We’ve seen it time and time again. New devices generally have teething issues, though many of these can be patched with a software update, others have more serious hardware problems. The iPhone 4 had the infamous ‘antennagate’ issue, the HTC Sensation its own Wi-Fi deathgrip and it seems the Galaxy Nexus is now joining the ranks of not so smooth product launches.

The smartphone went on sale in the UK last week, and a number of users are reporting that the phone’s volume controls behave erratically when it’s transmitting on a 2G network at GSM 900 (900Mhz). This ‘volume bug’ could be a result of radio interference on the 900Mhz band and it has been replicated by placing another phone on 2G GSM 900 next to the Galaxy Nexus. The bug is quite serious because it can mute your phone’s ringer and notifications.

Most of Europe, Africa, Middle East, Australia and most of Asia use the GSM 900 band, so the number of users that could be affected is huge. Affected Galaxy Nexus devices behave normally when connected to 3G networks, so a temporary fix would be to force the phone to only connect on 3G, but that means you will be left without a signal where 3G connectivity is not available.
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