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.

Compare this: Sprint Galaxy Nexus vs. LG Viper LTE vs. HTC EVO 4G LTE