Samsung Galaxy Nexus official with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

The day is finally here, and we can put months and months of rumors to rest. In a joint event in Hong Kong late Tuesday night / early Wednesday morning Google and Samsung will announce the Galaxy Nexus, the next Android developer phone and the very first device to run Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich”. We can confirm the specifications and details early.

First, the hardware. As rumored, the Galaxy Nexus is sporting a huge 4.65-inch screen, the extra space covering the new virtual navigation buttons. The screen is a truly impressive 1280 x 720, and even better, it’s a Super AMOLED panel, sure to please just about everybody who’s had experience with lower-resolution versions on previous Samsung hardware. The high res and small size (at least in relation to similar computer and tablet screens) gives the phone a dots per inch value of 316. The screen’s tempered glass curves in slightly, just like the Nexus S.

On the inside you’ll find a dual-core 1.2 GHz TI OMAP4460 processor with a full gigabyte of memory for Ice Cream Sandwich to fly on. 16 or 32 gigabytes of on-board storage is included in two different versions, which is high but not unprecedented for an Android phone. Electrical contacts on the side will allow drop-in docks to easily charge the phone.
Multiple versions of the Galaxy Nexus will be made available for various territories and carriers, and will come in GSM HSPA+ and LTE versions as well as CDMA LTE. The HSPA+ version is just 8.94mm thin, though the LTE versions will be larger, which is still enough to fit in a sizable 1750 mAh battery. A 5 megapixel camera will record video at 1080p, while the front-facing camera is 1.3 megapixels. Samsung has also included a first-in-class barometer sensor. The back is covered in no-slip material to keep the skinny device in your hand.

Of course, the physical aspects of the Galaxy Nexus are only half the story. As the first Ice Cream Sandwich phone it’ll be a preview of capabilities to come for the next year or more of Android phones, and, of course, tablets. Android 4.0 unites the development of Gingerbread and Honeycomb on a single software platform, allowing apps and the OS itself to adapt to different screen sizes and resolutions. Apps will expand or contract depending upon the hardware they’re running on, and Android itself will present different user interfaces for different hardware – in the case of the Galaxy Nexus, it’s in “smartphone mode”, whereas on a larger device it will resemble Honeycomb.
New user interface enhancements include a completely redesigned lockscreen and homescreen. The new people widget and notifications will be a big hit, but not as much as the swipe-to-close task manager integrated into the main menu bar, not unlike swiping cards in WebOS. The browser will open a desktop version of websites at the touch of a button, and Chrome bookmarks will sync automatically. Core android apps like Gmail are seeing some major UI overhauls, taking advntage of the HD screen with the custom Roboto font.
Some new features for Android include “Android Beam”, which allows you to “bump” NFC-enabled phones to share contact info or media. The Galaxy Nexus will use its front-facing camera and facial recognition to automatically unlock the phone for its user, and a new People app integrates your Google+ friends to help you find them. Google mentions a new Movie Studio app with background replacement. Google is adding a data usage section to the main settings, allowing you to see your current usage and a projected future level. Android will warn you about your data usage with specified limits and even cut you off at a predetermined limit if you want.
The camera app is being updated with a direct link on the lockscreen. After taking a photo a single tap can submit the photo to any app that uses Android’s sharing API. An easy zoom feature and tap-to-focus compliment a facial recognition auto-focus. Google says that the shutter is instant, making for extremely quick photo shooting. Contacts has been updated into “People,” complete with another magazine-style layout. Details for you and your contacts have a new UI that links to other apps like Twitter and Google+.
Photo editing is included in Ice Cream Sandwich, with the basic filters, crops and other tools we saw earlier. The editor is part of the gallery app, which has also been updated with a magazine style layout. It automatically organizes your photos via facial recognition or geotags. A panorama assist mode helps you create stitched photos easily. Android’s built-in video app is getting a makeover as well. IT can zoom while focusing, has automatic focus, and allows for complete manual white balance control on the 1080p recording.
The Galaxy Nexus will be available in November in the United States, and NTT DoCoMo will release it in the same month in Japan. Eventually the phone will be available worldwide.

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Motorola MotoACTV hands-on [Video]

The new DROID RAZR wasn’t the only device Motorola had in store for us today, they also announced a new Android device called MOTOACTV. This is basically a smart watch powered by Android like we’ve seen in the past. Taking on Nike+ and even the iPod Nano will this be a success for Motorola? We don’t know yet but check out our hands on pictures and video after the break.

