Hands on the Nexus Two by Samsung
The Nexus Two is real. It's made by Samsung, and a friend of ours got to play with it. It's not going rock your face like the Nexus One did. But it will record it with a front-facing camera. — “When I first saw it from 10 feet away …
Context & Ripple Effects
The original Nexus phone followed the same script ten months earlier: leaked photos running Android 2.1 in December 2009 (the first shots of the Google Phone), a full hands-on days before launch (Engadget's January exclusive), then a review once it hit shelves (in January 2010). What made that device matter was that Google built it directly with HTC as a clean, carrier-free reference handset.
This hands-on confirms the sequel is real but swaps the partner: Samsung now holds the Nexus mantle, and the headline hardware delta is unglamorous — a front-facing camera for video capture — with the source conceding it lacks the wow factor of the original. Coming weeks before the holiday quarter, when Samsung is already pushing its Galaxy Tab against Apple's iPad across rumored Verizon, Sprint and AT&T distribution deals, the timing puts Google's flagship inside Samsung's broader carrier offensive.
First-order effects
- Samsung displaces HTC as Google's reference-device manufacturer, gaining the marketing halo and early-software credibility that came with the original Nexus One program.
- The front-facing camera makes self-video capture the device's marquee feature, signaling Google's push toward video calling on Android at a moment rivals are still treating it as an add-on.
Second-order effects
- HTC loses its status as Google's chosen hardware showcase heading into the holidays, forcing it to differentiate on its own Sense software and carrier relationships rather than a privileged Android position.
- Carriers stocking Samsung's rumored Q4 slate — the Galaxy Tab and Windows Phone 7 devices among them — get a Google-flagship Android phone they can bundle alongside Samsung's tablet, concentrating negotiating leverage with one supplier.
Third-order effects
- If the Nexus line rotates manufacturers annually, 'Google phone' stops meaning a specific vendor and starts meaning whoever builds that year's reference handset — turning flagship Android into a rotating franchise that suppliers compete to hold.
- Front-facing cameras moving from novelty to spec-sheet default would push the whole Android ecosystem toward video-first communication features, with component suppliers of front sensors positioned as quiet winners.
The trend: Flagship Android is becoming a rotating manufacturer franchise — Google's Nexus program shifting partners yearly while Samsung converts flagship credibility into carrier leverage across phones and tablets.