Did Eric Schmidt just whip out the Google Nexus S?
Eric Schmidt, speaking at the Web 2.0 summit, took out of his pocket what looks very much like the Google Nexus S, the Samsung-made mobile carrying pure Android Gingerbread.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt has shown off a new Gingerbread-running Android phone, which the entire world and its uncle have assumed is the Google Nexus S, the successor to the Nexus One.
Google boss Schmidt didn't reveal many details about the device, which had its brand label covered with a piece of tape, our sister site CNET.com reported from the web 2.0 summit. But it runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread on the US T-Mobile network, and looks very slim, comparable to the iPhone 4. It was thinner in the middle than at the ends, which gave it a slightly concave profile, as had been rumoured.
Schmidt said the phone carried a near-field communication chip, which means you could use the phone as a mobile wallet, paying for goods or using it like an Oyster card. It's rumoured that the iPhone 5, due out next year, will be NFC-capable.
Rumoured specs for the Samsung-made Google Nexus S include a 1.2GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 4-inch AMOLED display and a 5-megapixel camera, possibly with the model number GT-i092. Pictures of the Nexus S have already been leaked. It will have the jump on its rivals simply because it will run a pure version of Android that will be updated as soon as Google has it available.
Schmidt also shed more light on the Google Chrome OS, which we're expecting to see very soon on netbooks. Schmidt was very clear on the future when he said, "Android is optimised for things that involve touch; Chrome OS is focused on keyboard-based solutions. That's how the market is evolving."
Here's a video from the web 2.0 summit with Schmidt showing off the phone:
Image credit: CNET.com