{"id":7350,"date":"2012-01-05T14:43:12","date_gmt":"2012-01-05T20:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcitement.com\/?p=7350"},"modified":"2012-01-13T15:23:43","modified_gmt":"2012-01-13T21:23:43","slug":"techcitement-review-will-androids-ice-cream-sandwich-take-the-cake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/hardware\/techcitement-review-will-androids-ice-cream-sandwich-take-the-cake\/","title":{"rendered":"Techcitement Review: Will Android\u2019s Ice Cream Sandwich Take the Cake?"},"content":{"rendered":"

While Techcitement has given a glowing, if quick, review to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus<\/a>, one feature we only touched on is the operating system. Because I\u2019ve been shopping around<\/a> for a new operating system <\/a>ever since HP decided to ditch the phone business, this is a good time to put Android 4.0 a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich through the paces. A caveat: ICS (as Android 4.0 will henceforth be called) is currently only available on the Galaxy Nexus and some lucky Nexus S phones (but not the 4G model we reviewed<\/a>). Because the Galaxy Nexus is impressive hardware, what with the 720p HD screen and all sorts of bells and whistles, we can\u2019t promise that ICS will run like this on all other machines.<\/p>\n

\"\"

I was a little disappointed that it wasn't a Chipwich.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Also, note that Google likes this version of Android so much that they are insisting any maker who wants access to the Android Market<\/a> has to include the default theme of Holo in it. I\u2019m not totally certain how this impacts custom skins like Samsung\u2019s TouchWiz or HTC\u2019s Sense, but it may mean they need to have it somewhere on the device and\/or use the font and color scheme. Google\u00a0 definitely feels strongly about this revision.<\/p>\n

The Good<\/strong>
\nThe appeal of the overall look and feel of ICS isn’t shocking when you realize that Android\u2019s user experience director is Matias Duarte<\/a>. Duarte previously held the role of VP of Human Interface and User Experience at Palm. Essentially, everything I loved about webOS\u2019s look and feel was guided by him. While his hand was first felt on Android\u2019s tablet OS, version 3.0 (Honeycomb), Duarte brought the webOS love to the ICS party.<\/p>\n

Under previous versions, you had to clear everything if you wanted to get rid of a notification. Now, I can swipe away notifications like in webOS. I\u2019m also fond of the instant settings shortcut that appears when I swipe down.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>

No one cares about Teaneck.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Another feature that brings the Pre to mind is the lack of physical buttons on the Galaxy Nexus. Instead, you get three virtual buttons on the bottom. These worked well for me with the exception of in the photo app, where only the central home key worked. This was annoying because I rather like the rightmost virtual button \u2013 the multitasking carousel.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>

You spin me right round, baby, right round<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

First introduced in Android 3.0, the carousel now adds my personal favorite feature — the ability to swipe an app to the left or right to close it. I get that Android manages apps just fine all by itself, but sometimes I just need the visceral pleasure of closing the app myself. Swiping can also be found in the improved browser, where tabs can be swiped away. There are also a bunch of other tweaks in the browser, like saving for offline reading, the ability to request a full desktop version, and other goodies. This is honestly the first revision of Android where I\u2019ve felt comfortable spending prolonged periods in the browser.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Seriously, I had like 12 tabs open when I took this.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"\"\"
\n
\nOne addition that has nothing to do with webOS (but maybe a tiny bit to do with Apple\u2019s iOS) is the method for making folders on any of your home screens. Simply hold down an app and drag it together with another. This is great for saving screen real estate and for sorting your most used apps.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Before this, I had an entire home screen set aside for my Google Apps<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

For those of you on a network that throttles you if you use to much data (i.e., all of the big four other than Sprint), a Data Usage app has been added to the Setting menu. This lets me see, for example, that I\u2019ve already used almost 2 GB of data in two weeks. Which is good to know, because I thought I was doing all that Pandora streaming via my home wireless.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

That's a whole lot of Laurie Berkner (don't judge me).<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Instead of pressing and holding on the main screen to call up an add menu, you now add widgets from the app drawer. It took all of one day to get used to this though, and it makes sense the more I think about it. Also, it\u2019s alleged that the lack of any kind of shutter lag in the camera is software based, not hardware based, and photo happy folks have ICS to thank. I was impressed by this feature, but would need to see it on another phone to confirm the claim.<\/p>\n

I knocked Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread) for not being able to control the music app via the notification area on the home screen, like I can in webOS. This is fixed in ICS. Annoyingly, it only seems to work for the built-in Google Music app, and not Pandora. Still, this is a step in the right direction. As the cherry on top, Google has finally built screenshots into the operating system. This may not matter to the majority of users out there, but it absolutely made my day.<\/p>\n

