December 8 is shaping up to be a big day for Android.
The Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the Motorola Droid 4 are both rumored to be released on December 8, which would make for quite the decision for Android shoppers.
The Galaxy Nexus is the first phone to run Android 4.0 (or "Ice Cream Sandwich"), the revamped Android OS introduced alongside the newest Nexus phone at a joint Google/Samsung event in October.
The Droid 4, meanwhile, is Motorola's update to its popular Droid line of smartphones with sliding physical keyboards; the Droid 3 was just launched on July 14 of this year, and the Droid 4 will look to improve on several of its noted shortcomings.
The Galaxy Nexus is on track for December 8, according to multiple leaked screenshots grabbed by Droid-Life; a landing page for the first Ice Cream Sandwich handset also appeared on Best Buy, putting the price at $299 with a two-year contract. A Samsung spokesperson confirmed with Business Insider that Samsung's Galaxy Nexus would indeed launch in December, but no firm date was given.
When it does arrive, the Galaxy Nexus will come with a 4.65-inch display with a 1280 x 720 resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio, a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM and, of course, Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich."
Motorola's Droid 4, meanwhile, appears to be coming with 4G-LTE capability very soon. Details of the new Droid have been leaking out steadily over the past several weeks.
First there was a photo of a prototype in the wild, published to Droid-Life; this was followed by a couple of pictures of inventory screens showing the Droid 4 on schedule for a December 8 release; and now Droid-Life has obtained what it says are the official product photos for the Droid 4, to be released by Motorola soon.
The Droid 4 will supposedly feature a 4-inch screen, a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM and, of course, a slide-out, backlit 5-row keyboard.
Head over to Droid-Life for all the photos and a neat infographic showing how the Droid 4 compares with the Droid 2, Droid 3, and Motorola DROID Razr.
Both phones are rumored to be available on Verizon on December 8; it does not appear that AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile will be getting either the Galaxy Nexus or Droid 4, at least upon initial release.