Samsung Galaxy Nexus unveiled, first to run Ice Cream Sandwich

[Shawn Knight]

Samsung and Google have unveiled the Galaxy Nexus smartphone at a press event in Hong Kong. The flagship handset is the first in the world to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Google’s new mobile operating system that unifies Gingerbread and Honeycomb into one.

The Galaxy Nexus features a curved 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display running at 1270 x 720 resolution, a 1.2GHz dual core processor, 1GB of RAM, your choice of 16GB or 32GB of internal storage, a 5MP rear camera with zero shutter lag, backlit-illuminated sensor, built-in stabilization and LED flash and a 1.3MP front-facing camera for video chat. The unit is powered by a 1,750mAh battery in a package that weighs 135g and is 8.9mm at its thinnest point.

In addition to the curved screen, the physical buttons found on most Android handsets are gone, replaced by what Google calls Software Navigation Buttons. The phone also includes Bluetooth 3.0, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n (2.4GHz and 5GHz) and NFC. Wireless connectivity options include LTE and HSPA+.

Ice Cream Sandwich introduces a whole new look and feel for Android. The company has borrowed trends from TV, web and print design for use in ICS.; they wanted it to feel modern and approachable.

For starters, ICS is specifically designed to work with 720p as its native resolution. ICS has improved multitasking, a sideways-swiping function that works in multiple applications, Wi-Fi hotspot and NFC support, new notifications and a full web browsing experience. An updated camera interface includes support for panorama mode, 1080p video capture, in-app filters and a new gallery layout. A new People app connects your various social network streams into one. There’s also a new unlock method for your device using facial recognition.

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus will launch in early November in the US, Europe and Asia. The Ice Cream Sandwich SDK is available now.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/45915-samsung-galaxy-nexus-unveiled-first-to-run-ice-cream-sandwich.html

 

[Guest]

Without a doubt my next phone! Samsung makes kickass hardware, Google provides software/services... what better combo is there?

 

[MrAnderson]

Wow looks great. If I can get it without contract for less than 5 I might get one.

 

[aj_the_kidd]

Cant say i'm overly excited about this phone, will have to try it out and see, though the speed of the camera in the video is pretty impressive. As I already have the SGS2 I cant see a must have function on this phone that makes me want to upgrade

 

[yorro]

Glad I've waited out the SGS2

 

[VitalyT]

TYPO: The phone resolution is 1280x720 = 720P, and not 1270x720, which would make no sense at all.

 

[Guest]

Glad I didn't wait and got the iPhone!

 

[Guest]

For the Guest with his iPhone, we are glad too you did the wrong choice buying an iPhone because these hot Galaxy phones are not for everyone since they are not produced in enough quantities to feed the demand chain there must be others like you that buy other crappy phones just to ease the demand in order for other like us to can grab these beauties.
And know why Apple can't make a slimmer and better iPhone ? and is selling you the same bad apples again and again and again ? is because Samsung is probably the single super slim AMOLED display maker in the world and doesn't want to sell any of those displays to Apple, so you just have to enjoy having a not so slim, not so smart, phone for a long period of time. ROTFL

 

[VitalyT]

Haters

 

[Guest]

Ice Cream ! Real Tasteful.

 

[Burty117]

Guest said:
For the Guest with his iPhone, we are glad too you did the wrong choice buying an iPhone because these hot Galaxy phones are not for everyone since they are not produced in enough quantities to feed the demand chain there must be others like you that buy other crappy phones just to ease the demand in order for other like us to can grab these beauties.
And know why Apple can't make a slimmer and better iPhone ? and is selling you the same bad apples again and again and again ? is because Samsung is probably the single super slim AMOLED display maker in the world and doesn't want to sell any of those displays to Apple, so you just have to enjoy having a not so slim, not so smart, phone for a long period of time. ROTFL

This post is soo wrong i don't even know where to begin?
The gues almost trying to suggest that Samsung also don't just release new phones with identicle everything except slightly upgraded?

