Whispers are now stating that Hong Kong is the new venue for the launch and that it will take place during the AsiaD event, held by All Things Digital. That event starts on October 19th and will take place inside the Grand Hyatt hotel in the Wanchai district of Hong Kong island.

Information received by Engadget’s tipster states that Google and Samsung will now be there at the event to discuss the launch of the Galaxy Nexus or Nexus Prime, and that we will finally be given a solid release date for the device as well as launch details for Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.

If the information is correct, then it means that it may be Google’s Andy Rubin and Samsung Mobile’s Dr. Won-Pyo Hong who do the honors of announcing the new smartphone, as they are already two confirmed speakers at the event, according to the AsiaD lineup. On a side note, Apple’s Phil Schiller will also be speaking at the event, as will Sony’s main man Kaz Hirai also – a stellar lineup to say the least.

Considering the scale of the event, we think it is definitely a logical move for Google and Samsung to choose AsiaD for the Nexus Prime reveal. That is just one week away of course, so if the news is legit, we presume that Google and Samsung will start sending invitations out by the end of the week.

What are your thoughts on this possible new venue for the Galaxy Nexus / Nexus Prime launch? Are you tempted to buy the iPhone 4S out of frustration or are you willing to hang on for as long as it takes?

However, we have to wonder if there is also another reason for this? Now Samsung did not know that the iPhone 4S was going to be as popular is it has become, but they do now. It’s looking more likely that the Prime will get a release date on November 3rd, which we reported earlier today. The timing does seem a little strange.

However, we should not read too much into this, as the release of the latest smartphone from Google and Samsung was not rumored to be until late October or early November – although it is food for thought. If the iPhone 4S did not turn out to be as successful as it has, then one has to wonder if the Nexus Prime would not have been released earlier to try and steal away customers?

When Apple announced their new iPhone it was met with huge criticism, but that was due to the fact that we assumed that it would be the iPhone 5 with an all-different design. However, what has amazed us is the numbers that these handsets have been shifting. In just 24-hours more than 1 million pre-orders were taken; whether this is because customers want the iPhone 4S because of its upgrades and Siri or if it is a mark of respect for Steve Jobs is anyone’s guess?

One thing’s for sure – seems like yet another Apple smartphone that Android will not be able to match when it comes to sales.

As most of you know, the Nexus Prime was expected to be unveiled in a matter of hours by Google and Samsung at the Mobile Unpacked event at CTIA 2011. Instead though, the announcement was delayed out of respect for Apple’s Steve Jobs and Google has yet to officially announce any updated details for the Nexus Prime, or ‘new product launch‘ as they called it last week.

Now though, information uncovered by Phandroid hints of a new retail launch for the Nexus Prime on November 3rd, which once again falls on a Thursday – now regarded as a favorable day for new Verizon smartphone releases. Their insider has discussed a few details on the Nexus Prime and the source adds that if a November 3rd date is set in stone, we could be seeing the announcement of the device much sooner than that.

If the details are true, that doesn’t leave much window of opportunity for Google and Samsung to announce the Nexus Prime. Maybe it will come in a weeks time, leaving just one more week left for Verizon to begin with their inevitable barrage of advertising campaigns. All eyes will still be on the Mobile Unpacked event though, maybe we will get some further clues on the Nexus Prime release after all.

Google has always maintained that Ice Cream Sandwich will be out before the end of November, so a release date for the Nexus Prime in November shouldnt be classed as a disappointment. If it happens as soon as the 3rd, then great but be prepared in case the launch is put back further in November. One thing looks for certain now though, and that’s the fact that the Nexus Prime probably won’t be launched in October.

Are you starting to get a bit impatient over the never-ending Nexus Prime release saga, or are you not bothered about a November launch for the beastly device?

As most of you know, the Nexus Prime will be arriving on Verizon, and will instantly become the carrier’s flagship handset after the Motorola Droid Bionic. There has been no confirmation as such yet on whether the Nexus Prime will be adopting the ‘Droid’ moniker or not, but it seems like Verizon is well and truly prepared to pull out all the stops to make way for the Nexus Prime.

