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“Six months from now you’ll say the opposite. Because ultimately applications vendors are driven by volume. And the volume is favored by the open approach that Google is taking.”

That was Google Chairman Eric Schmidt speaking at LeWeb a couple days ago. Specifically, he was addressing a question from the audience wondering why most big application developers are still choosing to develop for the iOS platform first instead of Android.

First of all, if you haven’t watched Schmidt’s entire talk with Loic Le Meur yet, you really should. They cover a range of topics important to both Google and the broader tech space. Plus, it will avoid the small situation that arose yesterday when Schmidt was misquoted, making him sound much more arrogant about the Android platform than he actually was.

While Schmidt was misquoted, the core of this latest debate around iOS and Android remains very much intact. Schmidt predicted that 6 months from now, most major app developers will choose to make their app work on Android before iOS. That gives us an actual date that we can mark down to see if he’s right or not: June 6, 2012.

Of course, my stance is going to be that there’s no way he’s going to be right about that. Not a chance.

In fact, I’m not even sure he would say the same thing again if pressed. Because while the way he answered the question may have sounded reasonable, history has already given us plenty of guidance as to why he’ll be wrong.

The audience member who asked the question clearly did so because Android already is the dominant player in the space. And it has been for quite some time now. Schmidt brushes that fact (a fact which he so often states when it’s advantageous to an argument) aside completely and instead implies that the only reason developers aren’t rushing to Android right now is because the software hasn’t been good enough until now.

Of course, that goes against basically everything Google has been saying for the past couple of years. In that time, it was always been that Android was ahead of iOS when it came to software. Last year at Google I/O, for example, the knives were out for Apple’s platform. At one point, they showed Android 2.2 (Froyo) literally running laps around iOS.

So when Schmidt says: “It’s taken us a while to get software that really is capable of delivering on the promise that you’ve just articulated.” to the audience member, you have to wonder why then such a software comparison was a focal point of previous Google I/Os?

That’s not to say Android Ice Cream Sandwich isn’t good (I happen to be testing it out right now, and it is quite good — more on that soon), it’s just that Google has consistently said the newest version of Android is the one that will blow the doors off the iOS house. It just hasn’t happened yet. And I see no reason why we should believe that the situation will be different this time.

Further, Schmidt goes on to imply that another reason why ICS will bring all the developers over to Android is that Google has now gotten better at working with their carrier and OEM partners to ensure the latest software is available to customers. “With the ICS release our core objective as a company is to get all of the hardware vendors onto that platform,” was his actual quote.

Yes, that has been a problem — a huge one. But again, I see no reason why it’s going to be solved here. At Google I/O this past summer, Google went on and on about their new “Android Update Initiative”. It sounded great. Google was going to get all the OEMs and carriers in line and make sure that Android updates came to all in a timely manner. “Over the next few weeks, we’ll figure it all out,” Android chief Android chief Andy Rubin said at the time.

That was seven months ago. Guess how much we’ve heard about the plan since then?

*Crickets*

Worse, just yesterday, Motorola — the hardware company Google is buying, mind you — took to their blog to dampen expectations about when their users may seen ICS on their wide variety of phones. They don’t come out and give a date, but putting two-and-two together, it sure sounds like it’s going to be many months at the earliest. Hell, they aren’t going to even figure out which devices they want to and can update until a month from now.

Here’s my favorite bit:

3. Submit the upgrade to the carriers for certification

This is the point in the process where the carrier’s lab qualifies and tests the upgrade. Each carrier has different requirements for phases 2 and 3. There may be a two-month preparation cycle to enter a carrier lab cycle of one to three months.

I’m starting to wonder if sure any Android device besides the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is going to have ICS by June 6, 2012. That doesn’t bode well for Schmdit’s prediction.

All that aside, let’s just think about what Schmidt is saying for a second. He’s saying that  developers are just months — and maybe even weeks — away from changing their current line of thinking. Are there some developers out there that do Android first right now? Sure. Has that number been growing? I think that’s fair to say (though I have no data to point to either way). But it’s also fair to say that the vast majority of the key mobile software developers are still focusing on iOS first. The audience member cited Flipboard, everyone else can probably rattle off a dozen big names.

Again, Android is already the biggest smartphone platform out there. And again, that has been the case for a long time now. So when Schmidt says “ultimately applications vendors are driven by volume”, Android should already be dominating in the race for getting the best apps. But they aren’t.

