Galaxy Nexus

PhanDroid wrote an interesting report this evening, claiming the roll out of the Sprint Galaxy Nexus might be a reality and that it could be coming soon. The information comes from several Sprint customer representatives (seen after the break) who confirm that the Galaxy Nexus can be activated on the Sprint network and that it was given the green light.

When it comes to the radio bands that the Galaxy Nexus supports (CDMA 800/1900, CDMA2000 1xEV-DO), PhanDroid pointed out how both Verizon and Sprint are supported under the current hardware. Sadly, Sprint would not be able to use the 4G side of things with its WiMAX network, but things could always change for the company. (See: Samsung’s Epic line.)

We gave the Galaxy Nexus a good score during our testing, and reviewed it as the best Android phone on the market. Let us hope the phone will see a few other United States carriers in its day. Current rumors point to a 60-day exclusivity for Verizon, though, if today’s news is true, you can theoretically buy a Verizon GN and take it over to Sprint to be Flashed. Moreover, you can buy an international GSM version that works on both T-Mobile and AT&T’s network.

You might remember the ninja unboxing videos for Nexus devices in the past (here and here), but the video for the Galaxy Nexus is something entirely new. When visiting the ninjaunboxing3 YouTube page, you will be greeted with what appears to be a promotional video for the Galaxy Nexus, but it quickly switches into a classic 8-bit style beat ’em up allowing the viewer to punch and kick through the “Clash of the Nexus Ninjas” game.

The video/game was uploaded by Canadian filmmaker Patrick Boivin and was created by Berzerk Studio, Broniac, Monsieur Monsieur Boivin, and Technologies Lab3.ca. There might be a few surprises, so head over to www.youtube.com/ninjaunboxing and check it out now. You can also download a complimentary, full version of the game on Android from the Market.

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Google staffers, also known as Googlers, claim their free Galaxy Nexus smartphone.

Google knows how to take care of its employees. According to a Google Plus post by Edu Pereda, a software engineer at Google’s Swiss offices, the company is treating each employee with a customized Galaxy Nexus smartphone for Christmas. 9to5Google learned the United States versions are going to be Verizon.

The Next Web’s Matt Brian explained that the search giant teamed with Samsung to outfit the Galaxy Nexus with a customized back cover depicting many Google Plus and Android icons (see the image below). Hardware specifications remain unchanged, though.

Apparently Google’s London and Zurich operations were both confirmed to have handed out free devices to employees, requiring staff to line up and claim the handsets, as shown in the above photograph.

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After all the wait, we’ve finally gotten definitive word from Verizon: The LTE Galaxy Nexus, which will be the first ICS phone sold in the US, will go on sale tomorrow for $299 with a two year service plan from Verizon.

Furthermore, the hold up was in fact the 4.0.2 update which we told you about hours ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdD8s0jFJYo&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

Full press release follows:
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Verizon hasn’t been saying much about the release date of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. There seems like there has been too many rumored dates to count, and as time ticks by we’re starting to think the Galaxy Nexus launch in the US is going to happen next year — but luckily that’s not the case. In an official statement, Verizon confirmed with Android and Me that the Galaxy Nexus is still on track to launch this year.

The Galaxy Nexus is still on track to launch this year. We will definitely send a press release to announce availability. Feel free to visit www.verizonwireless.com/galaxynexus to sign up for email alerts to be one of the first to know.

Also adding more fuel to the fire, a mysterious package from Verizon is on the way to our reviewer and will arrive Friday. They won’t say what it is, but you obviously know what we’re hoping for. We’ll keep you posted on the latest.

Previously available on Amazon and a few other retailers, Samsung has made the Galaxy Nexus available on NewEgg for $700. Don’t get your hopes up however, this isn’t the Verizon Wireless version — rather the GSM version that works with a T-mobile or AT&T SIM card. NewEgg’s price cuts Amazon’s by more than $50.