One such ploy that they have used and has seemingly slipped off the radar, is the fact that there has now been an instant $100 price cut knocked off the now-ancient Samsung Droid Charge smartphone, as discovered by Droid-Life. The handset is one of Verizon’s 4G LTE capable devices, and was previously available for the price of $299 on a two-year agreement with the carrier.

Now though, a quick glance on the listing over at Verizon’s website shows the new pricing for the Droid Charge and you don’t need to think too hard to work out that this move is purely based on the fact that the Nexus Prime is arriving imminently, and Verizon are looking to shift as many of their Droid Charge stock while they can.

The Droid Charge is not a bad phone by any means, but you’ll probably be slightly mad if you choose to buy one now with the mighty Nexus Prime rocking Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich just around the corner. This $100 price cut by Verizon will probably be followed by a collection of online retailers that also stock the Droid Charge, so if you were previously interested in the handset and were looking for a bargain – now’s the time to grab it.

Obviously, it’s bad news for those that paid full price for the Droid Charge – so spare a thought for those consumers as we start another week of Nexus Prime anticipation.

It’s no secret that the Android community are a clever bunch of people, especially when it comes to modding, providing custom features and additional usability at the expense of no extra cost for the consumer. Well, if you’re planning on picking up the Nexus Prime when it finally makes its debut, you’ll be wanting to download this boot animation to your current Android device to get a early sneak peek on just one of the smartphone’s many features.

The animation has become available to download, courtesy of MyDroidWorld forums, as reported from Droid-Life. If you have a rooted handset at the moment, it looks like instructions are very simple to follow, but it will be a little bit harder, but not impossible if you’re not rooted. Full instructions can be seen over at Droid-Life and early indication is that it works on a number of Motorola handsets, with the Droid X and Droid Pro a few handsets confirmed to be working. If you head over to the MyDroidWorld forums, you’ll can scan through the comments in that thread and see that other handsets are compatible with the Nexus Prime boot animation too, like the HTC Thunderbolt.

As for the animation itself, it is pretty sexy to say the least and will definitely pump some life into your current handset with regards to the boot animation you previously had on your device. Hopefully it won’t be too long until we can see this animation on the Nexus Prime itself, as Google and Samsung has just delayed the announcement of the device until further notice – more on that here.

Download the animation for yourself and let us know if it works for you – do you like it?

The following day we heard a few rumors about Google Chrome finally coming to Android by way of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. This looked like a good selling point for Google phones, then later that day we saw another leak that showed some live images, which hinted at specs for Nexus Prime.

After the Apple keynote there were people disappointed and excited over iPhone 4S, those that couldn’t get over the lack of design change felt that the rounder Nexus Prime showed how it should be done, and while iPhone 4S is the 5th generation iPhone, some people got confused and wondered where iPhone 5 was. We also saw some confusion this week over tablet dock compatibility with Nexus Prime, and the processor.

Early in the week we had expected the Nexus Prime to get an unveil and release date at Mobile Unpacked, since then and following the sad loss of Steve Jobs, Samsung/Google felt it would be better if the new product launched at a later date, which was out of respect for the death of Steve Jobs. We loved this move by Apple’s competitors; it showed that there is a little love left in business.

We’ve heard since then that the new Ice Cream Sandwich and Nexus Prime debut will be on Oct 27, in London.

It also means that we may have to wait a bit longer to see Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 as well, but why has Samsung and Google opted to delay the announcement you ask? Well, given current events and according to both companies, the reason is due to respect out of Apple’s Steve Jobs who passed away earlier on this week.

Here is a statement, with updated comments from a Samsung spokesman informing the world about the news, as reported from Engadget:

”Samsung and Google decide to postpone the new product announcement at CTIA Fall. We agree that it is just not the right time to announce a new product. New date and venue will be shortly announced.”

Samsung: “We believe this is not the right time to announce a new product as the world expresses tribute to Steve Jobs’s passing.”

So there we have it in black and white, Samsung and Google feel it’s not right to introduce Ice Cream Sandwich and the Nexus Prime as the world continues to be shocked that the main person behind Apple, Google and Samsung’s rivalry is no longer with us – but is there more to it than Samsung and Google have us believe?

