Samsung Galaxy Nexus - New contender?

The hype over iPhone 4S should die down and then comes another one. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be launching during Q4 of this year. And what do you know, we are now in the Q4! Since October passes without the any sign of the phone's officially release, lets hope that November or December will be a better prospect. Right now, here's what you need to know:



Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

Yes, Android decides to sweeten things up with this. The Galaxy Nexus will be the first phone with the latest Android on it. Two most distinctive feature from Android 4.0 is Face Unlock and Android Beam.



Firstly is the Face Unlock feature, which is already self-explanatory. Just peer into the front-facing camera, and it will read your face to unlock the phone. This is just one of Google's way to beef up your phone's security. But here's the thing, will this truly work for you or against you? You can't really get it to recognise your face at one try. Remember the Face Unlock failure here? Looks like we have to wait to find out more.

Next is the Android Beam. This feature allows you to share information by just tapping the Galaxy Nexus with another NFC-enabled device. You can expect websites, videos, directions, and apps zapped from one phone to the other. And by reading this, you'll know that the Galaxy Nexus is also an NFC-enabled device. Let's hope that we can make use of Google Wallet in the near future with this.



Other than that, say hello to voice typing. Well, nothing new here because voice to text have been around for quite awhile. This could be the improved version of it. As a Google phone, there will be Google Plus built into the smartphone. And for those widget lovers, you can finally resize your widget to your liking.

Display

This is normally the first thing you noticed in a phone. Coming in at 4.65 inches (1280 x 720 pixels), the Galaxy Nexus is still within the 4-inch range. That's good as it can sit comfortably in your hand without needing to stretch your fingers a little. On a personal note, the most I can take from any phone is a display that is less than 5 inches. Anything more than that will be a drag (hint: Samsung Galaxy Note at 5.3).



Also, it has a HD display meaning you will get a lot of crisp images on your phone. Unlike the Galaxy SII, it uses Super AMOLED display and it still looks great. Sure, it would be nicer with Super AMOLED Plus as there will be great depth in pictures but from the looks of it, the display still presents itself well. Do take note that the larger display could result in lower pixel density meaning that it may not be the sharpest one in the market.

Here's another surprise, you won't get Gorilla Glass with this latest Android phone. You heard it right. But don't worry. Samsung said that it uses a 'fortified glass' and nothing more. Looks like we need to wait again to know for sure the kind of glass they used. The device also boast Contour Display where it curves to the shape of your face. Well, that's what Google said but it is hard to tell without having the phone here with us.

Lights, camera, action!

Here's a bit of a disappointment. The camera on Galaxy Nexus is only 5 megapixels. But let's not forget that MP isn't everything. That's just how big it can be use to print a picture. Despite that, it can take HD pictures so don't worry too much on that department. You can view sample shots from the smartphone through engadget.



With the 1.2 GHz dual-core processor backing it up, taking picture is in a faction of a second. After snapping a picture, the camera will be ready for another action almost immediately. Not to mention, you can quickly access the camera through the lock screen, which is convenient, when you want to take picture immediately.

You can also record Full HD (1020p) thanks to the power of dual-core. As an added bonus, the phone gives you the ability to zoom while video recording. Well, that's about it in the video department.

Other specs



You'll get 1,750mAh battery with Samsung Galaxy Nexus. The reason is because the device could use up a lot more power with its big display.

There will be a 16GB and 32GB version of the phone for you consider. It seems that there is no slot for microSD card, which is too bad. The LTE version will be available depending on region. So that could possibly translate to us getting the 3G version of Galaxy Nexus.

Impression

It looks like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus has the kicks to be a great phone. But let's not forget that it has quite a few worthy rivals like the iPhone 4S and Motorola Droid Razr. Take away Android Ice Cream Sandwich from it and the smartphone is just another higher end ordinary device. Let's hope that the launch of Samsung Galaxy Nexus will propel more phones that will fully utilise the Android 4.0. I'll leave you with the video introducing the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.