I’ve spoken to many mobile developers over the years about this issue. There are a few refrains, but they’re all largely the same.

First, many of them still seem to prefer to use iOS as their own primary device. The likelihood is greater that they’re going to develop for a platform they actually use.

Second, most developers are still unconvinced that you can make any meaningful amount of money trying to sell an Android app (Schmidt hit on this quickly in his remarks, saying that the Market is now better, but doesn’t really address the issue). Instapaper creator Marco Arment is going to put his money where his mouth is in this regard by offering to split the revenue with any developer who can make a decent Android port of his app and sell it in the Android Market. If he thought it would be a huge money maker, obviously he would do it himself.

Third, the Android Market is still no App Store when it comes to both distribution and discovery. Again, Schmidt sort of alluded to this being fixed, but that’s not yet clear.

Fourth, if volume was all that mattered, everyone would still be developing for Symbian, as Anil Dash pointed out earlier. Or they might still be focusing on Windows, as John Gruber pointed out yesterday.

Fifth, while eventually Android volume may be a boon to apps largely based around advertising, many app developers don’t want to move in this direction. Most still want to make something and get paid directly for it (imagine that) — see: argument number two.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Android development itself remains a huge pain in the ass. I hear this again, and again, and again — just as much today as I did two years ago. Android has what are widely considered to be vastly inferior development tools when it comes to making apps for Android versus what Apple gives you to make apps for iOS. Many refer to them as a joke. Or a nightmare. Or the bane of their existence. Or all of the above.

And you have to use them to ensure that your app will work on the huge number of devices in the Android ecosystem. Very few developers even bother to actually test on the majority of them, and it’s still a pain. It makes IE6-specific development look like a cakewalk.

I actually brought this up on stage with SoundTracking creator Steve Jang at LeWeb on Wednesday. They were at the conference to launch their Android app after finding some success going iOS first. When asked what the Android development process was like, he admitted it was long and painful. Pretty much every app developer going from iOS to Android will tell you the same thing — and if they don’t happen to be on stage, they’ll use many more expletives.

So you’ll forgive me if I laugh when Eric Schmidt says that by June of 2012, all of this is going to change. Suddenly, the Flipboards, Instapapers, Soundtrackings, Instagrams, etc, are going to launch on Android first. It’s like saying that by the middle of next year, the majority of all TVs are going to be running on the Google TV platform.

Oh, wait.

[image: flickr/LeWeb11]

It’s been a rough year for Research In Motion. BlackBerry has been battling uphill against stiff competition, while caught trying to transition from an aging platform to a new one. In the process, they’ve weathered a flurry of bad press, investor downgrades, a massive service outage, product delays, steadily shrinking market share, and multiple PR gaffes, but BlackBerry isn’t dead – 2012 is a new year, and holds a lot of promise for Canada’s plucky wireless underdog.

Although we aren’t quite done with the year just yet, let’s take a look back at 2011 and see what happened with RIM, where they went wrong, and the few places where they did well.

PlayBook launched after delay, and still missed features

When 2011 kicked off, excitement for the BlackBerry PlayBook was just starting to wane. The device was announced in the fall of 2010, and by the time the device actually hit shelves 8 months later, folks were already bored with it. Why did it take so long to get out the door? One rumour suggested that RIM switched processor manufacturers mid-development cycle. On top of the timing, BlackBerry Bridge didn’t do RIM any favours with the public. The only way you could launch into native e-mail, calendar, contacts, and other productivity apps on the PlayBook was if you were paired up via Bluetooth to a BlackBerry smartphone. The pretense here was security, but there are lots of potential reasons why RIM did it this way, prime among them being they weren’t able to get the new operating system to play nice with the established enterprise server infrastructure. Whatever the case may be, all end users saw was a BlackBerry product that couldn’t properly do e-mail on its own, which was confusing and a turn-off to say the least. Worse still, it meant the PlayBook had absolutely no appeal to anyone who had drifted to the growingly popular iPhone or Android smartphone alternatives.

Bridge aside, the PlayBook actually had a lot of good things going for it: strong multimedia support, including Flash and HD video recording, and dual-core processing horsepower under the hood to support 3D games and other intensive activity. One might say the bigger issue with the PlayBook was that it was spearheading RIM’s new operating system. At the PlayBook launch, RIM VPs begrudingly admitted that the tablet’s OS would be finding its way to smartphones eventually, and they’d be phasing out the decade-old Java platform. This left the PlayBook in something of an app vacuum for the first few months. Development tools didn’t reach any real maturity until the second half of 2011, at which point we started seeing some decent titles get into App World, but even then, many of them were sloppily ported from other platforms.