Running on Android with a 600 Mhz processor and weighing only 35 grams the ACTV sounds pretty impressive. Would you wear one? It may be lightweight, water and dust-proof but it’s a little bulky for a watch. I’d love to mount one to my Trek EX8 mountain bike just as they’ve done at the Motorola event. It pairs with your Motorola phone or RAZR and will send and receive alerts, notifications as well as function as a full out media player with wireless bluetooth headphones.

The MotoACTV features GPS for location tracking, and the Bluetooth headsets even can take your heart rate. Then calories and miles ran, walked, or cycled can all be uploaded wirelessly right to MOTOACTV.com for real time stats and tracking both during and after your workout. Pair all of this with 8 or 16GB versions that will be a fully functioning media player this might actually be the perfect solution for some.
From our hands-on video below you can see the screen is bright and responsive, the UI looks decent and runs well on the smaller display and is controlled obviously by touch. We’ll have to try it outside to see how the display handles sunlight — especially if mounted on a bike like we saw above. For now check out the video demo:
MotoACTV hands-on video demo


RAZR and MotoACTV demo by Sanjay Jha


The device will pair with your smartphone and stream music, or you can use the internal storage to upload as much as it’ll hold. We don’t know anything else extremely specific about internal specs other than the 600 Mhz processor. MotoACTV all around looks pretty great and I could see myself using one, but the price has me a bit worried. Coming in at $249 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB variant the pricing is too high and is quite a bit for a watch/remote although it does function as a decent 16GB media player. Until we get more hands-on time we’ll reserve our judgement. Feel free to look over all the photos in the gallery below.

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Archos G9 tablets receiving another firmware update

The recently released Archos G9 tablets have only been on the market a short period and they are already receiving a few firmware updates from Archos. It’s nice to see them working so quickly to bring updates to their tablets and we can only hope the same applies for Ice Cream Sandwich. The Archos 80 G9 went on sale last month and received its first OTA firmware update early this month. Today Archos informed us another just 14 days later is available now for download.

Earlier in the month the update brought tons of new features such as native Google Talk with video chat and some improved memory management, it also fixed a few issues and bugs some early adopters were having. Today the update takes the Archos G9 series 80 and 101 tablets from firmware 3.2.46 to the latest version 3.2.56 and is available right now by checking for updates on your device. Archos said to just hit yes and enjoy the latest update, according to their Twitter and Facebook pages.
The new firmware improvements and features are:
– Further improved memory management
– Additional user agents available in browser settings
– Faster wifi reconnect after sleep/disconnect
– As well as many minor fixes and improvements
The big one here is the memory management. While we have a dual-core 1.0 GHz OMAP 4 processor on the Archos, we sadly only have 512MB of RAM and for that they’ve enhanced the memory management to keep things running smoothly. They’ve included their own application task killer, something I’ve not used since my G1 and claim that should help performance but on a dual-core tablet we shouldn’t have to use those anyways. We’ll take all the memory management and improvements we can get at this point. They also mention the low battery warning wont be so obnoxious and intrusive.
As usual you can manually go to settings > about tablet > check for updates to get the new firmware rolling — as well as manually download and update right from Archos.com and a full list of the change-log can be found by clicking here. Feel free to leave us any comments below regarding your experience with the new firmware. Enjoy!

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Ice Cream Sandwich new features not mentioned during webcast

So we all know the Galaxy Nexus and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich are now official, but there are probably a few things that the Google and Samsung event didn’t cover. I’m sure many of you watched the event live from YouTube.com/Android and if you didn’t the links above have all our coverage. We’ve spotted a few awesome features not covered during the event and all the details can be found after the break.

Thanks to Dan Morrill over on Google+ we have an awesome list of some amazing new features for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich that were not mentioned by Google or Samsung during the event tonight. First we now can hide applications that we wont use — yes I mean all those pointless bloatware applications. In 4.0 ICS Android has introduced a feature called “disable apps”. We will have an option natively on any ICS device to completely disable and hide applications we don’t need or want. They wont be removed, but will be hidden, and will not use any resources. The application can be hidden or shown, once hidden will be gone from the application tray. So basically out of sight and out of mind, but still on the phone in case you ever need it.
The download manager that was introduced with Android 2.3 Gingerbread has received an overhaul too, it features a new and simple user interface that is easier to understand. Downloads can quickly be viewed, cleared, or deleted right from the new download manager in ICS. Then he also mentioned a few things we did see from the Google event, such as all the settings menu’s being completely different and the revamped camera interface and controls. Google has put forth tons of effort in these areas and users will love the new changes and look. Dan then mentions all sorts of changes to the security and encryption. Honeycomb added full-device encryption, but ICS brings it to phones. There is also a slew of changes, enhancements and new audio effects that will all be available from the all new audio API.
I’m sure we will hear plenty more regarding Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and all the new features over the next few days so don’t forget to check in often and see whats new at Android Community. Again all the latest news can be found on our Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich portals.
[via Google+]

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus official hands-on [Video]

Whew, the wait is over and the next superphone from Google is finally here and it indeed is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus running on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The event is finally starting to wrap up in Hong Kong but don’t worry, we have hands-on pictures and video with the new Galaxy Nexus so check it all out after the break.

