Nexus S

History and availability

The Nexus S was demonstrated by Google CEO Eric Schmidt on November 15, 2010, at the Web 2.0 Summit. Google officially announced the phone on their blog on December 6, 2010. The phone became available for purchase on December 16 in the United States and on December 22 in the United Kingdom.

The Super AMOLED version of the phone is the GT-I9020 and it is based on the Samsung Galaxy S hardware, the principal hardware differences being the absence of support for an SD card and the addition of a near field chip. The alternate SC-LCD (Super Clear LCD) version of the phone is the GT-I9023 which is meant for the European (non-UK) market.

In May 2011 Sprint introduced its Nexus S in the US. Unlike the GSM version, the Sprint Nexus runs on its WiMAX network and uses CDMA instead of GSM.

Also in March 2011 Vodafone released a white version of the phone on its web store in the UK.

In the United Kingdom, the Nexus S was sold at Carphone Warehouse and was available on the Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile, 3, and Orange networks.

In France, it was available through SFR and Bouygues Telecom.

In India, Samsung officially announced the sale of the unlocked version with Super Clear LCD screen i9023, which will support all GSM-based carriers throughout the country.

In Canada, the Nexus S became available at most carriers in April 2011 in two versions, one for Telus, Bell, and Rogers with 3G frequencies of 850/1900/2100 MHz, and the other for Wind/Mobilicity/Vidéotron, using 3G frequencies 900/1700/2100.

In Australia, the Nexus S became available in both black and white. It was available on Vodafone and its virtual provider Crazy John's.

Hardware

Processor

The Nexus S has the Samsung Exynos 3110 processor. This processor combines a 45 nm 1 GHz ARM Cortex A8 based CPU core with a PowerVR SGX 540 GPU. The CPU core, code-named "Hummingbird", was co-developed by Samsung and Intrinsity. The GPU, designed by Imagination Technologies, supports OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 and is capable of up to 20 million triangles per second.

Memory

• The Nexus S has 512 MB of RAM (Mobile DDR) (128MB is assigned to the GPU, leaving 384MB free for the OS),{{cite web |access-date=December 15, 2010 |archive-date=February 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120228213658/https://www.google.com/phone/detail/nexus-s |url-status=live
• 16 GB of NAND memory, partitioned as 1 GB internal storage and 15 GB "USB storage".{{cite web |access-date=December 15, 2010 |archive-date=December 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216223543/http://www.anandtech.com/show/4059/nexus-s-and-android-23-review-gingerbread-for-the-holidays/3 |url-status=dead
• The phone does not support additional storage capacity such as microSD.{{cite web |access-date=July 8, 2013 |archive-date=July 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704000353/http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/06/surprise-the-nexus-s-has-no-microsd-slot-do-you-care/ |url-status=live

Screen

The Nexus S is the first device to use a 4.0 in slightly curved glass touchscreen, described by Google as a "Contour Display", with a Super AMOLED 800 x 480 WVGA PenTile matrix display manufactured by Samsung. In markets outside Canada, the US, and the UK, a Super LCD is supplied instead.

Software

Main article: Android Gingerbread

The phone shipped with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and was the first device to ship with the updated OS. On December 19, 2011, Google released Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) for the Nexus S. The automatic update was suspended, allegedly due to poor battery performance. The UMTS/GSM variants was among the first to receive Android 4.0.4 in March 2012. The Nexus S 4G (aka Samsung SPH-D720), I9020A, and M200, while taking longer than the GSM variant, received the Android 4.0.4 update. Several devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S II, have or will receive updates before these variants.

On June 27, 2012, at the Google I/O conference, it was announced that the Nexus S would be one of the first devices to receive an upgrade to Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), along with the Motorola Xoom and Galaxy Nexus, began on July 26, 2012.

In October 2012, the Jelly Bean 4.1.2 OTA update was released, and it is the last official OS released for these devices.

On November 13, 2012, it was announced that the Nexus S would not be updated to Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean).

Using third-party ROMs, Android 4.2.2-, 4.3-, 4.4-, 5.1-, and 6.0-based software can be installed. postmarketOS can also be installed, but is unstable.

