Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Samsung introduced the successor to the HTC-built Nexus One smartphone--the Nexus S.

The device is the first phone on the market to run Google's Android 2.3 software, codenamed Gingerbread. While Google won't initiate a direct-to-consumer strategy with this device, it will be available unlocked or subsidized with a two-year contract at T-Mobile USA beginning Dec. 16. Best Buy will offer the device for $529 unlocked or $200 for the subsidized version. 

The smartphone features a 4-inch Super AMOLED Counter Display screen, a 1 GHz Samsung Hummingbird processor, Near Field Communications capabilities, a 5-megapixel camera, VGA front-facing camera, accelerometer, gyroscope, WiFi and 16 GB of storage.

Existing Nexus One owners also received the Android 2.3 update, which includes interface refinements, NFC support, a new keyboard and text selection tool, improved copy-and-paste functionality and gyroscope sensor support.

The Nexus One, while one of the advanced phones on the market last year, never excelled in the sales arena thanks to Google's direct-to-consumer sales strategy that was fraught with snafus (such as a lack of customer care) when Google put the device up for online sale in January, bypassing operator retail channels. In May, Google announced it would stop selling the Nexus One via its website, and would shutter the direct-to-consumer effort.

For more:
- see this release
- read this Google blog post
- take a look at this Engadget post

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