We know the Galaxy Nexus will be launching in the US in the coming weeks exclusively on Verizon, and it’s not clear which carrier will get it (if ever) after Verizon. If you’re not ready to switch to Verizon and want the Galaxy Nexus — here’s your chance.

European readers, how are you liking ICS?

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The folks over at iFixit have torn-down the Galaxy Nexus, per usual, exposing what’s underneath. While they didn’t find anything we didn’t already know in terms of hardware, the team found that it’s fairly easy to get into the device — unlike the Droid RAZR — requiring only a few screws and a guitar pick. For replacing the 1750mAh battery users shouldn’t have any problem. The iFixit team does worn however that the screen is fairly hard to replace. They’re still working to identify a few power amplifiers and motion processing units , but we’ll let you know when iFixit finds them.

Don’t forget, we’re still waiting on the launch of the Galaxy Nexus in the United States. The Ice Cream Sandwich device has been available in the U.K. for a little over two weeks now, and has seen positive reviews. It shouldn’t be too long until we see Verizon’s LTE in the mix. iFixit gave the device a 6/10 on the repairability scale:

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Repairability Score: 6 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair).

• Battery replacement is incredibly simple thanks to the removable rear panel.
• Minimal adhesive makes removal of the motherboard and other components a snap.
• Headphone jack and speaker assembly are not soldered to the motherboard, so replacement is easy.
• The only soldered components are the volume switch and vibrator motor.
• Removing the rear case to access the motherboard and other internals requires a lotof careful prying and guitar-picking.
• The glass is fused to both the display and the display frame. So don’t crack the glass unless you’re good with a heat gun, or you’re fond of replacing the glass, display, and frame together ($$$).

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Two months ago, Adobe unveiled Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 for Android devices. As you know, the company changed its mind and said recently it will halt Flash development on mobile after Ice Cream Sandwich. Even though they pledged to continuously support mobile platforms with critical bugs and security flaws, users have gotten confused as to whether or not Adobe will release Flash Player 11.1 and AIR 3.1 for the Galaxy Nexus devices.

The company took to the official blog to explain that some support is in fact in the cards:

We will provide a minor update to the runtimes to support the Galaxy Nexus in December.

However, Adobe reminded users that it’s always been phone vendors’ and carriers’ responsibility to deploy Flash and AIR updates to their customers:

To be clear, the Galaxy Nexus does not initially support Adobe Flash Player 11.1 and AIR 3.1. As we previously communicated in a blog post, devices and software updates from our partners which introduce new technologies are being developed on varied schedules that are different from our own, which means that the Adobe runtimes may not always be optimized or supported on devices until a subsequent release.

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An issue with the volume control on the Galaxy Nexus handset spontaneously going to zero plaguing some UK users have been addressed and fixed, Google said in an official statement to The Verge:

We are aware of the volume issue and have developed a fix. We will update devices as soon as possible.

This is good news for owners who feared the volume bug was actually a hardware flaw with the device whereas it was actually a software thing. Google will likely squash this bug with a next point Ice Cream Sandwich update delivered over the air. A video clip, included below, outlines the bug which manifests itself as another phone is put near a Galaxy Nexus device, causing it to cycle through the menu in bootloader mode, activated by the volume rocker.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/?v=y_mO_K7OYR0]

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The Galaxy Nexus hit Europe last week and has even been reviewed, but believe it or not Verizon — the official carrier — has yet to announce an official date. Well apparently, Business Insider has said this evening that they’ve gotten official word from Verizon that the Galaxy Nexus is landing in December. Google originally made comment that the Galaxy Nexus would land sometime in November, but with only around a week left and with no official announcement from Verizon, November is running out. December seems most likely, and previous rumors are saying December 8th.

