The weeks leading up to CES, the annual Consumer Electronics Show, are usually slow, but a new Android smartphone, the Huawei Mercury, is heating things up for Cricket. At least, that’s what Cricket hopes will happen with the phone it’s claiming as its most advanced ever. Previously known as the Huawei Honor (see review) or …

Just a few minutes ago, Google tweeted that the Samsung Nexus S, Gingerbread’s debut device, would begin receiving the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS update on a global scale as soon as today. The over-the-air update applies to Nexus S phones that use the GSM/UMTS cellular technology. In the U.S., that means that the AT&T and T-Mobile versions are …

It’s only hours before the Samsung Galaxy Nexus finally goes on sale tomorrow for $299.99, but we already managed to get our hands on the 4G LTE handset, the first to rock the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. The verdict? Well, you’ll have to read our full review to get that, but let’s just say that this puppy’s …

The AT&T 4G LTE speeds guessing game is unofficially over. Late last week we began hearing reports of the LTE icon popping up in the notification bars of AT&T’s three compatible smartphones–the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket, HTC Vivid, and LG Nitro HD. So, I fired up Ookla’s Speedtest.net app to test diagnostics (for ping, download, and upload speeds) on …

If, like me, you had assumed that the Samsung Nexus S would be the first Android phone to receive the official update to Ice Cream Sandwich (after its debut with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus), we’d both be wrong. Huawei has bypassed carriers to distribute the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) operating system to owners of the Huawei Honor through …

Now playing: Watch this: Dialed In #202: Meet CNET’s newest mobile editor! 43:09 Who is Brian Bennett? None other than CNET’s newest cell phone editor! The New York-based Brian will share his expertise weekly on Dialed In. We also welcome another newcomer, the LG Nitro HD, which answers the question: can LG make a killer Android phone? New Verizon tablets …

Now playing: Watch this: Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) 4:51 The Ice Cream man has finally arrived. Just two days ago, CNET’s San Francisco team got its hands on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the flagship smartphone that’s launching Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. More full-on visual revamp than simple update, an OS bump this deep and broad makes (as I’ve …

Now playing: Watch this: Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) 4:51 The U.S. launch of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus may have smacked face-first into a wall of delays, but that hasn’t stopped me from spending the last three weeks smearing my thumbprints all over the unlocked version of the first phone to get Google’s red-hot Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. …

Article updated: 12/7/11 to answer more questions. Yesterday, CNET’s reviews of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich (or “ICS”), the brand-spankin’-new operating system it’s running on, burst forth. Moments later, the questions flooded in. Justifiably, there’s a lot you want to know. Here, I’ll answer some of the most frequently asked questions I’ve received over Twitter, Google+, and …

It’s about time LG got really fired up about Android, and the LG Nitro HD could be just the fuse this phone maker needs to rocket through the ranks. The Android 2.3 Gingerbread smartphone contains all the premium parts you’d expect in a superphone. It all starts with a brilliant 4.5-inch high-definition touch screen (1,280×720-pixel HD resolution). Then you have …