Sprint to offer the Samsung Nexus S 4G

At CTIA 2011, Sprint announced the next iteration of Samsung's Nexus S line, the Nexus S 4G. Running the latest version of the Android OS, version 2.3, the Nexus S 4G will enable Sprint customers to better exploit key Google services.

One such service is Google Voice, which lets you manage up to six different phones through one number with intelligent call routing. For example, friends ring a user's wireless device and home phone, but calls from the boss ring only at the office. Google Voice also offers advanced features such as call screening, blocking, and recording. A Nexus S 4G owner will be able to use a wireless phone number as his Google Voice number without the extra cost of porting his number.

Google Voice also transcribes voicemails, so you can read or forward them in e-mails and text messages and listen to them online. You can also read, send and search text messages and call logs online at www.google.com/voice.

Available sometime this spring for $200 with a two-year contract and rebates, the phone has a 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreenv and a 1-GHz Samsung processor with a dedicated GPU, which Samsung says will enhance performance for mobile games, Web browsing, and videos. Like the Nexus S, the Nexus S 4G also supports Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, which allows the device to read information from everyday objects, such as stickers and posters embedded with NFC chips. In the future NFC may enable the phone to functions as a payment device, like the E-Z Pass.

The Nexus S 4G has two cameras: a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and camcorder and front-facing VGA camera for video chats. For gaming, Nexus S 4G has a gyroscope sensor that enables the phone to react when you tilt it up or down or pan it to the left or right. The phone can also serve as a 3G/4G mobile hotspot for up to six Wi-Fi enabled devices simultaneously.

—Mike Gikas