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Steve Wozniak, one of the confounders at Apple, is one of the first customers in the United States to get their hands on the Galaxy Nexus. The Galaxy Nexus already landed in the UK this week and is launching on Verizon’s LTE network sometime in the next few weeks. Interestingly, Google engineer Kirill Grouchnikov has posted pictures of Woz — a self proclaimed Android fan — posing with the Android team receiving his Galaxy Nexus. All it took was a tweet by Woz saying he was looking for a Galaxy Nexus at Best Buy. He sure looks eager to get home and try it out! Check out another image after the break. (via TechCrunch)

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The first Ice Cream Sandwich handset, the Galaxy Nexus, hit the UK this week (US launch coming soon) and AnandTech has benchmarked the ICS/Galaxy Nexus combo vs. the iPhone 4S/iOS 5 combo.  The Galaxy Nexus processor/GPU isn’t groundbreaking by any means, but the new software inside is certainly packing a punch beating iOS in a few key areas. As seen in the graph to the right, the Galaxy Nexus has a slightly faster tested browser than the iPhone 4S — a crucial day-to-day necessity for users.

The Galaxy Nexus also comes up with the win in JavaScript loading, bringing faster load times than the Droid RAZR and iPhone 4S. Don’t think the Galaxy Nexus is going to come away with everything, however. Both Apple’s iPhone 4S and iPad 2 outperform the Galaxy Nexus in GPU loading — which is limited by its slower SGX 540 underneath.  That’s an important consideration for gaming.

The Galaxy Nexus’s hardware has been dubbed very smooth compared to older versions of Android. Google is activating 550,000 Android devices a day and is still behind iOS in total Activations at 200 million total.   Head after the break for more graphs.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K4HImSqR1k&start=850]

Following a lengthy interview in October where he gave us insight into the future of Android and Google’s view on iOS and Windows, Android’s head of user experience Matias Duarte sat down with The Verge to discuss his work on Android and more specifically, Ice Cream Sandwich. During the interview Duarte elaborated on his competitor’s design choices, where he says iOS looks cartoonish and explains if it were “put on a website or magazine, you’d laugh at it, it would look childish”. Host Joshua Topolsky also calls him out for saying Windows Phone looks like “bathroom signage in an airport”, to which he didn’t comment.

Matias gave a few demos using a Galaxy Nexus, including one of live video chat effects like blurs and warps that alter your face in real-time. He also explained his view on photography features calling traditional features of point and shoot cameras such as white balance “crap”, saying “if it’s not immediately obvious, it’s something the machine should be taking care of for you”.

Duarte also defended Google’s choice to create the new Roboto font for ICS, which he also recently explained in a blog post, as well as addressed the controversy of ICS’s Face Unlock feature (which was recently tricked using a photo).

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PhanDroid has posted the side-by-side chart above to compare Verizon’s three new Android offerings: the Motorola Droid RAZR, HTC Rezound, and Samsung Galaxy Nexus. As you can see, all three phones are almost dead alike when it comes to specs. The Galaxy Nexus boasts a slightly bigger screen than the Rezound or RAZR, while the Rezound has the speed in-lock with its 1.5 GHz dual core processor. Ugh, the decision is just so hard..

The Galaxy Nexus is lacking when it comes to camera, having a 5-megapixel camera while the other two have 8-megapixel cameras. All three phones do pack Verizon Wireless’s blazing 4G LTE, so network speed won’t make a difference. So which device is for you?

The question is really up in the air right now. We’re currently playing with the RAZR (which lands tomorrow) and Rezound, and will be getting the Galaxy Nexus soon. You can expect our reviews of all three to be up in the coming weeks. At any rate, it really looks like Verizon is dominating as a carrier right now. The carrier is boasting all three of the cutting edge Android phones, along with the iPhone 4S. You definitely know where to shop this holiday.

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Verizon has about the sickest lineup of phones we’ve ever seen for the holidays. While it is carrying the iPhone like almost everyone else, it has not one, not two, but three *incredible* flagship Android devices that are all incredible in their own way. We’ve already seen the Droid RAZR and we just got a close look at the Droid Rezound. We know, and Verizon verifies above, that the buttonless Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be showing up before the holidays.

