First look at Google Android Ice Cream Sandwich

Google has already promised that the next major version of the Android operating system, code-named Ice Cream Sandwich, would be the first designed to run on both phones and tablets, combining some of the features of Android 2.x and Android 3.x and sprinkling in a few of its own. But that’s about all Google has said on the matter so far. Now the folks at Rootz Wiki and Android Police have published some leaked screenshots of the next generation of Android running on a Nexus S smartphone.

Here are some of the new features:

• The user interface with a blue theme that looks a lot like Android 3.x Honeycomb
• There’s a new app drawer and launcher screen that look a bit like what you would get if you took the Honeycomb versions and shrunk them down for a smartphone screen.

• There’s a panorama mode in the camera app.
• Google Shopper will come bundled with the operating system.

According to the person that leaked the photos the first phone to run Ice Cream Sandwich will be the Google Nexus Prime. Google hasn’t confirmed that the phone actually exists yet, but rumors have been floating around for a few months that this will be the next phone to follow the Google Nexus One and Nexus S.

The Nexus phones have been built by HTC and Samsung so far, but they’re built in cooperation with Google so that the company can highlight the latest versions of its operating system on appropriate hardware. It’s not clear who will be building the Prime.

Ice Cream Sandwich will also apparently be made available to Nexus S users as a software update eventually. There’s no word on the Nexus One or other older ANdroid phones.