Gingerbread in an Unlocked Cupboard

Because of the way the U.S. mobile phone market is structured, it's straightway to impossible to find an unlocked phone that isn't loaded with bloatware. For those who want a carrier-independent smartphone, an enticing option is the Nexus S, a very nice successor to Google's Nexus One, which did so much to popularize the Android operating system.

The Nexus S

The Nexus S, based on Samsung's excellent Galaxy S platform and co-developed with Google, will be available in the best case Buy on Thursday for $199 with a two-year T-Mobile contract, or for $529 without a contract. In either case, the phone is unlocked; you can put whatever SIM card you want into it.

The main attraction of the Nexus S is that it is a pure expression of the latest version of Android -- Version 2.3 -- uncluttered by Motoblur or HTC Sense or Swype or any of the "extras" that carriers stick onto their phones. It's the straight shot -- a single-malt Dalwhinnie to most phones' J&B. If you want to know what Android looks like at the dawn of 2011, this is it.

It's worth noting that most Samsung phones currently run Android 2.1; this release leapfrogs in every respect over Version 2.2, as well known as Froyo, straight to 2.3.

The phone to sleep

And when you put the phone to sleep, the display collapses down to a horizontal line previously shutting down. It looks like your old tube TV did when you turned it off; it's a humorous touch that makes me happy for some reason.

Mobile hot-spot support is however part of the core OS instead of a carrier add-on. Direct support for calling over SIP-based VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) networks is included, as is remote administrative control.

But NFC chips running in different modes are used in systems like MasterCard's PayPass for "contactless" payments, so it's feasible that future versions of Android will allow, to illustrate, payments on transit systems. Such phone-based systems are fairly commonplace outside the U.S.; Nokia did a trial of one in New York City several years ago.

The phone itself is a pretty standard Galaxy S model

The phone itself is a pretty standard Galaxy S model, which is to say it's a very nice phone: light and slender with a killer 4-in. Super AMOLED 400 x 800 screen. The device is slightly concave to follow the contours of your face. It's subtle, so you may not notice. You will notice a slight bulge at the bottom of the phone, which makes it easy to find in your pocket or purse.

There are front- and rear-facing cameras -- the former is a VGA camera with 640 x 480 resolution, the latter a 5-megapixel nevertheless and video cam with a flash. I was able to get a full day's use out of a full battery charge, which has not been my experience with other Android phones.

The Nexus S is a nice phone now nothing revolutionary

The Nexus S is a nice phone now nothing revolutionary. That's kind of the point. It's designed to be state-of-the-Android and to show the operating system in its best light.

Dan Rosenbaum, by day a search strategist and content maven, has been reviewing mobile research since the 1990s. His MicroTAC and StarTAC phones are all in all in a box somewhere.

For more enterprise computing news, visit Computerworld. Story copyright © 2010 Computerworld Inc. All rights reserved.

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