Google Nexus Two Sounds Like A Galaxy Refresh

The new grey for Google is a shiny black Samsung Galaxy S update. Or is it?

Rumours about a Google Nexus Two phone are now pointing to what sounds like a simple refresh of Samsung’s Galaxy, instead of a major new departure.

Samsung has topped the list of possible partners for Google’s rumoured Nexus Two phone, and has a product launch planned for New York on November 8. According to Gizmodo, a “friend” has seen the phone which Samsung is due to launch, and it is an update of the Samsung Galaxy S with added video phone ability.

Not a giant leap forward

Gizmodo's mock-up of the Nexus Two

It’s “so different” from the Nexus One, said Gizmodo’s source, dding that it is “black and shiny” instead of matt grey like the Nexus One.

Apart from that not-very-major difference, the phone seen by Gizmodo’s source seems to be a refresh of the Galaxy S, with a front-facing video camera.

Google has said it will not do a Nexus Two, after cancelling the Nexus One phone, which it had been selling online. Apparently search giant was happy that the Nexus One had raised the level of expectations for Android-based phones and wanted to leave things to the hardware vendors.

However, rumours of a Nexus Two emerged this week, apparently to be sold through Carphone Warehouse. Bloggers speculated that Google wanted to push handsets on with a new flagship.

The apparent lack of innovation in the supposed Nexus Two seen by Gizmodo suggests this may not in fact be a “Nexus Two” – or else that Google wants a standard-bearer to promote the new video features in the Android 2.3 Gingerbread release.