The Bad<\/strong>
\nGoogle doesn’t get my love for changing the app menu so it now goes side to side instead of scrolling down. I far prefer the side to side for home pages\/up and down for apps that every previous version of Android had. In fact, the side-to-side app menu in Samsung\u2019s TouchWiz skin was one of the things that annoyed me most about it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The transition effects are keen though.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The next ding applies to almost every mobile phone OS. I hate that there\u2019s no bundled, out of the box file manager. Android gets points for being the easiest one to add a file manager to, and most manufacturers add some kind of file manager to their skin.<\/p>\n

One of the most heavily promoted features of ICS was Face Unlock,\u00a0 the ability to use the camera to unlock your phone. This is a cute concept, but it only worked about a third of the time I tried it. Throw in the factor of commuting in before sunrise and a simple PIN code seems like a better solution. I do like how you can go from the lock screen straight to the camera (another lift from HTC\u2019s Sense skin) or notifications.<\/p>\n

The Galaxy Nexus includes a Near Field Communications chip a.k.a. NFC. This is what phones need to run Google Wallet. However, Verizon has chosen not to include this app. Yes, there are ways to get it on there<\/a>, but it’s annoying that there’s presently no bundled solution to use this neat bit of tech. Speaking of apps, be aware that oodles of apps have not yet been updated for ICS and may have issues. I only ran into two such cases.<\/p>\n

I was surprised at how inaccurately I was typing on the keyboard [Note to editor: hush]. Word suggest helped, but there was something a bit off. Consensus around the Techcitement water cooler is that the something was me<\/strong><\/em>. <\/em><\/strong>This was offset when one of our writers pointed out just how well voice input worked, and if I used the feature enough, I\u2019d have to put it under the good heading. However, that the keyboard isn\u2019t responsive enough for me so I have to talk to the phone definitely counts as bad. I still think the default onscreen keyboard for Windows Phone 7.5 is better, and that the absolute best solution is a real keyboard.<\/p>\n

For a revision with so much swiping, I was sad to see that the email and Gmail apps didn\u2019t let me swipe to delete like in webOS. That would’ve been keen and fit with the rest of the\u00a0 “swiping makes stuff go away” method that is all over this OS. I also hate that I continue to need a separate app for Google\u2019s Mail client versus my personal mail. One mailbox to rule them all, Google!
\n
\nThe Ugly<\/strong>
\nYou know those three virtual buttons? There\u2019s actual a fourth, consisting of three dots atop each other. This is your \u201cMore\u201d button, leading you to more menu options. Except sometimes they\u2019re elsewhere on the app, like in the mail app. This is jarring, especially because the mythical elsewhere isn\u2019t consistent, even across Google apps. Considering how tightly Google is controlling the interface here, it\u2019s annoying that they didn\u2019t update their own apps to better confirm.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

It's here<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

...here.....and here. I may have missed one.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Even more annoying is the lack of real social network integration. Sure, there\u2019s Google+ (duh), but when I tried to add my Facebook account — an option clearly visible in the default account screen — the phone never went to the next step.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

"Sorry, I can't do that, Dave."<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Considering that webOS\u2019s key feature for me is their Synergy solution that lets me pull my contacts from Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, and what-have-you, this is a bit of a deal breaker for me. It’s one thing to want to put your own social network at the forefront, but it’s another to psych out users expecting to be able to access other networks. The Android Facebook app is passable, but I don’t want to have to dig. There’s something deeply wrong with the world when an aspect of Microsoft’s Mobile OS is more open than one based on Linux.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kathy Bates is on the board of Google now?<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Summing it up<\/strong>
\nI actually found ICS a frustrating joy to use because it was just so close! ICS is a young system. With only one phone to run the latest OS on out of the box and updates to the unlocked version of the Nexus S trickling out, the majority of existing Android users won\u2019t see any of these benefits for a bit. As for me, I’d like an OS that has aged a tad and one where the social network aspect hasn’t been ridiculously hobbled. I’d like a wider choice of hardware. With The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas around the corner, I suspect we\u2019ll hearing a lot more about that aspect.<\/p>\n

Maybe next time, Google.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While Techcitement has given a glowing, if quick, review to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, one feature we only touched on is the operating system. Because I\u2019ve been shopping around for a new operating system ever since HP decided to ditch the phone business, this is a good time to put Android 4.0 a.k.a. Ice Cream […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,1085,1917],"tags":[1988,34,124,1451,107,74,319,73,201,1175,1936,1979,61,1905],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7350"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7350"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7802,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7350\/revisions\/7802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}