PC Flash games would still have keyboard control instructions, and some didn’t bother adapting the display resolution for the PlayBook. iOS games ported through middleware like Marmalade ran well enough, but still lacked originality, and rarely took advantage of the PlayBook’s signature touch-sensitive bezel for app menu access. I worry that in the long haul, RIM’s scattershot approach to developer relations will continue this downward trend.  If RIM simply offers as many tools as possible so anyone can submit apps regardless of what languages they know, that just attracts lazy devs to the BlackBerry environment for an affair of convenience rather than conviction. At the very least, app selection is better than when I had first reviewed the PlayBook.

Prime among RIM’s developer targets are those in the Android sphere. Now that the Android app player is nearing public release, the PlayBook is actually starting to generate a bit of buzz, which says a lot about how little people were interested in QNX in the first place. Over the last few days specifically, a tool to root the PlayBook has been made available. It will let folks access Android Market apps, which is something RIM (and presumably Google) don’t want to see, but the bigger issue is that it puts a chink into RIM’s carefully-tailored reputation for security. On the one hand, the Dingleberry jailbreak raises a significant hurdle in pushing BB10 smartphones as iron-clad, but on the other, one can now appreciate RIM’s slow-and-steady approach; after all, that’s the only way to ferret out security exploits like this which could ruin a brand down the line.

That said, it’s no surprise that pick-up of the PlayBook at launch wasn’t great, and even with drastic price cuts for the holiday season, RIM is still sitting on a massive stockpile of the devices. I still think RIM’s tablet is being positioned the right away vis-a-vis smartphones. They recognize that the tablet has a very good purpose as a smartphone companion, and that it isn’t just a bigger handset with a slightly tweaked UI. Next year, I bet we’ll see that vision come to bear when RIM opens up Bridge to developers, and we can see some really smart syncing between tablet and smartphone apps – something that really doesn’t exist among the other manufacturers yet. We might also see a ten-inch PlayBook, but at the bare minimum, the current device will get stand-alone PIM apps in February.

OS 7 and new smartphones didn’t quite manage to catch up

The PlayBook certainly dominated RIM’s profile for 2011, but BlackBerry smartphones took a significant leap with the launch of OS 7 this summer. The latest litter of handsets is actually getting pretty big: the BlackBerry Torch 9810, Torch 9850 / 9860, Bold 9900 / 9930, Curve 9350 / 9360, Bold 9790, and we’re still waiting on the Curve 9370. The first three tackled the upper tier, boasting 1.2 GHz processors (a first for RIM), and high-res displays, while the last two, though entry-level, were still better than the best phones RIM had pumped out prior. Augmented reality, a staple on most other smartphones for some time, was finally enabled with a magnetic compass and the right display software, but when it came to NFC, RIM was doing a much better job of riding the wave. The 9850 / 9860 and 9810 didn’t have NFC, but the rest did, and it’s likely to be found in all BlackBerry devices from here on in.

BlackBerry is still behind on now-standard features like the work-in-progress mobile hotspot and DLNA home media sharing. On top of that, there’s still no BlackBerry smartphone with a dual-core processor, or LTE connectivity, and the highest-resolution screen is 800 x 480 – a far cry from, say, the 1280 x 720 screen we’re seeing on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Cameras are still sitting at 5 megapixels, and though they’re now able to record 720p video, the likes of the Droid RAZR can shoot 1080p video with an 8 megapixel camera in a significantly slimmer body. BlackBerry even took a step backwards in features this year as the Bold 9900 / 9930 launched with a camera that didn’t have autofocus. It’s understandable if the entry-level Curve 9350 / 9360 didn’t have it, but but skimping on close-up photography with your hero product? C’mon, RIM.

The new software was a very light iteration on OS 6 launched in the summer of 2010. OS 7 introduced voice-activated universal search, a slightly faster browser (though still no Flash support), and BlackBerry Balance to keep personal data and work data separate. The overall experience was still relatively spartan and menu-based, though the new processors certainly helped keep performance smooth and steady – something the old handsets running on a 624 MHz processor had trouble claiming.

