Rumor Mill: Samsung working on Google's Nexus Two

Samsung has scheduled an Android-focused media event in New York Nov. 8, and speculation is swirling that the handset maker will unveil what some have dubbed the "Nexus Two," a successor to Google's Nexus One.

The speculation stems, in part, from a Gizmodo report that quotes an anonymous source who said they had handled the new phone. The phone is described as similar to Samsung's Galaxy S line of phones.

Samsung representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The report is notable as rumors indicate the device will be the first to ship with Gingerbread, the next version of Android. Google is in the final stages of developing the new version--reflected by the recent unveiling of a gingerbread man statue at Google's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.

Google announced in May that it would stop selling the HTC-built Nexus One via its website, and subsequently shuttered the direct-to-consumer effort the phone championed. In a blog post on the company's site, Andy Rubin, Google's vice president of engineering, wrote that the company was "very happy with the adoption of Android in general, and the innovation delivered through Nexus One."

Google CEO Eric Schmidt in July quashed the idea of a sequel to the Nexus One. "The idea a year and a half ago was to do the Nexus One to try to move the phone platform hardware business forward. It clearly did," he said at the time. "It was so successful, we didn't have to do a second one."

For more:
- see this PC Magazine article
- see this Engadget post
- see this Gizmodo post

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