SamsungGalaxyNexus
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First happy Galaxy Nexus customer isn't so happy, wants to exchange it (update: replacement works fine)
Well, this is awkward. Samsung's PR team tweeted the above picture of Alex Ioannou as he officially became the first person to pick up a Galaxy Nexus in the UK. But Alex just got in touch to tell us that he's less than satisfied. We only have his word to go on at this point (and for all we know he could be secretly working for LG), but he insists he's having trouble syncing with Gmail because the usual account setup options are missing. Instead, his phone was apparently preloaded with a bunch of weird dev stuff -- including the handy option to "Report a WTF condition." We're desperately hoping that he was given a developer model by mistake and this will all be resolved when he exchanges. He's back in the store right now and says that apologetic reps are feeding him with ice cream sandwiches while he waits. Check out the 'After' photo and screenshots just beyond the break. Update: Alex has confirmed that he's taken ownership of a new Galaxy Nexus which works perfectly. All is well. Mat Smith and Richard Lai contributed to this report
Ice Cream Sandwich source code released, sync pending go-ahead from AOSP
If you're champing at the bit waiting to get your hands on a nice cool piece of Android 4.0, your wait may soon be over. Pending a final go-ahead from the Android Open Source Project, you'll be able to sync the now available Ice Cream Sandwich source code. Due to the "large push" (presumably because of all the changes), the roll out is going to take some time to complete -- project members will give the final word when things are good to go. If you try to sync prematurely, be forewarned that you'll get an incomplete copy that will be useless. The available flavor is 4.0.1 which will be the version to ship on the Galaxy Nexus, the first ICS device. This release also includes "the full history of the Android Code," signaling the first time Honeycomb source has seen daylight. Can't wait for a taste? The extremely impatient can hit that coverage link below, but we prefer our frozen treats to be properly chilled before consumption. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Galaxy Nexus gets rooted, forums burst into applause
To root or not to root -- that's never really been a question for Nexus owners. Google's purebred Android phones are by nature developer-friendly and ship with a painless ability to unlock their bootloaders. So, it comes as no great surprise that well-known modder Modaco has achieved this very feat on the Galaxy Nexus, although it is nice to this Ice Cream Sandwich flagship upholding tradition. Whatever your personal computing OS choice, the superboot image file provided at the source will work for you, pushing the superuser APK to your handset and granting you administrator privileges. Retail versions of the phone will likely come locked, so be prepared to wipe your data if you choose to go down this route (pun definitely intended). As always, tinkering with high-end mobile toys comes with the usual associated risks, so proceed with caution. And remember the cardinal rule -- friends don't let friends root their phones.
Verizon Galaxy Nexus not landing til after Black Friday?
Initial rumors had the Verizon release of the Galaxy Nexus pegged for November 10th but, while the carrier has officially confirmed the flagship Android handset is coming, it's refused to say when. Now several sources have told Droid Life not to expect our first taste of Ice Cream Sandwich until the week of Black Friday at the earliest. In fact, a leaked roadmap photo seems to suggest Big Red customers won't be able to get their hands on one until after the busiest shopping day of the year, when it launches as part of Samsung's "Holiday Portfolio." If our disappointment was a flavor, we'd be Neapolitan -- three shades of sad. [Thanks, K]
Lumia 800 to hit the UK on November 16th, Nokia confirms
We knew that the Lumia 800 would be making its way to the UK sometime in November, but today, that timeline has become slightly more specific. We've just received confirmation that Nokia's "first real Windows Phone" will indeed be available within the UK on November 16th, just a day before Samsung unleashes its Galaxy Nexus handset to British users. Last month, the company confirmed that the device would be priced at €420, though there's no word yet on what that price tag may look like in sterling. As always, we'll let you know as soon as we hear more.
Samsung Galaxy Nexus confirmed to have 'fortified glass,' not Gorilla Glass
For all the talk of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus in recent days, there's still quite a few questions surrounding the flagship Ice Cream Sandwich phone. Last week we learned that the phone's 4.65-inch screen was a standard Super AMOLED display and not a Super AMOLED Plus variation (as seen on the Galaxy S II), and now Corning has confirmed that the device doesn't use its trademark Gorilla Glass as you may have assumed given its high-end status. According to Samsung, however, it does use a type of "fortified glass," but the company isn't getting any more specific than that. We guess we'll have to wait for some stress tests (or clumsy hands) to see just how well it holds up.