We talked to Verizon at the Rezound event and they told us there wouldn’t be an event for the Galaxy Nexus, at least from Verizon. They said Google would he handing them out to reviewers shortly. From the paperwork above, it looks like Verizon will be the only carrier doling out Nexi for the holidays with the others following in the new year.  The new Android comparison matrix below (via TheDroidGuy):

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The Galaxy Nexus could launch the week after Black Friday if a timeline leaked by Droid Life stands to be true. Our first look at Ice Cream Sandwich will reportedly launch with Samsung’s Holiday Portfolio after Black Friday, which is the busiest shopping day of the year. Samsung’s Holiday Portfolio most likely includes the Galaxy S II and various other devices.

Verizon’s holiday lineup is sure to be packed with Samsung’s offerings and Motorola’s new Droid RAZR and Motorola’s portfolio. Oh yeah, there’s the iPhone 4S too!

Slashgear did just that.  All of a sudden the 4.65 inch display of the Galaxy Nexus looks very svelte compared to the otherwise gargantuan 5.3 inch Galaxy Note.  The Note coes on sale in Europe next week while the Nexus hits on November 17th.

As for us in the States, we’re expecting an announcement shortly on both.

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Matt Cutts has been using ICS on his Nexus S for awhile and recently used the panoramic photo feature to take these pictures.

Now that Ice Cream Sandwich (the newest version of Android) has been revealed, I can tell you that I’ve been testing ICS on my Nexus S.

One feature I love is the panorama mode. I recently did a multi-day hike in Yosemite, and here are a couple panoramic pictures I took with my Nexus S. I can’t wait for the Galaxy Nexus to come out.

I guess it goes without saying that Android 4.0 will work on older Android phones – with buttons- though it isn’t exactly clear how that will work or which phones will make the cut.
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Today, we have found a few pictures taken by the upcoming Galaxy Nexus on Picasa. We’ve matched the EXIF data of both images with each other, and then with past leaks which seem to indicate that this is the Galaxy Nexus. The Galaxy Nexus’ camera has a resolution of 1944×2592 pixels, and matches the photos leaked a couple weeks ago of an Apple Store. Note, that the EXIF data of both images called this device the Galaxy Nexus, not the Nexus Prime.

The first image, as seen after the break, was posted by Picasa user Sammy Fte (Samsung FTE?). The EXIF data of the image matched perfectly and actually looks like a nice picture if you ask us. The resolution was only 1944×2595, only sizing in at about 5MP, a low megapixel camera in comparison to the 8MP camera seen in Samsung’s Galaxy S II and there may be a reason for this. A previous photo found with Galaxy Nexus EXIF data on Picasa had the same 5MP quality and it led us to believe that the camera is the same.  We believe that this certain Picasa user is an employee of Samsung thanks to the name and other photos posted on the account.

As you can see after the break..

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We’re but a day away from Google’s and Samsung’s major Hong Kong event meant to serve as a launchpad for the Nexus Prime, the first handset to feature Android 4.0 nicknamed Ice Cream Sandwich. Guardian reports that the handset is “expected to be released in the UK within the next four weeks, in time for Christmas”, without naming a source for their claim. Meanwhile, Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo wrote on Twitter that the Nexus Prime will land in Japan around November, boasting about it being “among the fastest” devices on the market.

An unlocked version of the phone is already showing up at third-party resellers, priced at about $750. The features allegedly include a powerful 1.2GHz dual-core processor, native 720p display, eight-megapixel camera on the back with 1080p video capture, support for NFC and more.

Google pushed back the Nexus Prime launch originally scheduled for Monday last week out of respect for Steve Jobs. Coincidentally, the new October 19 date collides with a celebration of Steve Jobs’ life due tomorrow in the outdoor amphitheater of Apple’s Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino. Apple will even close its brick-and-mortar stores for an hour so employees can watch the ceremony.

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