Google confirms Nexus S will get NFC lovin Ice Cream Sandwich

Google confirms Nexus S will get NFC lovin Ice Cream Sandwich

Google has confirmed that the Nexus S will soon get the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade with the Android Beam NFC features. The team over at Engadget spoke to Gabe Cohen at Google who confirmed that most Gingerbread devices will get the update. So, great news – Ice Cream Sandwich will bring a whole new set of features to the Android faithful on a whole host of devices.

Matias Duarte said, “Currently in the process for releasing Ice Cream Sandwich for Nexus S. Theoretically should work for any 2.3 device.”

Nexus S with Ice Cream Sandwich gets some biometric and NFC love

Biometric facial recognition comes in the form of Face Unlock. We would love to see this added to Google Wallet as it would give an extra level of protection aside from the PIN number. It could make all the difference if your NFC phone ever got stolen. Biometric security is expected to big a big growth area in NFC phones in the upcoming year or so, and the Nexus S already has everything it needs to use the feature in Ice Cream Sandwich.

What we don’t know yet is whether or not Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich can be added to Google Wallet. In the demonstration last night, the feature failed to work so it will be interesting to see how Nexus S owners get on with it because they have a lower resolution front camera.

Nexus S owners will also get to play with Android Beam, which is the NFC peer-to-peer functionality that is built right into Ice Cream Sandwich. With Android Beam users can share YouTube videos, websites, apps, maps and directions by simply touching their NFC Nexus S or indeed Galaxy Nexus devices together. This is a feature that many other older Android Gingerbread devices will not be able to use because of the lack of an NFC chip.

Although the Nexus S and obviously the Galaxy Nexus will rock both NFC and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich there are no clear plans at this time to bring the Nexus One to the party, but that could change. It’s good to hear Nexus S owners won’t get left out of the Ice Cream Sandwich party and that they will get those extra Android Beam NFC features.