 

[princeton]

burty117 said:

Guest said:
For the Guest with his iPhone, we are glad too you did the wrong choice buying an iPhone because these hot Galaxy phones are not for everyone since they are not produced in enough quantities to feed the demand chain there must be others like you that buy other crappy phones just to ease the demand in order for other like us to can grab these beauties.
And know why Apple can't make a slimmer and better iPhone ? and is selling you the same bad apples again and again and again ? is because Samsung is probably the single super slim AMOLED display maker in the world and doesn't want to sell any of those displays to Apple, so you just have to enjoy having a not so slim, not so smart, phone for a long period of time. ROTFL

This post is soo wrong i don't even know where to begin?
The gues almost trying to suggest that Samsung also don't just release new phones with identicle everything except slightly upgraded?

Uh they don't. Let us take a look as the evolution from the SGS to the SGSII as a good example.

First of all the device had the screen improved with one using an RGB subpixel layout opposed to the RGBG in the first device. The screen was also brighter and had the colors better calibrated to not exceed the sRGB color gamut.

Next we'll take a look at the internals. Samsung jumped from a Cortex-A8 based 1GHz single core processor paired with 512MB of ram and powerVR SGX540 to a 1.2GHz Cortex-A9 based cpu with 1GB of ram and an ARM mali-400 capable of outputting stereoscopic 3D in 1080p at 70Hz.

The camera was also improved from a 5MP sensor that could record 720p due to processor limitations to an 8MP one with 1080p video recording. On top of that was the improved quality of the sensor not just in pixel count, but in its ability to pick up subtle details like shadows and lighting better than the original

What about the shell? The phone was slimmed down and was only 8.5mm at its thinnest point. The back cover was redesigned with a better soft touch grip in response to concern over the slippery style plastic used in the original.

And the software. Touchwiz 4 was radically different from all previous iterations. It featured a hardware accelerated launcher along with several hardware accelerated apps from Samsung, most notably the browser which is still the smoothest browser on any released Android phone to date. It also introduced Samsung's new tile widget concept with resizable widgets showing info from the time, to the weather, to social networking info.

I'm not going to debate whether the iPhone 4S is just a spec bump or not, but the fact of the matter is the SGSII isn't just a spec bump. It's a large evolutionary step with improvements in every area. Specs, design, and software.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

Ice Cream Sandwich?! Is Google's marketing branch run by a bunch of 12 year old girls? Or were they just trying to go complete polar opposite from Intel's ivy league, pretentious-sounding Gulftown/Clarksdale nonsense.

Is Android 4 just that uncool? We've iOS 5, Windows 7 & 8. Know why they do that Google? Because it's really easy to know that Windows 8 comes after Windows 7. Currently in the cell phone industry we've got 4 carriers with different plans, different 3G speeds, different 4G speeds, different coverage, a complete array of phones with different specs/screens/speeds/abilities, and you gotta go and put dumb names on your OS so the 'Uninitiated' can't keep em straight.

Now a new customer can hear all that crap i just listed from a salesperson and then still have to ask 'Ok, uh... what was that Ice Cream Sandwich you were talking about? Is that diferent than Honeycomb??"

It's almost like it's an effort in helping salespeople make customers feel dumb. Or are you just trying to sell iPhones?

(I'm done now... sorry)

 

[1977TA]

yorro said:
Glad I've waited out the SGS2

They are pretty much the same phone. I have the T-Mobile variation that has 1.5ghz processor (which slightly better than the Nexus's), the screen size is the same as the Nexus too. I don't have ICS on it yet, but it will be soon enough.

@Princeton

I agree with you 100%, I had an SG1 the second generation is leaps and bounds better.

 

[Burty117]

Princeton said:

burty117 said:

Guest said:
For the Guest with his iPhone, we are glad too you did the wrong choice buying an iPhone because these hot Galaxy phones are not for everyone since they are not produced in enough quantities to feed the demand chain there must be others like you that buy other crappy phones just to ease the demand in order for other like us to can grab these beauties.
And know why Apple can't make a slimmer and better iPhone ? and is selling you the same bad apples again and again and again ? is because Samsung is probably the single super slim AMOLED display maker in the world and doesn't want to sell any of those displays to Apple, so you just have to enjoy having a not so slim, not so smart, phone for a long period of time. ROTFL

This post is soo wrong i don't even know where to begin?
The gues almost trying to suggest that Samsung also don't just release new phones with identicle everything except slightly upgraded?

