So there's a lot of news articles out there talking about ICS and the new Galaxy Nexus. ICS is Google's 4.0 version of Android, which is supposed to be the fusion of the tablet and smartphone. I've heard the same thing about Honeycomb, 3.0, which failed in the fusion aspect (but was great for tablets). Hopefully ICS will succeed where its predecessor failed, and by the images and demos so far, it looks :thumbup:.
Quick specs of the Galaxy Nexus:
First LTE phone with Android 4.0.
Supports LTE and HSPA+ in two different versions
1.2 GHz TI OMAP 4460
4.65" 1280x720 HD Super AMOLED
5 MP AF with LED Flash (Rear), 1.3 MP Front Facing
1 GB LPDDR2, 16 GB / 32 GB NAND
135.5 x 67.94 x 8.94 mm, 135 grams
1750 mAh Li-Ion
Accelerometer, Compass, Gyro, ALS, Proximity, Barometer sensors
Connectivity: 802.11n a/b/g/n (2.4/5 GHz), BT 3.0, NFC, USB 2.0
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4986/samsung-galaxy-nexus-officially-announced
Oh, did I mention that there's no buttons on this phone except for a volume rocker? Finally, the designers are getting smart that a touchscreen should be used, and not a dedicated button that can ruin the "landscape."
There's a ton of new features with ICS, which makes the iPhone 4S look downright plebian in comparison.
Copied from a live blog of the features of ICS:
Galaxy Nexus has no buttons. Ice Cream Sandwich is all about virtual buttons, like how iOS has been doing it from the beginning. But button presses in Android are now replaced with gestures. He's showing off swiping left and right to switch home screens. Scrolling in stacks on the home screen too. Left and right scrolling through apps, also like iOS. Widgets are resizable, which is nice for customization.
Folders are improved. They can now go into the favorites tray in the bottom "dock". Finally a customizable tray.
An icon for quick recent app switching. Scrollable list and a simple flick discards it and ends the process -- like webOS.
FINALLY native screenshot taking. Holding volume and power buttons at the same time.
Now the ability to dismiss individual notifications with a flick.
Improvements to text input, like an inline spellchecker. Improved cut, copy and paste to make it consistent throughout the entire system.
Now showing off Android voice recognition for text dictation. Seems the same as before.
New way to unlock your phone. No need for a PIN or pattern. Face recognition to unlock!
Uh oh, Google's demonstration of facial recognition unlock... isn't working. Ouch.
Moving right along... the new browser. Easier to manage tabs, you can have up to 16 of them open. Flick gestures to close tabs.
Defaults to mobile browser, but now there is a setting to ask the browser to request the desktop version. No more need to hunt around for a link.
One click to save a cached version of a webpage for offline reading, like Instapaper.
Now improvements to Gmail. Redesigned inbox with an action bar at the bottom to quickly compose, search, refresh, and other functions. Action bar will change based on context. You can swipe left and right to navigate through message threads. Smooth animations.
Now coming, offline search. By default, last 30 days are saved, but that can be expanded to even longer.
New calendar app. Pinch to zoom to expand/contract views.
Everything else is updated too, including Maps, YouTube... but maybe we're not going to see them tonight?
New settings now demoed. Better data controls. Graph of your data usage, and you can even set a mobile data limit for those of you on data caps. It even breaks down data usage by app. This is VERY cool to have integrated as a native solution. Definitely something that's too granular for Apple to put into iOS.
Now about the camera app. Swipe left on the lock screen to start the camera app, no need to fumble to unlock. Also lots of social network sharing options. Tap to focus. They're boasting zero shutter lag. Seems pretty fast.
Native video editing, and edits are saved as a copy, so originals are saved. There's a hipster filter. Instant Instagram! Also automatic organizing by location, or tagged people.
Built in panorama photo taking, which stitches together a wide shot. Pretty fancy.
Now for video recording. 1080p, continuous focus, zoom while recording, time lapse, video snapshots. Showing off a video demo. Nice nature shots. Really neat time lapse demonstrations.
A new people app. Sorta like contacts, so far. Looks a little like Metro from Microsoft. Compiles all the contact details. Integrates the contact's recent social updates right into the contacts detail page.
There's visual voicemail control now. Other calls controls including a canned, quick response. Instead of flat rejecting a call, you can select to send a text instead.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/android-4.0-Ice-Cream-Sandwich-ICS-galaxy-nexus,news-12908.html
The Galaxy Nexus will be available sometime in November, which now makes me happy that Verizon was being a pain in my rear about getting a new phone. Since I can only get one after November 20, I think I'll be able to wait for the Galaxy Nexus to arrive.
