Google 'readies new Nexus smartphone' to battle iPhone 5

Google is said to be preparing the latest of its flagship Nexus range of smartphones, to take on the new iPhone expected this autumn. 


 
The Nexus S, Android operating system smartphone









The Nexus Prime will reportedly be the first Android smarphone to run “Ice Cream Sandwich”, the next iteration of the operating system.

It is reportedly being built by Samsung, with a 1.5GHz dual-core processor at its heart when it launches in October. The current model, the Nexus S, features a single core, 1GHz processor.

The display will also be upgraded to a 4.5-inch 720p Super AMOLED HD screen, according to reports from South Korea. The Nexus S display is 4-inch and lower resoluton.

Ice Cream Sandwich will merge the main version of Android with Honeycomb, the version adapted for tablets, so some analysts have speculated that the Nexus Prime may do away with hardware buttons such as “home” and “back” found on smartphones.

The timing of the release means the Nexus Prime is expected to go head-to-head with the fifth version of the iPhone due in stores early in October. It also reportedly features a faster processor, as well as an eight-megapixel camera. 

Japan's third-biggest mobile operator, SoftBank has announced the Yahoo! Phone, which will be powerd by Android. This move sounds strange considering Google is Yahoo's biggest rival. This development is all the more confounding because the latter has a close relationship with Google's nemesis, Microsoft. Let's not forget the fact that Bing also powers Yahoo's search engine.

The device will feature a 4" LCD screen, 8 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi, and microSD card slot. The Yahoo! Phone will run Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), and will feature a built-in digital TV tuner. Yeah, that'll be a TV phone. Well, if these Japs can fit a Sumo in Honda car, a TV in a mobile is no sweat either.The phone is manufactured by Sharp, which is then rebadged as a Yahoo! Phone. To justify its name, the device will ship with a bunch of country specific Yahoo! Mobile apps. The smartphone is expected to be available by the end of next month.