The world’s first smartphone to run on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is coming to South Africa. Samsung, along with Google, have announced that the Galaxy Nexus should be arriving early next year, retailing for between R6999 and R7299.

The Galaxy Nexus features a 4.65” HD Super AMOLED display technology with a resolution of 1280 x 720, providing an excellent pixel density of about 316 ppi. Also onboard is a 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9 dual-core processor to deliver speedy performance and 1 GB of RAM.

At only 8.94 mm thick, with a minimal 4.29 mm bezel, the new Nexus provides a stylish look, along with hyper-skin backing on the battery cover to improve the ergonomic feel of the device and to make it slip-resistant.   

Galaxy Nexus features software navigation buttons, a first for Android smartphones, while there’s also a redesigned 5 MP camera which introduces panorama mode, 1080p video capture and zero-shutter lag. Samsung also a states that the phone provides a “pure Google” experience, with Galaxy Nexus owners being the first to receive software upgrades and new applications as they become available.

The first smartphone to feature Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

Ice Cream Sandwich brings an entirely new look and feel to Android. It has a redesigned user interface with improved multi-tasking, notifications, Wi-Fi hotspot, Near Field Communication support (of which Absa recently launched an internal trial ) and a full web browsing experience.

Ice Cream Sandwich also features a new People app, which lets you browse friends, family, and co-workers, see their photos in high-resolution, and check their latest status updates from Google+ and other social networks.

Google’s latest Android version also introduces innovations such as Face Unlock, which uses facial recognition to unlock your phone. Additionally, using NFC and Android Beam allows you to quickly share web pages, apps, and YouTube videos with your friends by simply tapping your phones together.

“Samsung and Google have closely collaborated to push the mobile experience forward. We are pleased to deliver the best and latest Android smartphone experience for customers with Galaxy Nexus. We will continue to move forward with the Android platform to provide the most compelling consumer experience in the mobile world,” says Paulo Ferreira, head of mobile product and business solutions at Samsung.

“Ice Cream Sandwich demonstrates the Android platform’s continued innovation with this release which works on phones and tablets seamlessly (and everything in between). Features like Android Beam and Face Unlock show the innovative work our team is doing, and Galaxy Nexus showcases the power behind Ice Cream Sandwich,” said Andy Rubin, senior vice president of Mobile for Google.

Below is a video demonstrating some of the new features of the Galaxy Nexus.