Google Nexus S is the Samsung GT-i9020? (update)
We've already established that the Nexus S is almost certainly a Samsung -- but what else do we know about it? Well, a quick search for pictures taken with a Nexus S on Flickr and Picasa produced some 5 megapixel results, believe it or not, and some of those users' albums had been using a Samsung handset with model number GT-i9020 just a few days earlier. If we had to guess, a recent firmware update changed the EXIF identifier for these shots from the code to the actual retail name -- Nexus S, that is -- which explains the switchover. We've got both an FCC filing and a Wi-Fi Alliance certification for the i9020, and it's definitely a smartphone with 802.11 b / g / n (single-band, unfortunately) and AWS 3G, a radio choice that ties it in nicely with T-Mobile as the Best Buy leak would have us believe.
Interestingly, a little digging reveals that all of these shots on photo sharing sites are coming from Google employees and families of Google employees -- and Sammy's i9000 series is closely tied to the Galaxy S line, which makes sense considering how much the Nexus S seems to look like a Galaxy S. Oh, and if that wasn't enough, the FCC label documentation for the i9020 lines up perfectly with the leaked picture. So yeah, it's all kind of coming together -- all we need now, Google, is an official Gingerbread and hardware announce. Let's do this thing.
Update: It appears there are actually two very similar Nexus S candidates that passed the FCC: the GT-i9020, and the GT-i9020T. We're starting to think one of them might be destined for Europe, as it's labeled "EU" (the other is "TMB") though both appear to support AWS for 3G. In case you need any extra corroboration, Samsung specifically calls out the GT-i9020T as a Google Android handset with a 5 megapixel autofocus camera, Bluetooth, WiFi and dual-band 850/1900 GSM frequencies. [Thanks, Armo]
