Galaxy Nexus & Galaxy Tab 10.1 Release Date Set for 2012, With U.S. Cellular

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We continue our Galaxy Nexus rumor rollercoaster ride today with a new leak that seems to confirm that Verizon is not the exclusive U.S. carrier of the next Nexus as U.S. Cellular may be one of the mobile operators in the region to also sell the handset.

However, don’t expect U.S. Cellular to have the Galaxy Nexus in store this year. Apparently the carrier is poised to bring a bunch of new 4G devices to its customers next year: a “new 4G modem,” a “new portable Wi-Fi Hotspot,” a “new 4G smartphone” and a “new 4G tablet.”

What we’re mostly interested in are the last two items in the leaked image below, and of those two, we’re particularly keen on finding out more details about the smartphone. The two devices appear to be Samsung Galaxy devices, or the Galaxy Nexus smartphone and Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet.

The back of the tablet seems to indicate we’re indeed looking at the Galaxy Tab, but what’s really interesting to observe is the button-less silhouette of the “new 4G smartphone.” How many new 4G LTE Android handsets that don’t have physical buttons do you know other than the Galaxy Nexus?

U.S. Cellular is yet to confirm such plans for next year, and we have no idea when in 2012 will the carrier launch these new devices. A few days ago we heard that U.S. Cellular decided not to ink an iPhone deal with Apple, but it looks like the mobile operator is a lot more interested in launching Android LTE handsets, including the first Ice Cream Sandwich handset in the world.

In the mean time we still lack an official launch date for the Galaxy Nexus, which will be available in the USA this year from Verizon, at least initially. What U.S. carrier would you rather buy the handset from? In case the question sounds familiar that’s because Samsung already asked it on its sign-up page a few weeks ago. But then it failed to mention what U.S. carriers are going to actually have the device in stock this year.