The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is now being sold through Optus, with the hotly-anticipated Android phone now listed for pre-order on the Optus Web site. Optus is the second telco to sell the phone in Australia, following Vodafone's announcement it would sell the device late last week.
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The Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be available on four Optus cap plans — $29, $49, $59 and $79 — all over 24 month contracts. The hero plan appears to be the $79 cap: the Galaxy Nexus is available on this plan for no extra monthly handset repayment cost. The $29, $49 and $59 plans each carry a monthly handset payment of $16, $8 and $5, respectively. Optus will also sell the Galaxy Nexus for $0 upfront its $99 and $129 Timeless plans, both over 24 months.
Optus has followed Vodafone's lead by promising pre-Christmas delivery for customers who order the Galaxy Nexus online before Friday 16 December. The telco "will aim to deliver the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on 20 December 2011 for metro customers and on 21 or 22 December for regional customers," the Optus pre-order page states. However, unlike Vodafone Optus does not appear to be offering the Galaxy Nexus on shorter 12 month contracts.
The Optus announcement comes just two days before Samsung will officially launch the Galaxy Nexus in Australia. The company sent an invitation to Australian technology media last week, outlining details for a Galaxy Nexus media briefing on Wednesday 14 December. The event promises "a first look one-on-one briefing of the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy Nexus," and will be hosted by Samsung Australia's vice president of telecommunications, Tyler McGee.
The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the world's first smartphone to run the latest 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" version of Google's Android operating system. It was jointly unveiled by Google and Samsung in October, has already launched in the UK and Germany, and is expected to officially launch in the US in the coming weeks.
In addition to the latest version of Android, the Galaxy Nexus has a 4.65in Super AMOLED HD display, a 5-megapixel camera that promises "zero" shutter lag, and a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. The phone also has 1GB of RAM and either 16GB or 32GB of internal memory.
Despite not being officially available in Australia, a number of online retailers are already selling the Samsung Galaxy Nexus in Australia. Two of the most popular are MobiCity and Kogan, with both stores selling the 16GB model of the phone for $799.
The Galaxy Nexus is available to order online through the Optus Web site.