In what is sure to be the worst kept secret for Sprint in a long time, the carrier has announced its own version of the LTE Galaxy Nexus which will be launched on the same day as the previously announced LG Viper on April 22nd for $199.99 after new 2 year agreement or qualified upgrade. The phone was teased at CES but no release details were provided and the existence of a Sprint version had been known as far back as October of last year. Pre-orders will begin today, and in a bit of change from past pre-order promotions those who pre-order today will receive the phone up to two days before the official launch date on April 22nd.
The phone is Google’s current Android flagship and features a few key changes from the heavily revised Verizon version such as the increased storage space from 16GB to 32GB as the phone lacks a microSD slot, complete Google Wallet support on account of Sprint being Google’s partner in the mobile wallet initiative and Google is even throwing in $50 worth of Google Wallet credit when activating a new Wallet account, with a $10 instant credit upon activation and an additional $40 credit three weeks after. Complete features and specifications follow below.
· Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich
· 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED touchscreen display with 1280×720 resolution
· 1.2GHz dual-core processor (TI OMAP 4460)
· Google Play™: With more than 500,000 apps, millions of songs and books and thousands of movies, Google Play has something for everyone
· Google Voice™ makes people’s lives easier by providing one phone number to use for the rest of their life. Easily manage up to six devices with one Sprint phone number, use intelligent call routing and advanced call controls like call screening, blocking and recording and online management of SMS, voicemail and call logs at www.google.com/voice
· Google+™ Hangouts: video chat with a group of up to 10 friends using the 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, all on the go
· Near Field Communication (NFC) technology allows the device to read information from everyday objects, like stickers and posters embedded with NFC chips
· Google Wallet™: Turn the smartphone into a wallet using NFC to make safe, secure purchases at more than 100,000 participating retailers
· Android Beam™: Share contacts, web pages, YouTube videos, directions and apps – just by touching two NFC-enabled Android phones back to back – tap to beam what’s on the phone to a friend.\
· Google Mobile™ wireless services such as Google Search™, Gmail™, Google Maps™ for Android, Google Calendar™, Voice Actions and YouTube™
· Personal and business email and text messaging, as well as IM through Google Talk™
· 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot capability supporting up to 10 Wi-Fi enabled devices simultaneously
· Wi-Fi® – 802.11 a/b/g/n
· Integrated GPS
Entertainment
· 3.5mm headset jack
· Stereo Bluetooth® 3.0
· Dual cameras – Rear-facing, zero-shutter lag 5-megapixel camera with 1080p video capture, digital zoom and LED flash; front-facing 1.3-megapixel for video chat with Google+ Hangouts
· Single-motion panoramic picture capabilities that allow the user to take beautiful panorama pictures by pointing and touching the shutter, then panning the phone from one side to another
· Full-featured photo editor with one-touch sharing and live effects, which lets the user give friends big eyes, squeezed heads and large noses while recording video
· Face Unlock: Galaxy Nexus introduces a new, fun way to unlock the phone – with a smile. State-of-the-art facial recognition technology lets the user switch on the phone and look at it to get past the lock screen – no passwords to remember, nothing to type or swipe
Specifications
· Dimensions: 2.67 x 5.33 x 0.37 inches (67.94mm x 135.5mm x 9.47mm)
· Weight: 5.1 ounces (144 grams)
· Display: 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED contour touchscreen display with 1280×720 resolution
· Battery: 1850mAh Lithium-ion battery
· Talk Time: 7.5 hours
· Memory: 32GB internal memory (ROM); 1GB RAM
