Google Nexus Two 'lands November 8'

The name that refused to die

The Nexus Two will arrive on November 8, according to a blog post citing multiple unnamed sources.

This seems to mean that Google and Samsung will unveil a phone with software designed solely by Google, which may or may not get you excited. It's also rumored that this will be the first device to use Gingerbread, the latest incarnation of Google's Android OS, which is a bit more interesting.

Android and Me reports that Google and Samsung will unveil this mystery Android handset at a Samsung press event in New York City. Samsung is indeed holding a press event that day, and it would hardly surprise us if the company unveiled a Gingerbread phone. We know that Gingerbread is on the way because Google put a large Gingerbread man on its lawn last week:

The Nexus Two bit? "Imagine what would happen if Samsung focused on only the hardware and let Google take over the software duties," says Android and Me's Taylor Wimberly. "That is exactly what you will get with the 'Nexus Two.'"

Wimberly's post seemed to grow out of an earlier report from London's City A.M., which said Google would sell the "Nexus Two" through UK-carrier Carphone Warehouse. City A.M. called it a second Google-branded phone.

At the moment, the rumors are simply playing with words. It's no secret that Google has played a major role in fashioning countless Android phones. The Nexus One was different because it was sold directly by Google, from an online web store. But eventually, Google killed that webstore – likely under pressure from unhappy Android partners – and there's little chance it will reopen anytime soon.

The Nexus One also lacked the sort of custom UI that manufacturers put atop Android – a "Google Experience Phone," it was called; whatever that means – and perhaps this Nexus Two offer a "vanilla" Android install. But this is a small thing. It seems that for the most part, the Nexus Two is the Nexus Two because it's called the Nexus Two. ®