Lucky eBay Buyer Demos Ice Cream Sandwich On Video

Why is it that random eBay shoppers always seem to have the best luck? In what has to be one of the most fortuitous purchases I’ve seen in a while, someone picked up a Nexus S off of the auction site that just happened to be running a build of Google’s latest Android update: Ice Cream Sandwich.

Well, that’s the story, anyway. Thankfully, our lucky buyer was able to contain his or her excitement long enough to take some pictures and video and send them to Engadget.

The images in question look remarkably close to a handful of Ice Cream Sandwich pictures that leaked last month, but the video manages to explore ICS with a bit more depth.

The phone’s lockscreen, for example, bears more than a passing resemblance those seen on scores of Honeycomb tablets. On top of that, holding down the Home button brings up a new multitasking menu that allows users to quickly jump from between apps. Otherwise, all of the changes in design language we spotted last time are still around. If I may quote myself:

The distances between app icons and their names have increased a bit, and though the change is minor, it makes the whole layout feel more open. The notification bar is probably the biggest change, with room for bigger icons and updates. The app drawer also seems to have undergone a facelift, with different headers for apps and widgets, and an integrated link to the market for easy access.

It’s always good to have a grain of salt at the ready when something like this happens, but this new media lends a bit of credence to the original leak. Either someone is pulling the strings on an elaborate hoax here, or Ice Cream Sandwich will look as it does here when it finally ships within the next month or two.

Credit to Engadget for the video, and Droid-Life for throwing it on YouTube