Best Buy, Google 'Giving Away' Nexus S Smartphones Until Midnight
Anyone looking to scoop up a brand spanking new cell phone has until midnight to log on to Best Buy's website and get their hands on Google's new Nexus S Android smartphone without paying a penny.
Google has teamed up with electronics store Best Buy to offer their recently-released Samsung Nexus S for free to consumers who do not mind signing up for a two-year contract, or extending their current contract, with T-Mobile, AT&T, or Sprint.
Depending on the carrier and contract, the Nexus S is usually priced at $99 or $199. The full retail price without a contract can be as high as $529.99.
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Both Best Buy and Google have the deal featured on their main pages, with teaser text even added to Google's search page.
The Nexus S, released in May, is described as a "pure Google experience device" and is the first 4G phone to run on Android 2.3, otherwise known as Gingerbread. The phone also has a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor and 16GB in flash memory.
Check out the Nexus S homepage on Google's website to see the smartphone's full features and specs or head directly to Best Buy's website to see the deal.
The freebie deal runs through midnight Wednesday.
The Nexus S is expected to be an improvement over Google's previous model, the Nexus One, generally considered a flop.
Tech heads have been speculating that Best Buy is trying to clear its shelves to make way for Apple's new iPhone 5, rumored to be in stores this fall.
Google phones, which run exclusively on Android, may have a reason to worry about losing out to Apple, according to the findings of a recent survey.
ChangeWave, a Rockville, Md., research company, revealed earlier this month that among the 4,163 U.S. consumers it surveyed, most buyers said they preferred Apple's iOS over Google's Android and Blackberry's RIM operating systems.
Also, about 48 percent of survey responders said they planned to buy an Apple iPhone.
Apple has yet to offer any solid clues as to when buyers can expect the new iPhone 5 to hit stores, but CNET has reported on rumors that one carrier, AT&T, has put in an order for 10 million iPhone 5s for September.
The Christian Post reported last week on purported photos taken of an Apple employee using a possible prototype of the new iPhone 5.
Apple, as usual, has been mum on the product's release date.