What do you guys think of ICS and the new Galaxy Nexus phone?
Quick specs of the Galaxy Nexus:
First LTE phone with Android 4.0.
Supports LTE and HSPA+ in two different versions
1.2 GHz TI OMAP 4460
4.65" 1280x720 HD Super AMOLED
5 MP AF with LED Flash (Rear), 1.3 MP Front Facing
1 GB LPDDR2, 16 GB / 32 GB NAND
135.5 x 67.94 x 8.94 mm, 135 grams
1750 mAh Li-Ion
Accelerometer, Compass, Gyro, ALS, Proximity, Barometer sensors
Connectivity: 802.11n a/b/g/n (2.4/5 GHz), BT 3.0, NFC, USB 2.0
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4986/samsung-galaxy-nexus-officially-announced
Oh, did I mention that there's no buttons on this phone except for a volume rocker? Finally, the designers are getting smart that a touchscreen should be used, and not a dedicated button that can ruin the "landscape."
There's a ton of new features with ICS, which makes the iPhone 4S look downright plebian in comparison.
Copied from a live blog of the features of ICS:
Galaxy Nexus has no buttons. Ice Cream Sandwich is all about virtual buttons, like how iOS has been doing it from the beginning. But button presses in Android are now replaced with gestures. He's showing off swiping left and right to switch home screens. Scrolling in stacks on the home screen too. Left and right scrolling through apps, also like iOS. Widgets are resizable, which is nice for customization.
Folders are improved. They can now go into the favorites tray in the bottom "dock". Finally a customizable tray.
An icon for quick recent app switching. Scrollable list and a simple flick discards it and ends the process -- like webOS.
FINALLY native screenshot taking. Holding volume and power buttons at the same time.
Now the ability to dismiss individual notifications with a flick.
Improvements to text input, like an inline spellchecker. Improved cut, copy and paste to make it consistent throughout the entire system.
Now showing off Android voice recognition for text dictation. Seems the same as before.
New way to unlock your phone. No need for a PIN or pattern. Face recognition to unlock!
Uh oh, Google's demonstration of facial recognition unlock... isn't working. Ouch.
Moving right along... the new browser. Easier to manage tabs, you can have up to 16 of them open. Flick gestures to close tabs.
Defaults to mobile browser, but now there is a setting to ask the browser to request the desktop version. No more need to hunt around for a link.
One click to save a cached version of a webpage for offline reading, like Instapaper.
Now improvements to Gmail. Redesigned inbox with an action bar at the bottom to quickly compose, search, refresh, and other functions. Action bar will change based on context. You can swipe left and right to navigate through message threads. Smooth animations.
Now coming, offline search. By default, last 30 days are saved, but that can be expanded to even longer.
New calendar app. Pinch to zoom to expand/contract views.
Everything else is updated too, including Maps, YouTube... but maybe we're not going to see them tonight?
New settings now demoed. Better data controls. Graph of your data usage, and you can even set a mobile data limit for those of you on data caps. It even breaks down data usage by app. This is VERY cool to have integrated as a native solution. Definitely something that's too granular for Apple to put into iOS.
Now about the camera app. Swipe left on the lock screen to start the camera app, no need to fumble to unlock. Also lots of social network sharing options. Tap to focus. They're boasting zero shutter lag. Seems pretty fast.
Native video editing, and edits are saved as a copy, so originals are saved. There's a hipster filter. Instant Instagram! Also automatic organizing by location, or tagged people.
Built in panorama photo taking, which stitches together a wide shot. Pretty fancy.
Now for video recording. 1080p, continuous focus, zoom while recording, time lapse, video snapshots. Showing off a video demo. Nice nature shots. Really neat time lapse demonstrations.
A new people app. Sorta like contacts, so far. Looks a little like Metro from Microsoft. Compiles all the contact details. Integrates the contact's recent social updates right into the contacts detail page.
There's visual voicemail control now. Other calls controls including a canned, quick response. Instead of flat rejecting a call, you can select to send a text instead.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/android-4.0-Ice-Cream-Sandwich-ICS-galaxy-nexus,news-12908.html
The Galaxy Nexus will be available sometime in November, which now makes me happy that Verizon was being a pain in my rear about getting a new phone. Since I can only get one after November 20, I think I'll be able to wait for the Galaxy Nexus to arrive.
What do you guys think of ICS and the new Galaxy Nexus phone?
I've been having problems with my phone lately. I went down to a place called T2 Wireless, they are a Verizon retailer. They had me swipe everyone on my phone. I was having it reboot every day on it's own, and it was slow. Turns out I was trying to run both 2.2 and 2.3 at the same time? Which I guess has been an issue with a lot of Droid phones.
