Finally, just shy of two months since the phone was first announced by Google and Samsung and after who knows how many unofficial release dates, the Galaxy Nexus has a launch date for Verizon. And that date is ... drum roll, please ...

Dec. 15. And the price: $299 on contract. Mobile hotspot access will cost an extra $20 a month and will serve up to 10 Wifi devices.

So, now that that's settled, here are a couple of links you need to check out before you seal the deal:

Check out our complete review of the GSM Galaxy Nexus.

Wade through the Verizon Galaxy Nexus Forums. There you'll find others who are buying the Verizon Galaxy Nexuxs as well.

Listen to Episode 82 of the Android Central Podcast, where we answer a whole bunch of your questions about the Verizon Galaxy Nexus.

So that's it, folks. It's finally time. Full presser's after the break.

: Here's the explantion on the press release saying "today" and being dated Dec. 15 -- Verizon, in its initial e-mail to us, says that "this is tomorrow's press release so it currently says 'now available.' None of this is under embargo." Hope that clears things up.

GALAXY™ NEXUS™ BY SAMSUNG NOW AVAILABLE ON THE VERIZON WIRELESS 4G LTE NETWORK

First Smartphone to Combine Android™ 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the Power of America’s Fastest, Most Reliable 4G Network

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Verizon Wireless, Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) and Google™ announced Galaxy™ Nexus™ is available starting today in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com for $299.99 with a new two-year customer agreement.

Customers can browse the Web, stream music and more at blazing speeds using the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network. Galaxy Nexus customers can enjoy access to the 4G LTE network in 190 markets covering over 200 million people across the United States, and fly through the Web with fast download speeds of 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps within the 4G LTE Mobile Broadband coverage area.

Galaxy Nexus runs Android™ 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, which brings an entirely new look and feel to Android. Galaxy Nexus offers customers a redesigned user experience with improved multi-tasking, notifications, Near Field Communications (NFC) sharing with Android Beam™ and a full Web-browsing experience. The lock screen, home screen, phone app and everything in between have been rethought and redesigned to make Android simple, beautiful and useful. Galaxy Nexus also features an ultra-thin 9.47mm design with a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED™ Contour Display to watch movies, view pictures and play games that come to life in 720p (1280x720) resolution.

Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) features

Redesigned user interface – software navigation buttons, a first for Android smartphones, and a dedicated recent apps button to make multi-tasking easy

Face Unlock – use state-of-the-art facial recognition to unlock Galaxy Nexus

Android Beam™ – quickly share Web pages, apps, contacts and YouTube™ videos with friends by simply tapping two compatible phones together

Redesigned Camera – introduces panorama mode, 1080p video capture, zero-shutter lag for instant photo capturing, and effects such as silly faces and background replacement

People Application – browse friends, family and coworkers, see their photos in high-resolution and check their latest status updates from Google+ and other social networks

Cloud Services – keep email, contacts, photos, music, browser bookmarks and other data synced to the cloud, available across multiple devices so customers never lose important data

Google Music – upload up to 20,000 songs to the cloud, discover and buy new music from Android Market™, and stream it instantly on Galaxy Nexus and from the Web for free

Google+ – Create a Google+ account right from the phone and check status updates, manage circles, quickly share updates and photos, video chat with up to ten friends with Mobile Hangouts, and chat with groups of friends with Google+ Messenger

Support for Google Mobile™ Services – Gmail™, Google Maps™ with 3D maps and free turn-by-turn navigation, Google Earth™, Movie Studio, YouTube, syncing with Google Calendar™, a redesigned Google+ app and access to more than 300,000 apps, millions of eBooks, thousands of movies to rent, and millions of songs available to download from Android Market

Additional features:

Dual-core 1.2 GHz application processor and HTML5 Web browser – optimized dual-core processing with Android 4.0 combined with lightning fast 4G LTE connectivity for fast downloading of graphics, applications processing and Web browsing

Mobile Hotspot capability – share 4G LTE or 3G connection with up to 10 Wi-Fi-enabled devices

5-megapixel rear-facing camera with zero-shutter lag for instant photo capturing, autofocus and LED flash with full 1080p recording

Front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video chat

Textured soft-touch back cover – enhances the ergonomic feel and makes the phone slip-resistant

Bluetooth® 3.0 technology – support for headset, hands-free, stereo, phonebook access, human interface device (HID) and object push for vCard and vCalendar

1 GB RAM and 32 GB on-board memory (actual formatted capacity will be less)

Pricing and data packages:

Galaxy Nexus is available now in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com for $299.99 with a new two-year customer agreement.

Customers that purchase a Galaxy Nexus by Samsung will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan beginning at $39.99 monthly access and a smartphone data package starting at $30 monthly access for 2 GB of data.

Customers can visit www.verizonwireless.com/galaxynexus for more information on the Galaxy Nexus. For additional information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.