What would have been another showdown this week between Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc. did not materialize after the passing of Apple's creative genius, Steve Jobs.

The Korean electronics giant deferred the Oct. 11 launch of the Samsung Nexus Prime, saying that it would be inappropriate to do so at a time when the world is expressing tribute to the CEO of Apple, Samsung's biggest rival in the tablet and smartphone market.

Apple, on the other hand, unveiled the iPhone 4S just a day before the man who invented the personal computer from his garage died in his Palo Alto, California residence. Apple is business as usual; unleashed iOS 5, the latest software update for Apple mobile devices, Oct. 12; and Apple Stores worldwide and carriers will move forward with the Oct. 14 release date of the iPhone 4S.

Despite Samsung's decision to back off with the Nexus launch, the two haven't declared a ceasefire in their expensive courtroom battles across three continents. Apple has sued Samsung on claims that the Galaxy devices are "slavishly" imitating the design and functionality of the iPad and iPhone. On Thursday, an Australian federal court judge granted Apple's bid to continue an injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Injunctions were earlier issued against the Galaxy S2 and/or the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the Netherlands and Germany. As sales have been hit by the ban, Samsung has said it will no longer allow Apple and others to have a "free ride" of its technology. Samsung early this month countered with a lawsuit seeking a ban on the sales of the iPhone 4S in Italy and France on grounds that it violates Samsung's wireless patents. But courts have not issued rulings on Samsung's claims so far.

Samsung has been able to boost market share this year, but only at the expense of Finnish handset maker Nokia and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion. While going head-to-head with Nokia in the race to become the top vendor in the mobile phone market (basic phones + smartphones), it has yet to gain ground against Apple in smartphone sales.

The Samsung Galaxy S2 has been Samsung's best-seller to date with 10 million units sold in about five months since launching, but this still pales in comparison to sales of the iPhone 4, which sold 20.4 million units in the quarter ended June 25 alone.

Apple will be facing stiffer competition this time with the Nexus Prime, also known as the Galaxy Nexus, which is the first smartphone powered by Google Inc.'s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and has a bigger screen and thinner than the iPhone 4S.

Samsung Nexus

The iPhone 4S, has an upgraded processor, camera, software, and features as virtual assistant. While having improved specs and new features, fans have been expecting that an iPhone with an overhauled design, i.e., the iPhone 5, would be launched at the Let's talk iPhone event early this month.

Notwithstanding that it has the same aesthetics as the predecessor, iPhone 4S has continued to reap record pre-order figures, and Apple Stores will again play host to long queues when the fifth generation iPhone is released Friday.

With a Samsung UK executive saying last week "you will be seeing [the Nexus Prime] in shops sooner than you think," we should see an early glance as to whether Samsung could finally beat Apple in the post-Steve Jobs era.

Boy Genius Report, citing a trusted source, and GSMArena, citing a tipster inside Google, has said that the Galaxy Nexus will have these specs:

* OS: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

* thickness: 9mm (BGR)

* screen size: 4.65-inch 1280 x 720-pixel Super AMOLED HD with curved glass (BGR) /

* processor: TI OMAP 4460 dual-core Cortex A9 processor clocked at 1.2GHz (BGR) / 1.5GHz dual-core Exynos processor PowerVR SGX543MP2 dual-core GPU from Imagination (GSMArena)

* RAM: 1GB (BGR)

* Storage: 32GB built-in (BGR)

* Camera: 1080p HD video capture support 5-megapixel camera on the back, 1.3-megapixel in the front (BGR) / 8-megapixel camera with new improved sensor and 1,080p HD video recording (GSMArena)

* Connectivity: LTE/HSPA depending on carrier plus Wi-Fi a/b/g/n (BGR) / LTE with dual-mode CDMA/GSM radios (GSMArena)

* NFC Capabilty (BGR)

* Battery: 1,750 mAh (BGR) / 2050 mAh battery (GSMArena)

Ice Cream Sandwich is the platform that will unify the user interface between Android phones and tablets.

The iPhone 4S sports a 3.5-inch screen; an 8-megapixel, 1080p high-definition camera; an A5 dual-core chip processor that is seven times faster than the graphics processor in the iPhone 4; 512 MB of RAM; two antennae to transmit and receive data; CDMA and GSM connectivity; 8 hours of 3G talk-time, and new applications like Siri and Find My Friends. Siri is a voice-recognition system Siri that turns the device into a hands-free personal assistant.

The iPhone 4S will use the iOS 5 platform, which boasts of 200 new features, which Apple says takes "a mobile operating system that was already years ahead of anything else and moving it even further ahead." The new features for iOS 5 include a revamp on its notification system; Siri, which would transform voice commands into actions; integration with iCloud, the new storage service of Apple; wireless syncing; a new messaging service for i-gadgets; a new reminders app; a newsstand app for organizing magazine and newspaper subscriptions; an improved Safari Web browser; full integration to Twitter; easy access to the camera right in the lock screen; new services for editing photos; and an AssistiveTouch that allows you to use your iOS device if you have difficulty touching the screen.

So, is it the Nexus Prime or the iPhone 4S?

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