Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Launched!

[dgstorm]

The Samsung/Google live! marketing event was just held in Hong Kong, and we were blown away by the presentation. Samsung and Google have been working closely with each other on this technology and it is designed to take Android to a whole new level.

Be sure to check out our dedicated sister-site, @ GalaxyNexusForum.com!

Here is the full breakdown of The Samsung Galaxy Nexus flagship superphone: Launching in November - US, Europe, & Asia (including Japan and China)

• LTE or HSPA+ - So it will work with several carriers - NOT NECESSARILY VERIZON EXCLUSIVE!
• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
• 4.65 Inch HD Super AMOLED Screen - 1290 x 720 Resolution (Native Resolution of ICS) - Fast Response time
• Ergonomic curved contour case
• 8.90mm thin with a 4.29mm bezel
• Hyperskin Textured back
• Buttonless Design
• Zero Shutterlag Camera - Low-Light Shooting
• Full HD Video
• Barometer
• NFC - Google Wallet and other data sharing

Here is the full description of Android 4.0/ Ice Cream Sandwich:

• Roboto - Font and Graphic Design Theme
• New Live Wallpapers
• Buttons Part of the Android SW UI - Virtual & animated and Hide when not needed
• HomeScreen - Gesture based navigating with Scrolling and Stax - Easy to find
• You can pick up, move and resize Widgets
• Folders - Can Move and combine them - Can make speed-dial shortcuts
• Can customize Favorites Tray at bottom
• Recent Apps Icon - with big thumbnails - Customize and remove apps from your lists (flick gesture to throw away what you don't need)
• Power and Volume Down to Do Screen Caps
• Notification System - Improved, Faster - Peek in Notifications from LockScreen
• Music Player notification while in other apps
• Text Input - Keyboard Improved - improved error correction and in-line spellchecker - Drag-able selectable text
• Talk to Type Feature - Faster and button free
• Face Unlock - Facial Recognition Security Locking
• Improved Browser - Tabbed Browsing - Request Desktop version and Bookmarks (Will synch with Chrome from your laptop) Incognito Browsing
• Gmail Improved - Action Bar at Bottom - Select Multiple messages - Swipe/flick gesture through inbox - Offline Search
• Calendar App - Extra Readable - Same Flick Gesture movements - Pinch to Zoom
• Better and More transparent Data Controls - Data Usage Charts - Projected Usage - Can use it To Give you Warnings - Can set Auto cutoff limit - Can track which apps use the most data
• Photos - Easier and more powerful Gallery App - Drag Lock Screen to left and goes instantly to camera - Can share pics within the open sharing APIs - Super-fast internet uploading - Instant zero-shudder lag pics - quick easy touch-ups and filters - easier to organize photos - Panorama shots - Instant Upload with Google+
• Improved HD Video Software - Continuous Focus Zoom while recording - Timelapse video
• People App - Evolution of Contacts - Personal "Me" Profile - Contacts in Magazine Style UI - Updates to as many online services as you want for each social network contact - Live window into your social world - Quick Contacts = Contact cards for your contacts - Can add people directly to your homescreen - Speed up or slow down voice messages - can create pre-canned messages = called quick response
• NFC - Android Beam - share any contact or content between NFC Android devices - music, Googlemaps, articles, websites, games, multi-player gaming, etc...

The SDK will be available for ICS immediately, so developers can run with the ball. The event lasted a full hour and really showcased the amazing qualities of the hardware and software. One of the things that was most impressive was that the camera on the Galaxy Nexus was only a 5MP but looked better than many 8MP cameras. The software was the reason for this, and really is where this device and Android will shine brightly! Share your thoughts guys!

Here's a link to Google's Android 4.0 ICS Developer's Site for more details: Android 4.0 Platform Highlights | Android Developers