Hopefully you all watched live as Google and Samsung unveiled the new device, and if you did you’re probably drooling from the mouth as am I. Now I’m sure a few will still want to see a list of specifications so just to be nice I have the full list for everyone to check out. This thing has an amazing 4.65″ Super AMOLED HD display with a 1280 x 720 resolution and will look incredible, then a blazing fast 1.2 GHz dual-core processor to speed things along. Check out the list:

-Android 4.0 Ice Cream
-4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED Screen with a 1280 x 720p resolution
-1.2GHz dual-core processor
-Redesigned UI in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
-Improved multi-tasking, notifications, Wi-Fi hotspot, NF support, full web browsing
-Android 4.0 features Software Navigation buttons
-People App with Google+ and social network integration
-Redesigned camera with panorama mode, 1080p video, zero-shutter lag, new faces and background replacement features
-Face Unlock: Facial recognition to unlock your phone
-Android Beam uses NFC to easily share all content with other Android users by tapping the phones together
-Pure Google Experience Device
-8.94mm thick, 4.29mm bezel
-LTE and HSPA+ connectivity for a wide carrier launch
-Available in USA, Europe, and Asia beginning in November on multiple carriers

I’ll skip all those little things as we’ve known the specs and information for a while now, and instead get right into the good stuff — hands-on pictures and video.
[VIDEO PROCESSING]
Google really has reinvented the wheel here with Ice Cream Sandwich. Everything is extremely polished, simple, user friendly and just gorgeous. From the new application launcher tray, widget selector, People app with HD tiles of all the important people in your phone and more. They’ve really stepped it up a notch and iOS5 should be afraid, very afraid. As far as size is concerned, with no dedicated capacitive buttons the larger screen fills that space and doesn’t make the device actually larger. What we have is an average sized smartphone that will feel very similar in size and nothing out of the ordinary, yet have that brilliant 4.65″ display.


While this is still Android and something we completely understand. Everything is newer, prettier, re-sizable and HD. Everything is HD from pictures of friends and contacts, tiles and more, nothing looks average and the entire device is as crisp and clear as possible. Google is moving away from the long-press to do things on a touchscreen and will make as many things as possible be done via swipe gestures instead. While many things will remain the same, plenty has changed.
Galaxy Nexus hands-on:


We could go on for a long time regarding all the latest changes but instead we’ll just let you check out all the videos and photos and see for yourself.

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First Look: Motorola Droid RAZR for Verizon [VIDEO]

Just when the the Samsung Galaxy Nexus seemed set to steal the Android show, Motorola had to go and announce the Droid RAZR. Sure, the Motorola Droid RAZR doesn’t come with a fresh new install of Ice Sandwich — the soon-to-be-unveiled update to Google’s mobile OS — but with a spec sheet including a 1GHz processor, 4G LTE connectivity, and a battery life of 12 hours (though not removable), there isn’t much to complain about with the new handset. Did I mention it comes in at only 7.1mm thick? I can’t emphasize how ridiculously thin this thing is. Even the trademark bump out housing the camera sensor gets shaved down a few millimeters.

And they still managed to cram in 1GB of RAM, a steel core for durability, and a gorgeous Super AMOLED qHD display. The stylings of this device are just plain beautiful. The tapering glass of the display, a subtly textured back made of woven kevlar, and sharp lines make the RAZR a real treat to behold. The handset is everything you would imagine a marriage of the Droid and RAZR brands would create.

And what about performance? The OS? While it will soon feature an Android version one behind the latest, the improvements Motorola has made to their custom user interface actually offer a rather compelling experience. We now get MotoCast, a solution for syncing your videos, images, and music to the cloud and quickly retrieving information stored on a connected PC. The RAZR will be among the first devices to offer HD Netflix video streaming via the devices HDMI output. The interface is is ultra responsive thanks to the ample processor power and RAM, and when you want to go for a more full-fledged computer experience just pop the device into a multitude of Webtop docks and accessories. The software there has been improved, too.

