Well, we knew it wasn’t going to be too far off, and it has now been all but confirmed that Samsung and Google will join forces on October 19th to announce the elusive Nexus Prime handset along with the big G’s latest version of Android, codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich.
Sources ‘in the know’ have informed Phandroid of the keynote will supposedly take place in Hong Kong at 10 AM, which, for those living in the United States, will be 7 PM Pacific and 10pm Eastern on October 18th, seeing as the Chinese are ahead of the times. Those interested in following the coverage will be able to catch the live stream from none other than YouTube, one of Google’s separate arms.
Android fans far and wide have been waiting a long while see/hear of anything regarding the Nexus Prime, and it was initially thought the device was going to be announced in San Diego, California on October 11th. The Korean electronics giant postponed those plans though, as a mark of respect to the deceased Steve Jobs – a poignant gesture really – considering the amount of times the two companies have squabbled over patents in what has been a chequered and often strained relationship.
The device will be the very first on the market to run Ice Cream Sandwich, another eagerly anticipated addition to the smartphone sphere. The software will unify the smartphone and tablet operating systems, taking elements of Gingerbread and Honeycomb in order to make one mutually intelligible system between all Android gadgets. This not only makes Ice Cream Sandwich a stronger operating system being the best of both worlds, but it makes life a helluva lot easier for developers.
Google will be hoping to maintain its dominance over rivals Apple in terms of numbers using its software, and with the fruit company launching iOS 5, Ice Cream Sandwich will be looking to cause a stir once the hype surrounding Apple’s latest release peters out.
There are currently no more details on the event itself, but they will be covered here at Redmond Pie as they come, so stay tuned. In the meantime, if you’re looking forward to the Nexus Prime, Ice Cream Sandwich, or indeed both, keep your eyes on the official Android YouTube Page for updates.
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