Verizon throws Galaxy Nexus signup page live, claims exclusivity
In case you were still wondering, yes, the Galaxy Nexus is Verizon bound. We certainly didn't need to see another signup page to tell us that, but if you find your way to Verizon's mailing list form through the outfit's own search bar, you might find an interesting banner: "Exclusively from Verizon," it reads, "Galaxy Nexus." Well, that certainly flies in the face of a certain FCC filing we've seen, not to mention Samsung's own Galaxy Nexus signup page and all of our hopes and dreams. With any luck, the handset will still launch on multiple carriers, perhaps only landing on Verizon's grid first. If old rumors hold true, however, Verizon customers won't be the only folks seeing red on November 10th.Update: Looks like the carrier has softened its stance a bit, sometime overnight Verizon removed the exclusive banner from the page.[Thanks, John and Kazem]
O2's Galaxy Nexus landing page confirms November availability, forgets to add price
It's no secret that O2's set to release its Galaxy Nexus variant come this November, but a recently live landing page on the UK telecom's website is serving up some extras. As expected, its customers will be unwrapping the 21Mbps HSPA+ version of the device, but sadly, the question remains as to how much it'll cost. While a leaked Verizon document evidently has this Android 4.0 flagship pegged at $300 on-contract, O2's left nary a mention about pricing. With a handful of carriers now firmly under this 4.65-incher's belt, it's time for others to defrost their Ice Cream Sandwich release plans.
Ice Cream Sandwich supports USB game controllers and HDMI, turns your phone into full game console
Take that, Xperia Play. USB gamepads are already supported in Honeycomb, so we had plenty of hope that Android 4.0 -- also lovingly referred to as Ice Cream Sandwich -- would offer the same functionality. We finally have the answer, and it's a resounding yes, courtesy of Google framework engineer Romain Guy's Twitter account. The cool part, though, is that HDMI's playing nice as well. In short, you could hook up an external gamepad to a USB-to-microUSB adapter on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, connect it to your TV and transform your handset into a fancy portable gaming console. It's definitely something we can see developers flock towards, and we'll expect some cool stuff to come out of it. Just in case you thought the Nexus wouldn't let you get anything else done around the house already, this pretty much seals the deal. Move below the break to see a screenshot from the SDK.
Galaxy Nexus, HTC Rezound (still) bound for Verizon on November 10th, Droid RAZR bumped to October?
Three's the magic number, and the third time is the charm so, this triple confirmation of release date gossip's got us thinking an Android avalanche is on its Big Red way. We've seen November 10th bandied about as the day Google's Ice Cream Sandwich flagship Galaxy Nexus and HTC's awkwardly monikered Rezound would hit Verizon's shelves. Now, this latest leak over on Android Central appears to set that date in stone and give us potential $299 on contract pricing for both handsets. Alas, eager beavers hoping to get their hands on Motorola's just unveiled Droid RAZR are in luck, as this chart outs an earlier October 27th date for the device. These launch windows could easily slip and slide further into the end of year, so take all this talk with the usual dose of skep. At least we now have the consolation prize of knowing a vanilla Android experience is officially headed back to VZW's chunk of radio waves.
Verizon (finally) confirms it will have the Galaxy Nexus
After a few leaks and false starts, Verizon has finally made its plans to offer the Galaxy Nexus "later this year" official. That's really the only detail revealed, as its price, release date and availability on other carriers are still unknown. Check out the press release after the break if you need any more confirmation.
The Galaxy Nexus' Super AMOLED display is a minus, not a Plus
For all the buzz around Samsung's latest hi-def smartphone, the absence of one little word has largely been glossed over. That word is "Plus" -- the wizened Galaxy S II has a "Super AMOLED Plus" display, for example, whereas the sparkly Galaxy Nexus is merely "Super AMOLED." Did the marketeers simply forget those extra hyperbolic keystrokes, or does the difference actually mean something?Well, regrettably, it does. Samsung uses "Plus" to refer to full RGB displays, in which each pixel possesses its own trio of red, green and blue sub-pixels. Meanwhile, a non-Plus display uses a cheaper PenTile system -- which forces pixels to share each other's sub-pixels. Aside from potential hygiene issues, this results in a lower overall sub-pixel density, reduced sharpness and worse color rendition. We saw the difference clearly enough when Engadget Spanish microscopically compared the original non-Plus Galaxy S against the GS II, and now the folks at FlatPanelsHD have undertaken a more up-to-date comparison at the source link. The upshot? They calculated that, despite its 4.65-inch screen size, the Galaxy Nexus has the same number of sub-pixels as the 3.5-inch iPhone 4/4S. Think of a word with no r, g or b in it, and you eventually arrive at "disappointed."Update: We just added AnandTech's analysis at the More Coverage link. They point out that if you like the pixel density on the GS II, you should be happy with that on the Galaxy Nexus -- although they don't address color rendition.[Thanks, Mauro]
Galaxy Nexus barometer explained, Sam Champion not out of a job
Google's Galaxy Nexus may be a lot of things: the fourth-coming of Android, an HD Super AMOLED showcase and iPhone 4S competitor. But weather forecaster? Alright, so it won't give you hourly atmospheric updates with an air swipe, but the built-in barometer that's got so many of us scratching our heads has a much different purpose. Android engineer Dan Morrill took to the social pages of Google+ to clarify the confusion. Turns out, Sammy added the barometer to help the device more rapidly acquire a GPS lock by delivering altitude coordinates to the required latitude and longitude GPS equation. Morrill goes on to note that the original Xoom also packed a similar feature, so if anything, this Nexus is simply following that Moto tab's lead. Next quandary Morrill needs to solve? Why, that would be the omission of carrier release dates.
