Google and Samsung Unveil the Galaxy Nexus

Say hello to the newest member of the Nexus family!

After months of speculation (and a delay), Google and Samsung have finally unveiled the Galaxy Nexus smartphone. The first to ever run Ice Cream Sandwich, the Galaxy Nexus boasts a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display with a 1280×720 resolution; a dual-core 1.2 GHz Ti OMAP 4460 CPU; PowerVR SGX540 graphics; 1GB of RAM; either 16GB or 32GB of storage; a 5-megapixel camera capable of 1080p video and an additional 1.3-megapixel affair up front; a 1750 mAh battery; NFC; and, of course, Android 4.0. When it comes to form-factor, the phone's screen is slightly concave, ensuring the phone is comfortable against your face when you're talking. Similarly, the back is slightly curved to make it more comfortable to hold. Gone is the glossy black case that Nexus S users are so used to wiping finger prints off of. In its place is a textured non-slip back that should please the clumsy and the obsessive wipers alike.

The Galaxy Nexus features a pretty sleek and sexy design, measuring in at 0.352-inches thick. However, no matter how attractive the design, the defining feature is the OS -- The Galaxy Nexus is the first ever smartphone to run Google's Ice Cream Sandwich, also known as Android 4.0. With 4.0 come a lot of UI changes for Android. Google has adopted a completely new font (called Roboto) and changed a number of core features of the interface, such as widgets, the unlock screen, the app library (you now scroll from side to side in your app library, as opposed to that up and down rolling feature from older versions), notifications and homescreen.

One of the most talked about features of Android 4.0 is the facial-recognition unlocking, which allows you to skip the passcode or pattern password route and instead opt for a system that will only unlock your phone when you're looking at it. Though the demo of the feature failed during Google's presentation (the curse of live demos), it's said to be very responsive by those who got hands-on time with it. There's also an improved camera app, which now includes the ability to edit your photos right on your phone or take panoramas.

Neither Google nor Samsung were able to give anything more than a vague 'November' when it came to a release date for the Galaxy Nexus, nor were they able to reveal carriers for any country but Japan (NTT DoCoMo, in case you were wondering). However, we do know that it will be sold through Verizon Wireless here in the United States.

Any takers?

For more on last night's event, check out our live blog.