galaxy

It looks like Europe could be getting the first bite of Android's Ice Cream Sandwich.

Reports from a Samsung event in London and a product page on Amazon.co.uk indicate that November 17 is the date the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be released, first in Europe and rolling out to the rest of the world shortly thereafter. … Read more

Samsung Electronics today alleged that the interlocutory injunction awarded to Apple against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 was incorrect and a leap of logic, all the while pushing for the case to be expedited in the courts.

In a case presented before Justice Lindsay Foster in the Federal Court of New South Wales today, Samsung contested the basis on which Justice Annabel Bennett gave her ruling two weeks ago.

Samsung complained on multiple grounds. In Bennett's ruling, she said that Samsung's "unwillingness" to move the case to an early final hearing stage counted against the … Read more

We take a whole show to answer your emails and voicemails, but first we discuss the coming of the quad-core tablet. All of that plus we pick the winner of episode 69's contest on this week's episode.

NEWS

Galaxy Nexus Nov 10th http://androidandme.com/2011/10/news/galaxy-nexus-htc-rezound-and-droid-razr-all-penciled-in-for-a-november-10th-launch-date/

Galaxy Nexus to hit the UK on November 16th http://androidandme.com/2011/10/news/galaxy-nexus-to-hit-the-uk-on-november-16th/

Motorola: Ice Cream Sandwich devices coming 6 weeks after release (Update: devices … Read more

It was a crazy week in cell phone land, what with the Droid Razr and the Galaxy Nexus making their worldwide debut on the same day. And it's not over yet, as Nokia and Microsoft have an announcement of their own coming up this week. Is there such a thing as too much of a good thing? We also talk about the latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system and all the latest reviews.

News Windows Phone Chief: Nokia to talk road map next week … Read more

In the wake of a new report, are Android tablets now a serious threat to Apple's iPad? The quick answer is maybe, if Amazon Kindle Fire shipments pan out as expected.

Let's first look at the report (see chart below) that came out Friday from Strategy Analytics.

While Apple iPad shipments are way up year to year (to 11.1 million from 4.2 million), Android's growth is huge (to 4.5 million from 0.1 million).

That said, there are legitimate questions about whether we're comparing apples to oranges (pun intended). Virtually all of Apple'… Read more

After Samsung backtracked a bit yesterday, Verizon officially confirmed that it will offer the Samsung Galaxy Nexus later this year.

The carrier did not announce an exact release date or pricing at this time, but Samsung and Google said last week at the unveiling event that the smartphone would start shipping in the U.S., as well as parts of Asia and Europe, in November.

The Galaxy Nexus is the first device to ship running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which includes such enhancements as a facial recognition unlocking feature, photo-editing tools, and Android Beam. … Read more

While user-facing software is what usually makes or breaks a platform--and Google's Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is no exception--underlying hardware can make the critical difference between a snappy and slow device. So what's going to power upcoming Android 4.0 phones and tablets?

Texas Instruments will be leading the way on Android 4.0. Its dual-core OMAP4460 chip is inside the Samsung Galaxy Nexus which, in turn, is the launch vehicle for Android 4.0.

This didn't happen overnight. TI and Google have been preparing for this week's Ice Cream Sandwich launch for a while. … Read more

What I'm about to attempt--comparing Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with Apple iOS 5--is a little like tiptoeing through a minefield. Most of you won't be happy and somebody could get hurt. (Read: me.)

Yet, this comparison must be done. For one thing, Google and Apple have both recently unveiled huge changes that respectively make their mobile operating systems far more powerful, and in some ways more similar to each other. For another thing, weighing the pros and cons of each platform against the other is a scenario that's played out daily among many people who are deciding which phone to buy.

Just a few parameters before diving in. First, I'm overwhelmingly looking at software, not hardware, but I'll point out where hardware does factor in. iOS 5 runs on multiple devices, but is the most powerful right now on the iPhone 4S. Ditto Ice Cream Sandwich. The unreleased Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the one phone that can currently show off the OS update's full spectrum of features, since it was purpose-built to be compatible with them all. That will change for both operating systems as additional future devices are built with the hardware to support the new software.

Second, I'm not just talking about new additions, but trying to look at the OS in its entirety.

Third, I'm looking at what each OS can do natively. Yes, there are scores of third-party apps you can download to do just about anything to satisfy something that one OS lacks that another has, but what we're looking at here is what Apple and Google have decided to bestow, not clever external developers. And I'm not talking about anything you can achieve only by jailbreaking or rooting. Official, but optional apps created by Apple and Google are OK--like Find My Friends and Google Voice.

Third, I'm throwing in two "fun" features for each (these will be the last two). I wouldn't recommend buying an iOS 5 or Ice Cream Sandwich device solely because of them, but they're pleasantly show-offy conversation pieces unique to each platform.

Got all that? Let's go.… Read more

Galaxy on Fire is a 3D space combat and exploration game that was a lot of fun at its release in early 2009, but has since been eclipsed by other games in performance--especially its super-polished (and super-fun) sequel, Galaxy on Fire 2, which delivers exponentially on the promise of this original game.

The core of Galaxy on Fire 3D is space combat, and the game excels at providing an immersive, responsive aerial shooter (almost as good as its sequel), in which you can use touch or tilt controls to weave through pitched outer-space dogfights. The game also has some light … Read more