In 2011, RIM came to rely even more on BlackBerry Messenger as a selling point of the devices, creating an ill-conceived subscription music service whose utility rested solely on how many BBM contacts you could collect. BBM itself hadn’t changed much since adding groups and profiles in 2009, but RIM did open up the mobile-only instant messaging service to developers in BlackBerry Messenger 6. This enabled a lot of direct linking from apps, such as posting Foursquare badges to your BBM profile, or sharing App World links to BBM buddies. Though many third parties recreated delivery and read receipts in their own cross-platform instant messaging apps, the most telling sign of BBM’s success was when Apple decided to clone it with iMessage; there were even rumours that Google might end up doing the same with Android.

Despite the bump up in specs, the bottom line was that these new phones were still running on an operating system that was built on a software foundation over ten years old. That age has been apparent since the iPhone kicked the smartphone industry in the ass, and doubly apparent once Android won over the affections of just about every handset manufacturer out there. RIM has managed to squeeze a lot of mileage out of the Java-based BlackBerry OS, the latest hardware has a lot of great styling, and RIM’s on the right track to making a fresh start in 2012, but the overall BlackBerry experience was aging, and 2011 was the year where that became painfully obvious.

Investor confidence dropped like a rock

The people who really started noticing that age were investors. RIMM stock is currently sitting at around $16 on NASDAQ, while this time in 2010, it was riding at $61, and hit its 2011 high at $69 in February. Just to put that in perspective, the stock had hit its all-time peak in June 2008 at $144, following a 3:1 split the summer prior.

In 2011, RIM’s market share advantage had all but disappeared, more due to the proliferation of Android than iPhone. In the U.S., RIM had claimed about 17% of the smartphone pie, and that was shrinking by about 4% every four months (or 1%/month, if you want to average it out). When confronted with this reality, RIM tended to point to their impressive growth internationally, particularly Indonesia, where you could turn a half-price Bold 9790 for a profit in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, the rest of the world didn’t share that level of fervour, and even big international markets like India become less viable for RIM when lawful interception became a hurdle for local governments.

RIM’s massive back-end infrastructure was (and still is) an inherent part of every BlackBerry product out there. While it was a boon in the early days when wireless data wasn’t something carriers were equipped to handle, the service providers could handle the data pipes themselves now. Governments and corporations were starting to wonder why they had to send their data off to Canada at all, and what those dastardly flop-heads might do with such information. Of course, RIM had no interest in estranging their traditional enterprise audience, and were trying to accommodate them at every turn, but with so many viable alternatives available, BlackBerry was being seen as less essential than in years past. The massive BlackBerry service outage this fall and the many smaller ones peppered throughout the year illustrated very plainly that this server set up could be a huge liability.

All of that, combined with the aforementioned product issues, contributed to the steady loss of investor confidence, but stock prices ride just as much on perception as on reality. The fact is, BlackBerry was seen as old, slow, and stodgy. Their “love what you do” marketing campaign lacked any significant resonance, and the big push for BBM only really spoke to social circles that were entirely invested in BlackBerry already. Android and iPhone, security and utility aside, were flashy, new, and exciting. Even Windows Phone, still a newcomer in 2011, was making significant strides in winning mindshare among developers and consumers alike. Meanwhile, investors saw RIM laying off staff, having a hard time keeping remaining employees out of trouble, and the CEO getting snippy with reporters. It’s no wonder that many investors were calling for a change in leadership structure.

Financially, RIM was still doing relatively well. They were missing targets, which earned the ire of investors on some quarters, but the company was still consistently profitable, which was more than what Motorola and Sony Ericsson could say (both of whom ended up selling out to one extent or another). Unfortunately, investors have many other factors than RIM’s balance sheet to consider.

Down, but not out

Despite all of the bad press, BlackBerry is still in business, and under no immediate threat of keeling over and having their carcass pecked at by the rest of the wireless world. People have likened RIM to Palm before, and though I don’t agree with the comparison, if BlackBerry is headed the way of webOS, just take a look at how long it took for Palm to be well and truly dead. Even now, with HP having officially axed support, there’s still devices being sold. It will take several more years circling the drain under much worse conditions than those of 2011 to kill RIM, if it’s to come to that at all. Luckily, that means RIM has time.

The PlayBook has been a decent test bed for the new operating system, and though it feels like it’s been a long time coming for smartphones, RIM has been staging BlackBerry 10 as the platform on which they will be building for decades; for a move like that, you can’t be too cautious. Still, next year is when we’re going to see BlackBerry wrapping up with prepations and measurements, and actually make the jump. Once they do, we’ll have a much better idea of what kind of future BlackBerry has. We’ve seen glimpses of two devices which will be leading the way, and I for one am eager to see if next year RIM, with those products and others yet to come, can make the comeback that Palm never did.

