Samsung Galaxy Nexus, LG Viper LTE Android smartphones for Sprint

Sprint has announced the Galaxy Nexus by Samsung, boasting a pure Google experience, LG Viper 4G LTE with eco-friendly features and Sierra Wireless Tri-Network Hotspot, 3G, 4G and 4G LTE mobile hotspot. Galaxy Nexus on Sprint is built on Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich which has a redesigned user interface with improved multi-tasking, notifications, Wi-Fi hotspot, NFC support and a full web browsing experience. Samsung Galaxy Nexus features software navigation buttons, a first for Android smartphones.

If you're not familiar with the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich you should know that the new OS intros innovations such as Face Unlock, which uses facial recognition to unlock your phone. Using NFC (Near Field Communications) technology, Android Beam allows users to quickly share web pages, apps and YouTube videos with friends by simply tapping phones together. Users can even video chat with up to 10 friends with Google+ Hangouts for mobile. Galaxy Nexus will also be Sprint’s second smartphone enabled with NFC supporting Google Wallet, enabling the phone to be used like a wallet to make safe, secure purchases at hundreds of thousands of participating retailers.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus runs on Android 4.0 and boasts a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED HD display, 16GB internal memory, a 5MP camera with 1080p video capture, NFC, and more.

Sprint LG Viper runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and comes with an NFC chip and Google Wallet. LG Viper is the second LTE smartphone unveiled, and it comes with a 4-inch WVGA display with a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU and a 5MP rear camera.

According to the press release, in addition to the two new Android smartphones, Sprint also expands its mobile broadband portfolio with its first 4G LTE mobile broadband device, Sierra Wireless Tri-Network Hotspot. It will be the first tri-network (3G, 4G and 4G LTE) mobile hotspot and will easily allow families, small businesses and traveling co-workers to share their high-speed connection. The  Sierra Wireless Tri-Network Hotspot supports up to 8 Wi-Fi enabled devices, such as cameras, music players, personal media players and portable game consoles.

No word on release or pricing details for Sprint Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Sprint LG Viper or the Sierra Wireless Tri-Network Hotspot. Sprint customers in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio are expected to enjoy ultra-fast 4G LTE service and an improved 3G wireless experience before middle of year.