There has been some speculation that last minute changes are being made to the Nexus Prime due to Apple’s recent iPhone 4S announcement, and maybe even some keynote specific changes too which may or may not have included one or two digs about Apple which would perhaps be inappropriate to share now that Steve Jobs has passed away.

The important thing to remember here, is that the release date may still be in tact, despite the announcement delay. Google has always maintained that Ice Cream Sandwich would be out before the end of November, so let’s hope that the actual release date of the Nexus Prime isn’t affected by this delay. Google and Samsung state that a new date and venue will be announced soon, so we wait to hear news upon that.

As an Android fan, what are your thoughts on this? Are you bitterly disappointed that you won’t see the Nexus Prime on October 11th, or is it a feeling of mutual respect that Steve Jobs is seemingly still fighting Android from beyond the grave so to speak.

We have embedded a video at the end of this post, we don’t get to see much in terms of physical design, but we do get a brief look at the smartphone’s UI. It has to be said that the software version running on the Galaxy Prime is not perfect, at times it seems momentarily unresponsive, but on the whole things look pretty promising and the display looks great.

In the about phone section of the OS the device name “Tuna” and under Android Version it says “4.0″ aka Ice Cream Sandwich. People over at Engadget are quite critical of the device’s user interface and say that the icons look dated, but we must point out that this could well be a very early version of Ice Cream Sandwich which turns out to be nothing like the final build.

The video does give us a glimpse at the standard layout and you will notice that there are no physical buttons on the face of the Galaxy Nexus, instead these have been replaced with virtual buttons. In terms of display size it is hard to say how big it is, but it does look like it is at least 4.5-inches and Engadget say that screenshots have confirmed that it outputs at a 720p resolution.

In a few days time we should finally find out whether this is in fact the Google Nexus Prime or a different smartphone completely, when we do we will keep you posted.

First of all, let us point you in the direction of an apparent ‘exclusive’ report which has been provided by the guys over BGR. According to them, they have gained insider information on the upcoming Nexus Prime, and they say that it will include a 1.2Ghz TI OMAP 4460 dual-core Cortex A9 processor, a 5 megapixel camera and a 1,750 mAh battery as key highlights.

Obviously that processor spec is of particular interest and will be seen as a major disappointment since the majority of Nexus Prime followers believed that the handset would be equipped with a dual core 1.5Ghz at least. However, a new report from GSM Arena has now surfaced and it completely contradicts BGR’s supposed exclusive information.

According to GSM Arena, their insider sources have told them that the Nexus Prime will instead possess a 1.5GHz dual-core Exynos processor, an 8 megapixel camera and a 2050 mAh battery in comparison, with the Exynos chip being built by Samsung themselves rather than TI. We can’t say for sure which information is correct, but obviously Prime fans will be praying that GSM Arena’s details are accurate and it will be a 1.5Ghz chip rather than a 1.2Ghz chip that we can look forward to.

Would it be a disaster and a complete feeling of disappointment if the Nexus Prime launched with a 1.2Ghz chip and a measly 1,750 mAh battery? We have a feeling that a lot of you wouldn’t be happy if that became a reality. Still though, it’s all speculation at this point until Google and Samsung’s Mobile Unpacked event starts, which is just days away. Give us your thoughts on the specs confusion.

We knew that it was going to feature a curved design, but never as much as that. There is a fear that it could be too much, try having that in a pair of tight pants and not fearing that the device will break? Anyway, let’s get back to a great little theory that a reader of Phandroid had, as he believes that it could have tablet dock compatibility.

Now you can see what we meant about confusion, as it might not be an ordinary phone, it could very well connect to a tablet dock, much like the Atrix does. There are a number of factors that lead up to this assumption, and the first is what message is displayed in the video that we have for you here. It says two things really, “something BIG is coming” and also “Another perfect combination.”

Now these could mean one of three things, either it is a big deal due to the fact that it will have a 1.5GHz processor; it could be a perfect combination because Google and Samsung are coming together with the first Android handset to run Ice Cream Sandwich, or it could be the most powerful handset to connect with a tablet.

This is plausible, but the only issue we have is the fact that there is no curved tablet that will merge with the Prime. We have learned in the past that we should not speculate, as we could very well get it wrong.