Droid Bionic owners, I can only say sorry. A couple more months of waiting would have brought you a vastly improved smartphone. While the Droid RAZR might get lost to the announcement of the Galaxy Nexus coming within the next 24 hours (at least for those that follow the tech world as closely as we do), the RAZR will be super appealing to consumers for its ultra slim design, brand recognition, and good looks. Oh, and it performs like a beast as well.

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MotoCast: Motorola’s smartphone streaming solution [Video]

In addition to the DROID RAZR and the MotoACTV, Motorola CEO Sanjay Jah demoed the company’s new MotoCast app and service to the tech world in New York City today. The service is pretty straightforward streaming/remote access software that will be included on the DROID RAZR and probably future Motorola phones as well. Jha demonstrated it downloading music and displaying remote photos from a remote computer while on the wireless network.

The app will be media focused; Motorola’s press release speaks almost exclusively on streaming from your home computer to your phone. Video, photos and documents should work as well. Note that this is remote streaming, not cloud storage – your home computer has to be on in order for you to access the files. At one point during the demonstration, Jha couldn’t connect to the remote computer and was left without a lot to do.The advantage to this is that you won’t need to pay for any extra service, since you’re providing the storage at home and you’re already paying for a wireless connection. The DROID RAZR will include an installer on its on-board storage.
MotoCast video demo


MotoCast is a bit of a tough sell for power users, who have been able to perform similar feats for ages. Services like Dropbox and the Amazon Cloud Player allow access to media and files without having to keep a connection to your home computer. The only read advantage that MotoCast has is that it will be pre-loaded (and non-removable) on future Motorola phones. That alone should get it at least some audience, but we’ll see how many actually use it when the DROID RAZR releases next month.

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Motorola DROID RAZR: Locked bootloader and battery is not removable

 Sadly we can now confirm that the Motorola DROID RAZR will indeed have a locked bootloader.

What makes things even worse, is they’ve opted for a non-removable back and battery. The phone does come with 16GB internal storage and now the micro-SD slot is neatly placed on the side next to the micro-SIM for 4G LTE. So not only will rooting and hacking be extremely tough, but those taking the journey can’t do battery pulls if something goes wrong like many have needed in the past. We have confirmed with multiple Motorola reps here live in NYC that the bootloader will remain locked. I was hoping they’d be changing these policies eventually — but it appears that wont be happening any time soon.

The Motorola DROID RAZR with Verizon 4G LTE is an awesome phone through and through, but I’m still sad to hear that it will be extremely locked down, and now that we learned the battery is too I’m even less excited. This might not be a big deal to many, but for the modding and hacking community this is a big issue and problem and while HTC has fixed it, Motorola shows no signs of change. What does everyone think? Is this a deal breaker or were you planning on getting the Samsung Galaxy Nexus anyways? We’ll have plenty of coverage of that device tonight so stay right here at Android Community for the same great coverage and hands-on.
Update: Motorola has also confirmed the bootloader to be locked over on Twitter, but sadly they blame Verizon.

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Motorola DROID RAZR accessories: Lapdocks, keyboards and more

Motorola unveiled a host of accessories along with its new flagship phone today, at least a few of which should work with other devices. The DROID RAZR is getting the star treatment with a standard assortment of desktop and vehicle docks, plus a few extra goodies that we haven’t seen yet. Probably the most interesting among them is the new Lapdock 500.

The 500 is an expanded model of the equally new Lapdock 100, with a larger 14″ screen and a more spacious keyboard. Though it wasn’t mentioned in the presentation, that should give it plenty of room for a larger battery as well. We don’t know if the new Lapdock 500 will work across different Webtop-enabled smartphones, but it seems likely.
The DROID RAZR will get two separate desktop docks, the HD Station and HD Dock. Both will support Webtop, though exactly how isn’t said – probably with an HDMI port. The Station will also have USB ports for expandability, and of course, both will charge the device via its MicroUSB port. A basic car dock is also in the works.

Interestingly, the DROID RAZR is getting some official external keyboard support via the Wireless Keyboard accessories. Two will be offered, one with an iPad 2 -style trifold cover and one without. It looks like both will have a pull-out trackpad, and they seem to be the same size as the keyboard you’d find on a 10-inch netbook. A gesture controller called the Smart Controller will also be available. All three will probably work with other Motorola devices.
More typical fair includes the Elite Silver Bluetooth headset, a travel charger and an external battery pack to supplement the DROID RAZR’s non-removable 1800 mAh battery. Prices have not been announced for any of the new accessories, but with DROID RAZR pre-orders beginning on October 27th, expect more details soon.

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