2011 in review: BlackBerry and Research In Motion originally appeared on IntoMobile.com on 2011-12-09T01:43:52Z. FV1gMYsz9b5j

New York City by the end of 2011? How's about San Francisco by the end of December 8th? We can't say for certain that it's lit up for good ("testing," you know), but at least for now it's absolutely screaming on our LTE-equipped AT&T handsets in downtown SF. Seeing similar? Let us know how it's going for you in comments below, and feel free to stick your tongue out in the general direction of the Big Apple. (They won't see you.)

[Thanks, anonymous]

AT&T's 4G LTE network is live in San Francisco originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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These new e-reader-tablet hybrids are shaping up to be the hottest gifts of this year. Amazon’s Kindle Fire is flying off both virtual and real-world shelves and Barnes & Noble has offered up a worthy opponent in the form of its Nook Tablet. But even at their relatively low prices, these e-readers might still be a bit pricey.

That’s why we’ve laid out some of the best accessories for the technologically advanced bookworm in your life.

By the way, if you’re on the hunt for some sweet accessories of the e-ink, e-reader persuasion, stay tuned. We’ll give those their own moment in the sun.

Amazon Kindle Fire

Best Case:

As Matt so eloquently explained earlier today, you want your ereader case to do more than just protect your gadgetry. Sure, durability is important. But so is style, especially if the one you love is toting around the hottest ereader on the market. That said, the DODOcase for Kindle Fire is about as awesome as it gets. It’s made using traditional book-binding techniques and sports a bamboo frame and fold-over flap. You can even take it a step further and have this bad boy monogrammed.

At a cool $45 price-point, this is certainly the case to consider when holiday shopping for your Fiery friend.

But perhaps you’re looking for something a bit more mature. Maybe leather (or something like it)? I’ve got just the thing. Proporta has a slick little (almost) leather pouch for the Kindle Fire that is sure to make your loved one feel like Ron Burgundy, smelling of leather-bound books and rich mahogany… Sorry, got a tad carried away. In any case, the Proporta “Leather Style” Cover is made from “the finest quality alternative to leather” (thus the whole “style” bit in the name), and has a nice protective lining to shield from bumps.

Priced at $26.95, the Proporta Leather Style Case for Kindle Fire is a “compelling and rich” option.

The thing about the Fire that makes it so great is that it’s nearly a full-functioning tablet. You can watch movies, play apps, and browse the web just like you would on full-fledged tablet. With that in mind, Marware has a pretty sleek Kindle Fire case that can act as a kickstand for you (or your loved one’s) Fire should the two of you decide to cuddle up and watch a holiday flick. Made of genuine leather, the CEO Hybrid case also features a strap along the back which will allow users to hold the Fire with one hand, even with the added bulk of the case.

Not far off from the DODOcase, the Marware CEO Hybrid will cost you $44.99.

Best Apps:

As I just mentioned, the Kindle Fire’s access to the Amazon Appstore for Android is one of its biggest selling points. I’m actually convinced that what the world needs now is apps, not love. Still, it’d be a mistake to forget the Kindle history behind the Fire.

It’s an ereader just as much as it’s a tablet, and with that said it’s only fair to put Audible for Android at the top of the list. Audible for Android offers up a wider selection of audiobooks, though it will cost around $15 a month (which includes one free book a month) in order for use of the app to be worthwhile.

Gamers will enjoy the Fire just as much as bookworms, which means it’s only fair that we include our favorite Fire-compatible game in the gift guide. Plants vs. Zombies has been around for a while on a number of different platforms, but the special Fire edition is pretty sick. The extra screen real estate really takes this now-famous tower defense game to a new level. And for $3.00, it’s probably one of the cheapest gifts you can get that will still get a genuine thank you.

The 7-inch backlit display on the Fire makes it a great option for video playback, but I had trouble landing on which video streaming app to recommend. Therefore, I’m throwing out Netflix and Hulu Plus. Both services (not the apps themselves) are paid, and while Netflix doesn’t require Wifi the same way Hulu Plus does, that won’t really make a difference on the WiFi-only Kindle Fire. So really, it all comes down to whether your a Hulu Plus person or a Netflix person.

Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet

Best Cases:

The Nook Tablet is a tad more flashy than the Fire, and I usually like to dress up louder designs with more subtle cases. It’s all about balance, people. So when searching for the very best Nook Tablet cases, Speck’s new FitFolio case for the Nook Tablet instantly came to mind. The case combines a precision-molded hard shell case with padded microsuede lining to offer up the ruggedness you need while still feeling comfortable in the hand. In black, the FitFolio case quiets the Nook Tablet’s multi-tonal coloring. However, if that’s the whole reason you got the Nook Tablet you’ll be glad to know that the FitFolio comes in much louder blue and purple flavors.

Speck’s FitFolio case for the Nook Tablet will go for an easy $29.95.

I’d be worried if you had already forgotten that Proporta Leather Style case for the Kindle Fire. Well, after perusing through Nook Tablet cases I have something much more Ron Burgandy for our B&N fans. Etsy, our favorite platform for artists, inventors and creators of all types to sell their wares, has a beautiful wooden Nook Tablet case that I simply couldn’t resist. From the product page: “This beautiful case is made from a wood known as Sapelle which is similar to mahogany.” Mahogany! Yep, this one’s for the anchorman in all of us, especially with that brass buckle. There are also thick felt pads along the inside to keep your Nooky poo safe.

You can pick this guy up for $60 at Etsy.com.

No one has more Nook Tablet case offerings than Barnes & Noble, of course, but the one that seems to catch my eye most is the Tasume. It has two flaps that fold over the front, but can also fold back to offer that same kick-stand functionality we were seeing on Marware’s CEO Hybrid for the Fire. The rather flexible flaps are secured to the back with magnets, making it easy to prop up your Nook Tablet in both portrait and landscape.

Hit up Barnes & Noble’s website and you’ll find the Tasume ready and waiting for a mere $49.95.

Best Apps:

While the Nook Tablet’s app selection doesn’t really compete with that of Amazon’s, I’m finding that just about every one of the Nook apps seem to be high-quality and useful.

A few, however, are absolutely essential, the first of which being Evernote. We all know it (or at least should), we all love it, and there really isn’t a better note-taking app out there. You can jot down notes, pictures, save audio clips and upload images, all of which can be organized into notebooks.

Oh, and did I mention that it’s free?

As far as news consumption goes, I’m really digging Taptu – DJ Your News.

The app lets you customize your news based on the feeds you love, and even lets you put together your own stream of curated news, which can then be shared on the various social networks. The interface is super clean and it offers thousands of news sources for the news junkie in all of us.

Taptu is also free on the Nook Tablet.

Facebook does this cool thing where, even though it’s the most popular social network in the world and one of the most visited sites of all time, they don’t mind waiting a while before launching the Facebook app for a new device. The Nook Tablet is a victim, just like the iPad was. But alas, FriendCaster for Facebook may just do the trick. The app is a perfectly suitable alternative to an official Facebook app, and even lets you pin chat convos to stay connected while using other apps.

Unfortunately, FriendCaster for Facebook is a paid app, but $1.99 is a small price to pay for solid Facebook access on your new tablet.

For some extra inspiration on all things gifty, check out the rest of our 2011 Holiday Gift Guide here.

The highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy Nexus has finally sailed onto North American shores, but alas, it’s not in the United States just yet. As of today, it’s on sale through Bell or Virgin Mobile in Canada.

The Galaxy Nexus is selling for $159.99 on Virgin Mobile, or if you are looking to save four pennies during these tough economic times, the Galaxy Nexus is just $159.95 on Bell. Both carriers require three-year contracts to get access to these prices.The smartphone is also available without a contract but be prepared to fork over $649.99 to truly call it yours.

For those of us in America, it looks like we’ll have to wait a bit longer to start unwrapping that delicious Ice Cream Sandwich. There’s plenty of rumors floating around about release dates though. At first it was December 11th, then it was (tomorrow) December 9th, and now neither of those dates seem likely. One thing we do know: it will cost a steep $299.99 on a two-year contract.

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus sports an enormous 4.65-inch display and is the first phone to ship with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. We reviewed it a little over a week ago and it’s quite an impressive device.

It’s the Android phone to get if you can actually get it, and now, the lucky folks in Canada can.

[via PhoneArena]

Samsung Galaxy Nexus lands in Canada on Bell, Virgin Mobile originally appeared on IntoMobile.com on 2011-12-08T23:54:11Z. FV1gMYsz9b5j