As enthusiasts of Google's Android cell software package properly know, every new edition is called following a sugary handle, this sort of as Gingerbread or Honeycomb. Android is about to acquire even sweeter with Ice Cream Sandwich - a clean, feature-rich running technique that may run first within the delectable Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone.
The combination of Google's software package and Samsung's hardware makes the Galaxy Nexus one of many best candidates to contend with Apple's most recent iPhone, although its price tag is steep. It will be accessible Thursday within the U.S. for $300 with a two-year Verizon Wireless agreement.
Including the previous mobile phone in the Nexus line, the Nexus S, the Galaxy Nexus was jointly produced by Google Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. It incorporates a slim body with a big, curved glass screen which is cozy for chatting with pals and superb for seeing videos. You can find 32 gigabytes of built-in space for storing within the Verizon model in the mobile phone, but no external slot for a microSD memory card.
The display screen, a pocket-busting four.65 inches at the diagonal, helps make the iPhone's 3.5-inches appear diminutive. And despite the size, the Galaxy Nexus manages to weigh just 4.8 ounces, marginally much less than Apple's providing.
On it, movies and Websites looked crisp and vibrant, with abundant colours. I began seeing a online video throughout testing - an Hd copy of "The Help" that I rented from Google's Android Market place - and needed to power myself to interrupt away to check other functions from the system.
Using the most recent model of Android below the hood, the Galaxy Nexus is full of new and improved features. A lot of of them are great; other individuals are just fantastic in idea.
Overall, the software appears fresher and a lot less cluttered. The virtual "buttons" that generally sit at the bottom with the display have already been redesigned. You will find even now a "home" as well as a "back" button, but no "menu" button to pull up different alternatives inside of an app. Rather, there's now a "recent apps" button that shows what you have been performing currently around the telephone.
An additional neat alter: The buttons are entirely virtual, so that they modify instructions when you flip the mobile phone sideways and vanish when you are viewing images or movies.
Other modifications to Android contain an overhaul of its virtual keyboard, meant to create it simpler to kind without having messing up - something I have constantly had trouble with about the stock Android keyboard. I used to be frequently in a position to sort far more correctly than while in the past, but occasionally nevertheless ended up with unintended phrases in my messages.
The Android browser and Gmail are current, also. Gmail's new capabilities contain the power to go looking emails while offline, whilst the browser is zippier and possesses a "request desktop" solution so you can check out webpages inside their non-truncated desktop model.
One particular new function that falls into your "great in theory" class is Deal with Unlock, which utilizes facial-recognition technologies to unlock the telephone from standby mode. To set it up, you are taking a picture of one's face with the phone. Then, all you must do to unlock the telephone is stare with the display screen soon after you press the ability button.
More often than not it failed to perform, however, most likely because the cellphone could not identify my face from certain angles. I was also capable to fool it by keeping up a shot of my confront on an iPhone. Much for safety.
Ice Cream Sandwich also has Android Beam, which permits you to share this kind of material like a Web page, map or video clip between two Android phones by bringing the backs with the telephones shut with each other. It only works with phones that have this Android software and near-field communication technologies, however, so except if both you and your friend each acquire the Galaxy Nexus you are going to be out of luck at start.
Far more immediately helpful was the phone's 5-megapixel camera, which is the snappiest I have seen on any Android cellphone. There was virtually no shutter lag in between shots, even when I had just turned the digicam on.
Still, I'd personally have desired a higher-resolution sensor - 8-megapixel cameras are speedily starting to be frequent on smartphones. Additionally, images I took might have been brighter, however this may be enhanced on somewhat by using a number of the obtainable modifying alternatives, like quite a few colour filters and adjustable distinction options.
Like the iPhone 4S and some other high-end smartphones, the Galaxy Nexus can report high-definition video clips in 1080p - the very best resolution you will get on a buyer camera. I had some fun taking sunset movies with a time-lapse feature, and you will find some goofy filming outcomes to engage in close to with, also.
And certainly, you are able to make calls about the Galaxy Nexus. Its skinny body and curved display screen ensure it is comfortable to hold towards your ear, and calls usually sounded good.
Sadly, high-speed networks guzzle battery electrical power like a milkshake, so I was not capable to commit a ton of time using the device on a solitary battery cost.
The mobile phone Google loaned me to test was a model that actually works with AT&T or T-Mobile, so I couldn't examination its speed or battery life together with the carrier actually selling it in the U.S., Verizon, or with its high-speed 4G network.
Using equally T-Mobile's standard 3G and speedier HSPA+ networks, at least, I got about three hours and 15 minutes from the Galaxy Nexus for surfing the World wide web, streaming a movie, sending instant messages, chatting around the telephone and other activities. The telephone got quite warm with all this use. Over Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network, it's possible that the phone's battery would drain even faster if you might be undertaking a lot of downloading.
An additional bummer: Verizon is blocking the Galaxy Nexus from supporting Google Wallet, that is supposed to allow the phone to be used to acquire items in some stores by tapping it to payment terminals.
Generally, however, the Galaxy Nexus is a well-rounded smartphone that serves up a noticeably freshened-up model of Android with sleek hardware. Delicious, indeed.
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