Variants

See

Unlocked

The Nexus S cannot be SIM-locked and has an unlockable bootloader, allowing users to install custom ROMs.

Critical reception

Joshua Topolsky, writing for Engadget review praised the device's hardware and software, concluding "the truth is, it really is the best Android device available right now".

The review by The Register gave the Nexus S an 85% rating and summarized it as a "cool, innovative device to snatch Apple’s smartphone crown."{{cite web |access-date=February 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417054613/http://www.reghardware.com/2011/01/12/review_smartphone_google_nexus_s/ |archive-date=April 17, 2012 |url-status=dead

An AnandTech review praised the display, NFC tag reader, and Android Gingerbread operating system, but noted the lack of 720p video recording, HSPA+ baseband, and external storage support.{{cite web |access-date=December 15, 2010 |archive-date=December 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216122613/http://www.anandtech.com/show/4059/nexus-s-and-android-23-review-gingerbread-for-the-holidays |url-status=dead A TechRadar review praised the Nexus S for fixing the GPS problems experienced with the Samsung Galaxy S: "The good news for those looking to upgrade from the Samsung Galaxy S – the GPS issues have been resolved, in that you can actually now get a signal with no problem."

CNET's review was enthusiastic about the display, operating system, and performance. CNET noted the lack of 720p video recording, HDMI output and external (SD card) memory support. CNET also noted the "rather fragile" feel of the phone, the lack of LED notifications, and the few new features over the Nexus One.

References

References

1. "Samsung Exynos Showcase".
2. "Pentile vs Real-Stripe AMOLED Displays: What's Different? – Tested".
3. link. (January 2, 2014 , ID=1364391)
4. "Sprint Relay Store".
5. Hollister, Sean. (November 15, 2010). "The Nexus S: a closer look". Engadget.
6. Hoover, Rachel. (December 14, 2015). "NASA's Smartphone-Powered Satellite".
7. Patel, Nilay. (November 15, 2010). "Eric Schmidt shows off a Nexus S at the Web 2.0 summit, says Gingerbread coming in 'next few weeks'". [[Engadget]].
8. "Google Nexus S White – Vodafone UK".
9. Samsung. (July 27, 2009). "SAMSUNG and Intrinsity Jointly Develop the World's Fastest ARM Cortex-A8 Processor Based Mobile Core in 45 Nanometer Low Power Process".
10. Samsung. "SAMSUNG Exynos 3110 – ARM Cortex A8 based Mobile Application Processor".
11. Imagination Technologies Ltd.. "POWERVR Graphics".
12. (December 21, 2011). "Nexus S: Update auf Ice Cream Sandwich veröffentlicht (Update)". netzwelt.
13. (December 20, 2011). "Google Said to be Suspending Nexus S ICS Update Due to High CPU Usage and Battery Life Bug". phandroid.
14. "Android 4.0.4 announcement".
15. "Samsung Google Nexus S 4G - Full phone specifications".
16. "Samsung Starts Galaxy S II Ice Cream Sandwich Rollout".
17. (June 27, 2012). "Google announces Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, with Project Butter visuals and new Search, mid-July". The NExt Web.
18. "Support Home | Official Samsung Support US |".
19. "Google: No Android 4.2 for Nexus S and Xoom owners - Crave - Mobile Phones - CNET Asia". Asia.cnet.com.
20. "CyanogenMod 10.1 – M2 Release".
21. (November 11, 2015). "Unofficial Android 6.0 Marshmallow port now available for the Google Nexus S".
22. "Samsung Nexus S (samsung-crespo) - postmarketOS Wiki".
23. (April 30, 2013). "Samsung Nexus S - XDA-Developers". Forum.xda-developers.com.
24. How to unlock the Nexus S bootloader. "How to unlock the Nexus S bootloader". Android Central.
25. Topolsky, Joshua. (December 10, 2010). "Nexus S review". Engadget.com.
26. (March 16, 2012). "Nexus S receive Android 4.0 ICS". CPNW.
27. (December 16, 2010). "Google Nexus S review". [[TechRadar]].
28. Kent German. (December 9, 2010). "Samsung Nexus S review". [[CNET TV]].