Each year, several dozen smartphones land on our collective desks. They come in different shapes and sizes, boast different features and sell at different price points. We take each of them for a spin and review most of them, but only a handful really stand out. This is especially true with Android handsets, where incremental updates appear to be the modus operandi. Every now and then a device comes along that we really look forward to getting our hands on. Google's line of Nexus smartphones falls into this category, setting the new standard for Android each year.
Sure, the Galaxy Nexus is a beautiful and powerful piece of hardware, but that's only part of the story. More significantly, it's the launch device for Google's highly anticipated new version of Android -- Ice Cream Sandwich -- the company's most significant mobile OS update yet, with a laundry list of improvements. As such, we approached the new software with lofty expectations, and while we weren't disappointed, we were surprised by the extent of the changes, to the point where we found ourselves having to undo years of old Android habits.
There's a definite learning curve to Ice Cream Sandwich that's ultimately rewarded with a more attractive design and a more coherent user experience. Gingerbread's lime green-on-black color scheme gives way to a more subtle light blue-on-gray motif, and for the first time, we're getting a better sense for where Android is headed -- a clearer identity, which is fantastic news. That being said, we're not convinced that Android 4.0 will be more intuitive for first-time users -- it still feels geared towards people like us: the nerdy, tech-savvy, geeky and power-hungry set. Let's dive into the details.
After turning the Nexus on for the first time, you're greeted with the familiar Android setup process. New accounts are invited to join Google+ and Google Wallet. There's also a slick tutorial that's sure to lower the learning curve for first-time users and seasoned aficionados alike -- something we initially skipped, but would have eased our transition to Ice Cream Sandwich. We were also pleased to see our settings restored and all of our apps downloaded and installed after logging into our Google account, something that never appears to work properly on the myriad Android devices we regularly get our hands on.
The first change you're likely to notice is the new lock screen, which shows the time and date using Android's lovely new font, Roboto, and displays album art and audio controls during music playback. Slide the padlock icon to the right and it unlocks the handset, slide it to the left and you're dropped into the camera app (a clear nod to HTC's Sense 3.0 UI). It's now possible to access notifications directly from the lock screen by pulling down the notification tray. Another interesting -- if perhaps somewhat gimmicky -- new feature is face unlock, which unlocks the Galaxy Nexus upon recognizing your face (or a picture of your face, as it turns out). Convenience and novelty are the name of the game here, not security.
More differences come to light when looking at the five home screens. As we already mentioned, the Nexus lacks hardware buttons, which have been replaced with three softkeys at the bottom of the screen -- back, home and recent apps. The latter lists recently accessed apps using thumbnails containing a snapshot of each app. Tapping on an app's thumbnail switches to it, and flicking apps to the side removes them from the list. Unlike a real task manager, there's no proper way of closing apps. Just like in Honeycomb, a virtual menu button (represented here by three vertically stacked dots) appears to the right of the main row of softkeys when running legacy apps. While this usually works, Facebook fails to display this virtual menu button for some reason, forcing us to live with the annoying default notification settings.
Google also fitted Ice Cream Sandwich with a comprehensive and intuitive set of tools to manage data usage. You're able to monitor total data usage and per-app data usage with separate counters for mobile networks and for WiFi. Better yet, it's possible to set a warning threshold as well as a hard limit beyond which the phone will stop using data over mobile networks altogether -- something sure to come in handy for anyone with one of those pesky tiered data plans. There's also a way to turn off background data for individual apps, forcing them to use WiFi instead. Look for a full-blown review of every intricate ICS detail in the days ahead.
Source : Engadget
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Samsung Galaxy S II vs Samsung Galaxy Nexus Ultimate Side By Side Comparisonby foxfire235255,106 views
gotta say you sound like steve jobs :)
plumbless 3 months ago 6
Great review. Probably the most useful one I've seen on youtube.
clayphish 3 months ago 3