconnect between Verizon and Google behind the whole matter.

Whatever the issue, we're training our eyes on December 15th and hoping that it won't be December 9th all over again.

Last night we learned that the Verizon version of the Galaxy Nexus will not have Google Wallet preloaded. And while that still remains to be the case, Verizon has decided to clarify that it does not "block" applications and that it's not ruling out the possibility that the phone could be Google Wallet-capable in the future. The following statement was issued by Verizon spokesperson Jeffery Nelson a few moments ago: 

Nelson clarified for us that the Verizon version of the phone wouldn't come pre-loaded with the app, but that the carrier is working with Google on the issue. While we did assume that Verizon had nixed the app because of its upcoming ISIS platform work, it could very well be that Verizon and Google continue to sort out Wallet carrier and hardware compatibility. Remember, Sprint is the only US carrier offering the service at the moment. Regardless, we'd say there's a ray of hope that one day you'd be able to pay for a taxi ride with the Verizon Galaxy Nexus. Of course, we'd actually need the phone to launch to do that in the first place. Baby steps. 

While the launch date and price for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus are still not officially confirmed, it's not complete radio silence about the device out there. Computer World received confirmation from Google that its Google Wallet software won't be included on the Verizon version of the Galaxy Nexus. Apparently, Verizon's Galaxy Nexus will also have some pre-loaded Verizon apps installed out of the box. Fortunately, Android 4.0 makes it easier than before to uninstall such apps should a user desire.

For Verizon, it looks like offering a "pure Google" phone is one thing, but offering Google a chance to gain a foothold in a potentially lucrative new revenue stream is something else entirely.