Nexus Prime rumours: What you need to know

Google's third Nexus Android phone, officially announced back in May, is expected to be manufactured by Samsung, with many, many recent rumours claiming a model known as the "Nexus Prime" - or the Samsung GT-I9250 - will be the new flagship Android phone.

Samsung itself has already confirmed that a phone under the name "Nexus Prime" exists, thanks to a list of settings discovered on its own site - but the odd mixture of specifications it contained led some to believe it was simply a placeholder.

And whether it'll actually launch under the name Nexus Prime is still debatable, but the signs are all pointing to an October or November launch for the next official Android flagship phone, made by Samsung, running the newest Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android, which may or may not be known as Android 4.0.

Here's what else we know about the Nexus Prime handset itself.

Nexus Prime specs

It's no surprise to learn the Nexus Prime will offer a decent leap above current Android phone specs. We're expecting it to be the first to arrive with a 720p resolution display (unless LG beats everyone to it with its HD LU6200).

Tech specs are all, of course, unconfirmed, but the most recent leak claims it'll arrive powered by a Texas Instruments OMAP processor - which is dual-core - running with a dual core 1.5GHz processor. It'd better have a big battery as well.

And if it's going to support HD material, it'll need a big screen - the Nexus Prime is currently rumoured to feature a whopping great 4.65" Super AMOLED display, running at that HD 1280x720 resolution.

We're expecting Ice Cream Sandwich to completely remove the requirement for phone to have Back, Home and Menu buttons, meaning the Nexus Prime should arrive without any front-facing buttons whatsoever. Unless Samsung sticks a big, round Home button in the middle, just to annoy Apple.

Nexus Prime UK release date

Google has said that it expects the Ice Cream Sandwich release date to be October or November, so it's safe to assume that, as has happened in previous years with the Nexus One and Nexus S, the Nexus Prime will be the hardware flagship for this exciting new Android OS release and will launch simultaneously with the software onboard.

Samsung Romania also made a little error on Twitter, claiming the Samsung-made Nexus Prime would launch in late 2011 with Android 4.0.

Nexus Prime will debut with Ice Cream Sandwich

Google has done a remarkably good job of keeping its Ice Cream Sandwich Android update under wraps. We've heard that it'll combine the mobile and tablet versions of the OS, bringing the Honeycomb "holographic" interface to mobiles, unifying the current mobile and tablet versions of the OS – although the oddly disappointing supposed early leaked images of ICS suggested a rather underwhelming, minimal change.

Google always likes to debut a big Android update alongside a piece of hardware that shows it off to its best extent, so we fully expect ICS and the Nexus Prime to be announced and shipped on the same day.

Nexus Prime price

We can but guess. So we'll guess. Given the cutting-edge nature of the rumoured spec sheet, the size of the screen and the fact that Samsung's Galaxy S II commanded a huge £499 price on release, it's safe to assume you'll need to find at least that much for a Nexus Prime if buying outside of a contract.

On monthly contracts, the Nexus Prime is bound to arrive at the top end - meaning at least £35 per month. At least, for the first few weeks while demand is still high. If you wait a few months you'll save yourself piles of cash - the Nexus S launched for £429 late last December, but was swiftly chopped down to around £300 a few months after launch. So don't get too excited and spaff loads of cash too soon.

Will Samsung make the Nexus Prime?

Despite Google recently signing a deal to buy Motorola's mobile division, it looks almost certain that the Nexus Prime will be a Samsung-made device, as Google doesn't see Motorola as the automatic choice for making its future flagship phones.

Other, older rumours have claimed LG may have been in the running to make it, plus, of course, it was HTC which made the original Nexus One. But we're 99 percent sure that 2011 will be Samsung's turn. Again.

Nexus Prime rivals

Samsung's bitter local rival LG has been making a lot of noise about its plans for future "HD" Android phones, even going so far as announcing the fact it's signed Capcom's Street Fighter IV as an exclusive for an as yet unnamed future smartphone. Plus LG has its HD LU6200 - although that's not yet running Ice Cream Sandwich.

Persistent rumours claim Sony Ericsson may be about to launch a dual-core Android phone, with its unannounced Nozomi regularly popping up in many internet leaks. But again, there's no official word on ICS support there.

The other big unknown is HTC. We've seen plenty of future HTC phones leak - like the HTC Bass and HTC Ruby - but they appear to be standard Android 2.3 phones with buttons rather than buttonless Ice Cream Sandwich handsets. It'll have something, but we don't know what. Yet.

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