There have been several rumors floating around about the alleged design, specifications and more importantly, the release of the next Google phone in partnership with Samsung, which is to be called the Nexus Prime or Galaxy Nexus. This phone is going to be the first to feature Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich as it is popularly called. Initially, it was to be released on October 11th but that date had been changed to October 19th, speculatively due to the unfortunate demise of Apple founder, Steve Jobs. However, this date was also put back indefinitely without reason a few days ago, but now the event seems to be back on track for the 19th. The showcase event is going to be put on live streaming on YouTube and it should be quite revealing about the Nexus Prime and the Ice Cream Sandwich distribution as a whole.
On other news, Ubuntu 11.10 or Oneric Ocelot is officially up for release. The beta version was put up a couple of weeks ago and it received enthusiastic support in terms of testing, bug reporting and the like. The new version features some significant improvements and additions over version 11.04 or Natty Narwhal. There is an update to the Unity interface and other changes include some window switcher modifications and extensive support for multiple Asian languages. There is also a unique soundtrack for this distribution. It looks like a great OS to start using Linux with and Canonical seems to be making a big effort to promote Ubuntu as the preferred open source operating system.
News about other release also keeps coming in. This is about the iPhone 4S and its servicing pricing plans with Sprint. There are going to be three tiers of plans for iPhone users, the best of which is called the yellow plan, and gives all inclusive servicing at a mere $49 for Sprint users. It was initially thought that the repair or replacement will have to be dealt with directly with Apple but apparently that is not the case and the situation can be taken care of with the Sprint store itself.
