As with all cutting edge technology, something else comes along to displace the “new hot thing” very shortly after the new hot thing comes out. Case in point this time around is the flagship Android smartphone known as the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Today, the contract-free price for the device has dropped to $399.00, down a hundred bucks. It’s now available from Google’s online Google Play Store for that price.

In case you haven’t been following the rise of this particular device, it was originally released last October and launched on Verizon Wireless in mid-December. But even though it’s been around for several months, it’s still got some very good specs.

Some of these specs include a 4.65-inch 720p Super AMOLED display, a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 16GB of internal storage, 1GB of RAM, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and GSM/HSPA compatibility with both AT&T and T-Mobile.

The best part is that this phone is unlocked and you can take advantage of some pretty good SIM only deals from AT&T or T-Mobile. At this price, it’s pretty tempting indeed.

Given the proliferation of smartphones with decent to very good cameras, it made sense that what followed was a whole lot of camera and photography apps for those smartphones. Among the most popular for iOS devices, with over 27 million registered users, is Instagram.

But what of Android and its users? Are they supposed to sit on the sidelines and not be able to enjoy all that Instagram goodness?Not much longer, apparently. As we previously reported, the app was announced for Android in December but not specific release dat was given.

However, at the annual South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger of Instagram hinted that the Android version of their app is coming “really soon.” In fact, Systrom briefly showed the app running on his Galaxy Nexus and claimed that “it’s one of the most amazing Android apps you’ll ever see, in some ways, it’s better than our iPhone app.”

Even with all the hype and attention Apple gets for its product launches (yes, we love the iPhone 4S and iOS 5), we can’t forget the other smartphones out there. In fact, one of the most popular “other” operating systems, besides Apple’s iOS, powering some of the most innovative smartphones is, of course, Google’s Android platform.

Now Google has taken the wraps of of its brand new version of Android, known as Android 4.0 or “Ice Cream Sandwich” during a press event in Hong Kong yesterday. The software was revealed next to the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Nexus, a smartphone we’re looking forward to checking out.

Android 4.0 combines many of the tablet features already available in Android 3.x (Honeycomb) with the smartphone features available in Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). It will power both tablets and smartphones, and it offers several enhancements.

Some of these include the ability to unlock an Ice Cream Sandwich device using face recognition. Android 4.0 also has a new cleaner “Roboto” typeface and an extensive UI makeover.

The lock screen in Android 4.0 can be used to quickly unlock the phone or launch the camera, and users can also access notifications directly. “Back,” “Home” and “Menu” are now part of the Android virtual user interface and hardware buttons are no longer needed.

We could go on about the new OS but instead, we’ve gonna let Google’s own video tell the story. Click through for it after the break.