Nexus Two To Be First Native Android 2.3 Device

The Nexus One was the very first phone to get the upgrade to Android 2.2, so it makes sense that the Nexus Two will also be a flagship phone for a new Android operating system. If new reports are to be believed, it'll be the first to have Android 2.3, AKA Gingerbread, pre-installed.

The device, which was designed and manufactured by Samsung instead of HTC in collaboration with Google (like the Nexus One), will be officially unveiled November 8 at a pumped-up media event in Times Square. I4U will be on hand at the event to provide all the full details once they become official.

But for now, we're getting word that Android fans should be happy to hear. By incorporating Android 2.3, that would mean the new OS is complete and ready for deployment. Updates to existing Android phones should hopefully not be too far behind, even though most of us have just recently gotten the update to 2.2.

Other early details about the Nexus Two suggest it will have a 4-inch AMOLED or Super AMOLED display, a 1.2 GHz processor, 5 MP external camera and 1.3 MP front-facing camera, as well as 16 GB of internal storage and 512 MB of RAM.

It'll pack a powerful punch to the Android market, as those specs are more powerful than we've seen on any existing Android phone to date.

The Nexus One was well received in reviews among mobile enthusiasts, but due its lack of brick-and-mortar retail availability, and a very underwhelming marketing campaign, sales were abysmal. By placing Samsung, one of the most prolific Android supporters, at the helm of the Nexus Two project, it stands a much better shot at success.

Carriers for the phone haven't been officially detailed yet, but it's likely it will have the same carrier partner as the Nexus One - T-Mobile. Rumors suggest it might also be made available for AT&T.

Again, the Nexus Two will be officially christened at an exclusive, balls-out New York City spectacle, and we'll be there to get all the juicy details. Stay tuned.

AndroidAndMe. Via After Dawn. source i4u

The Nook Color Might Be a Better Android Tablet Than We Thought

The Nook Color's built on top of Android, but seemed crippled in its potential to be a killer Android tablet by the way it'd run apps. Well, the reality is, it could be a solid little Android tablet after all.

At the Nook Color announcement, Barnes & Noble wasn't super clear about how apps and its own app store would work in relation to the larger Android ecosystem and Market. But now that we've talked to them about the development program a little more in depth, things look peachier.

Barnes & Noble is going to run their own app store for the Nook Color, distributing and selling applications. It's a "curated" experience, meaning they'll have to approve apps for the store, which developers can start submitting in "early 2011," with apps approved "within weeks" of submission. So the apps that we saw at the launch, like Pandora, is all that'll be available for a couple of months. (They won't disclose how they're splitting revenue with developers but said they're using a "familiar" scheme, so the standard 70/30 probably applies.)

The Nook Color won't run apps straight out of the Android Market, but that doesn't mean it can't run them—in fact, they've done a lot of tests on apps from standard Android smartphones and they "pretty much run on Nook Color," which has Android 2.1 under the hood. (The Nook's native interface and apps are just standard Android application layers.) Barnes & Noble's special Nook SDK runs on top of the standard Android one, and gives developers access to exclusive extensions and APIs for the Nook and its interface. So porting Android apps isn't difficult. B&N says it's more like "optimizing" them for Nook than porting them.

While Barnes & Noble really doesn't want the Nook Color "to be perceived as a multipurpose device," and their goal is to "extend the reading experience through applications," their definition of apps that do that is quite elastic. In fact, they don't have to be text-y at all. I posited a Netflix or other video service app, and B&N's Director of Developer Relations Claudia Romanini said they'd probably fly. "Is it attached to a book? Maybe not. But when I'm looking at content, I'm looking for multiple touch points. The fundamental question B&N is asking of apps is, "Woul
d that reading user be interested in consuming that content?"

Frankly, most of what I use my iPad for is reading—RSS, books, newspapers, email—and Netflix. If the Nook Color can deliver that in a slick way, well, that's all I really want out of an Android tablet, especially for $250. And given that it's plain ol' Android underneath, I won't be surprised when the more enterprising Android nerds make it capable of doing a lot of other things too.

Send an email to matt buchanan, the author of this post, at matt@gizmodo.com.

Source : Gizmodo