Google Nexus S available to pre-order from Carphone Warehouse

Google's next-gen smart phone, the Nexus S, is now available to pre-order from the Carphone Warehouse, with the mobile retailer promising you can have it delivered by the end of December if you order now.

We wouldn't bet our houses on getting the hotly anticipated Google phone delivered before Christmas, however -- the phone is released on 20 December, and the post is bound to go fubar as the festive season kicks off. There is an option to collect in-store however, which might prove more fruitful if you're determined to unwrap the Nexus S come Christmas morn.

The phone is available on a broad spectrum of contracts, or on pay as you go. If you want the Nexus S for free upfront, prepare to sign up for a £35 per month, two-year contract with O2, Orange and Vodafone. If you can't stomach a contract that long, O2 is offering the phone for free on an 18-month contract when you pay a whopping £60 per month.

If you've got a spot of spare cash lying around, the Nexus S can be yours on pay as you go for £549.95 plus a £10 top-up.

In case you're having trouble getting your head around all that, let us paraphrase by saying the Nexus S is expensive. These are definitely top-end prices.

That said, if you can afford to splash out, you'll enjoy a top-end experience. The Nexus S, built by Samsung, is Google's flagship mobile, and the first to run the new version of Android -- 2.3, aka Gingerbread. We're mightily taken with its gently curved 4-inch Super AMOLED display and 1GHz Hummingbird processor, which should keep things running at record pace.

We're holding the Nexus S under the CNET UK microscope right now, so expect our expert verdict very soon. It certainly talks a good game, but at these prices it's going to have to deliver some serious mobile euphoria.

What do you think of these price tags? Higher than you expected? Or will you sell your favourite gran to get your paws on Google's latest masterpiece?