Behind the glass: a detailed tour inside the Samsung Galaxy Nexus
By now, the specs on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus are already publicly known, but what other magic is hiding within all the wires and circuitry? To find out, we've enlisted the help of developer Francois Simond (SuperCurio) to break down as many of the inner components of the Android 4.0-loaded device as possible. And while there isn't anything particularly earth-shattering revealed here, we at least have a better idea of the kind of wizardry taking place underneath that bedazzling HD display. Read on with us to learn all of the deliciously nerdy details.
Galaxy Nexus, Ice Cream Sandwich roundup: specs, details and insight, oh my!
Couldn't stay awake for Samsung and Google's Ice Cream Sandwich event? Fear not, because we were there, documenting and analyzing every second of it on the internet. You can either re-live the magic at our Homeric liveblog, or check out the links below to get educated and up to speed. Galaxy Nexus Samsung's Galaxy Nexus gets official: Android 4.0, 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display (video) Samsung's Galaxy Nexus launches in November on NTT Docomo, Verizon, and more Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. Droid RAZR by Motorola: the tale of the tape Samsung Galaxy Nexus with Ice Cream Sandwich hands-on (video) Google confirms Nexus S will get Ice Cream Sandwich -- for real this time (Gingerbread devices, too) Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. Galaxy S II, Nexus One and Nexus S (macro hands-on) Samsung Galaxy Nexus camera and 1080p video samples Samsung: the LTE version of the Galaxy Nexus will be 'a little' thicker Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich now official, includes revamped design, enhancements galore Roboto font and the new design philosophy of Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich Android Ice Cream Sandwich adds Face Unlock feature Ice Cream Sandwich revamps Android camera and gallery features Google announces NFC-based Android Beam for sharing between phones (video) Google Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0): a hands-on screenshot gallery HTC: We're reviewing Ice Cream Sandwich and determining our plans Ice Cream Sandwich face unlock demo (video) Android Beam takes us to the future of close-proximity data exchange (video) Google's 'very close' to launching a digital download store with 'a little twist'
Samsung: the LTE version of the Galaxy Nexus will be 'a little' thicker
We got it straight from the horse's mouth here at Samsung and Google's Galaxy Nexus launch event that the future LTE edition of the Galaxy Nexus will indeed be thicker than the HSPA+ model showcased today (and above). How much thicker? "A little," according to a company representative, but he wouldn't go so far as to talk millimeters. When asked if the additional size was there to hold the LTE package or just a larger battery, he also failed to elaborate. We'd be shocked if the LTE variant doesn't pack at least a bit more juice -- we've covered the damage that LTE does to a battery in great detail here -- but frankly, we'd rather have something a wee bit thicker than a phone that dies after four hours of use.
Samsung Galaxy Nexus camera and 1080p video samples
Wondering what the 5 megapixel sensor within the Galaxy Nexus is capable of? So were we. We didn't have a huge variety of subjects to photograph here in our meeting room, but we ran about and captured as many as we could just for a quick comparison. As promised, snapping multiple pictures in a row was a cinch, with the camera taking just a fraction of a second before being ready to shoot again. In fact, we couldn't even tap the screen fast enough to find its limit. We have to say, though -- the built-in "Edit" menu could stand to be stronger. The "effects" were thoroughly underwhelming, and Instagram addicts will find plenty to laugh about. The cropping and twisting, however, is appreciated. Have a look at a rough-and-dirty comparison between the Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus S in the galleries below (as well as a few panorama samples), and find a one minute 1080p sample video from the former just after the break. %Gallery-136952% %Gallery-136951%
Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. Galaxy S II, Nexus One and Nexus S (macro hands-on)
Guess who posed for a family gathering here in Hong Kong? From left to right, we've got the Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S II, Nexus One and Nexus S. The panels on all of these guys are stunning, but we're finding it mighty difficult to choose a favorite between the Galaxy Nexus and the GSII. Have a look at some close-ups in the gallery below, and a typical home video just after the break. %Gallery-136939%
Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. Droid RAZR by Motorola: the tale of the tape
Well folks, the wait is over. Now you can push the rumors, early introductions and other pre-announcement ramblings aside and focus on the real matter at hand: which of these shiny new handsets will you buy? Will it be the Galaxy Nexus or the Droid RAZR? Let us offer some insight into the matter as we dive head-first into the specs below.
Verizon looking at November 10th launch for Galaxy Nexus, Droid RAZR and HTC Rezound?
Could it be that a trio of LTE-powered Superfriends are ready for a throwdown on the same exact day at your local Verizon outlet? According to a leaked internal doc courtesy of Droid-Life, signs point to November 10th as a probable launch date for what could be this year's top three holiday gadget gifts: the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Motorola Droid RAZR and HTC Rezound (formerly known as the Vigor). We're a tad confused, however, because Motorola's hero device is referred to as the Droid HD -- which, as we've recently discovered, is certainly not the phone's real name. Also interesting to note is the introduction of a "SMS Sync for Tablets" feature on November 13th, which may refer to some type of cloud backup service or a bridge between your tablet and phone. Either way, color us intrigued. Let's cross our fingers that we'll have a few more details to lean on tonight.