Uh they don't. Let us take a look as the evolution from the SGS to the SGSII as a good example.

First of all the device had the screen improved with one using an RGB subpixel layout opposed to the RGBG in the first device. The screen was also brighter and had the colors better calibrated to not exceed the sRGB color gamut.

Next we'll take a look at the internals. Samsung jumped from a Cortex-A8 based 1GHz single core processor paired with 512MB of ram and powerVR SGX540 to a 1.2GHz Cortex-A9 based cpu with 1GB of ram and an ARM mali-400 capable of outputting stereoscopic 3D in 1080p at 70Hz.

The camera was also improved from a 5MP sensor that could record 720p due to processor limitations to an 8MP one with 1080p video recording. On top of that was the improved quality of the sensor not just in pixel count, but in its ability to pick up subtle details like shadows and lighting better than the original

What about the shell? The phone was slimmed down and was only 8.5mm at its thinnest point. The back cover was redesigned with a better soft touch grip in response to concern over the slippery style plastic used in the original.

And the software. Touchwiz 4 was radically different from all previous iterations. It featured a hardware accelerated launcher along with several hardware accelerated apps from Samsung, most notably the browser which is still the smoothest browser on any released Android phone to date. It also introduced Samsung's new tile widget concept with resizable widgets showing info from the time, to the weather, to social networking info.

I'm not going to debate whether the iPhone 4S is just a spec bump or not, but the fact of the matter is the SGSII isn't just a spec bump. It's a large evolutionary step with improvements in every area. Specs, design, and software.

I didn't say how bigger jump it was. I really don't care at all to be honest.

What I was trying to point out was that the Guest said that all Apple does is increase the spec of there phones and sell the same rubbish.

But so does Samsung? The jump fron SGS to SGSII is pretty much the same as iPhone 3GS to iPhone4?

I'm really struggling to see the difference here?

 

[Guest]

Calm down milwaukeemike, they're just internal code names. No-one apart from developers and tech enthusiasts know or care what the name of the Android version they're using is called.

 

[Guest]

LoL @ all the fanboy rage in these comments.
Here, let me make it easy for you.

iPhones = Awesome
Androids = Awesome

There, problem solved.

 

[princeton]

burty117 said:
I didn't say how bigger jump it was. I really don't care at all to be honest.

What I was trying to point out was that the Guest said that all Apple does is increase the spec of there phones and sell the same rubbish.

But so does Samsung? The jump fron SGS to SGSII is pretty much the same as iPhone 3GS to iPhone4?

I'm really struggling to see the difference here?

Going from a SGS to a SGSII is most accurately compared to people ending their 3GS contracts and renewing for the 4S. It's an insanely large leap.

I agree with you, the guest was incorrect in the overall scheme of iPhone releases, especially with the huge jump in screen quality from the 3GS to the 4. But he/she was entirely correct when it comes to the 4 vs the 4S just being a slight spec bump.

 

[Guest]

Already have an the Samsung Galaxy S II

Uninterested.

 

[Burty117]

Princeton said:

burty117 said:
I didn't say how bigger jump it was. I really don't care at all to be honest.

What I was trying to point out was that the Guest said that all Apple does is increase the spec of there phones and sell the same rubbish.

But so does Samsung? The jump fron SGS to SGSII is pretty much the same as iPhone 3GS to iPhone4?

I'm really struggling to see the difference here?

Going from a SGS to a SGSII is most accurately compared to people ending their 3GS contracts and renewing for the 4S. It's an insanely large leap.

I agree with you, the guest was incorrect in the overall scheme of iPhone releases, especially with the huge jump in screen quality from the 3GS to the 4. But he/she was entirely correct when it comes to the 4 vs the 4S just being a slight spec bump.

Yeah, I pretty much agree unless the Samsung SGSIII comes out looking almost identicle but with upgraded internals. Somehow though, I don't think that will happen.

 

[Guest]

Yeah, because it is really hard to tell that i comes after h, right? They use alphabetic order for their code names. Version numbers are still used too, ie 2.3.4, 3.2, etc. ICS is 4.0 btw.