Nexus Prime’s extra screen space is for Android navigation buttons

A consistent part of the ever-changing Samsung Nexus Prime/Galaxy Nexus rumors is its eye-popping 4.65-inch, 1280 x 720 display. If you’re the kind of Android user whose small digits quaver at a screen that size, fear not: a reddit user going by the name of “thantik” has drawn up a quick schematic illustrating the need for an extra .35-inches. The bonus space may be reserved for Android’s navigation buttons, which will soon be migrating to the phone screen.

If you’ve ever used a Honeycomb tablet’ you know that they eschew any sort of physical control buttons, including a home button. Instead, the standard home, back and menu buttons reside on the status bar, and follow the user around as he or she rotates the screen. The next version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, will combine elements from Gingerbread and Honeycomb for a universal OS, one of which will be the navigation buttons. You can check out these virtual buttons on the leaked Nexus Prime video from last week.
While the mock-up graphic certainly makes sense, it doesn’t make the wait for the Nexus Prime or Ice Cream Sandwich any easier to bear. Samsung and Google delayed what was probably the unveiling of the new phone and OS from Tuesday, October 11th to an unspecified date, giving technology followers the world over a little breathing room after the untimely death of Steve Jobs. Rumors of an October 27th date persist, but have not been confirmed.

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Tags: Google,Samsung