 Samsung Galaxy Nexus running Ice Cream Sandwich Scorecard - Google vs. Apple - Google and Android Ice Cream Sandwich beats Apple hands down for overall superiority for hardware, functionality, customization, and flexibility. Read the entire article to find out why I recommend Google for all your communication requirements. Score - Google - 10 to Apple - 2 Galaxy Nexus (Ice Cream Sandwich) vs. Apple I have trouble finding a place to start, because I like Apple, but I have to say I feel like I've been let out of jail with the new Android ICS device. Ice Cream Sandwich permits a lot of flexibility that Apple will likely never relinquish to its users. Apple likes to tout the purpose for this is security, but we all know it's more about protecting revenue. Apple is a marketing genius. It's vigorous adherence to product secrecy and proprietary concept design protection are what creates the hype. The quality and excellence behind the hardware and IOS functionality is what results in the success of their product line. So why does Apple feel like it's necessary to divert focus from its quest to make an enormous profit? Apple is a business that is incorporated in the USA, and the USA is a capitalistic society, right? Then good for Apple, go ahead, make a lot of money. That's what the American dream is all about. Apple's quality is without question, the highest. Apple does everything with excellence. As it has now become apparent (if you don't believe me, read "Steve Jobs") because of Steve Jobs' previous obsession with perfectionism, we are in a better place from a technology perspective because of Jobs; together with an army of open source developers and visionaries who recognized the importance of advancing our quality of life through technology. Android (which is written on the Linux platform), PHP, mySQL Java and other key intellectual progressions, are all contributions from math geniuses and computer science experts who have either willfully toiled over trillions of lines of code on their quest for either personal challenge, the desire to accomplish something unique and make their mark on society and technology, or myriad other motivations. These motivations likely have included initiatives which were possibly unsuccessful on their own merit without additional support or other components to complete a concept, yet when coupled with the collaborative efforts of others, they resulted in the overall global progression which has been achieved as a world, not as an individual nation or person. Make no mistake, the USA is not alone in it's industrious and creative contribution to our new found communicative world information network of cell phones, internet, computers, tablets, drones and millions of other products that have improved due to the culmination of these many contributions. India, China, European nations and others have contributed significantly to many of the concepts and technologies and creativity which makes Android possible. - 4G / LTE  - Open Source Benefits Let me just say, I'm not a software engineer or a developer, I'm a technical sales rep. for an aerospace equipment manufacturer. So let's just say that I'm amateur web programmer as a hobbyist with some experience in HTML, Visual Basic, ASP, database connectivity and now JAVA. Why JAVA? This is another strong motivation I have to the open source Android OS. I just purchased Android Application Development for Dummies, downloaded the JAVA SDK, Android SDK and Eclipse and successfully followed a tutorial which walked me through building an App for my new Galaxy Nexus running Ice Cream Sandwich and compiled it. I then used Eclipse to install the App on my device and walla, it works splendidly. The App is a very simple App which permits me to tap a button and turn off my ringer. Tap the button again and the ringer comes back on at the same volume where it was previously set.  Back to Apple's obsession with control; it's worth mentioning there are implications to Apple's not recognizing users needs to find a balance between proprietary driven restrictions and delivery of a flexible experience. The purpose of this article is not to evaluate Apple's business practices and philosophy (or Google's for that matter), but in some instances, I like to provide background information for some of the positions I take relative to the subject matter. - Apple's iTunes Application I don't know anybody that actually likes having to use iTunes to do practically anything with an Apple device. About the only thing you can do without using iTunes is transfer photos (one-way) mind you, from your iPhone or iPad to your computer. You have to use iTunes to do most anything if you want to interact with another Apple device, or a single device. To be fair, the new iCloud and iOS 5 added SOME flexibility there, however, unless again you want to pay Apple an exorbitant amount of money for cloud storage, the basic account doesn't have enough space to put more than 5 GB of information in your iCloud account. Google provides 25 GB for a FREE account for Google Apps for a single user. Galaxy Nexus and Google score a point. Score - Google - 1 to Apple - 0 - Ice Cream Sandwich (Android) - Google App Cloud iTunes is not necessary, and neither is any other interface for an Ice Cream Sandwich enabled device such as my Galaxy Nexus. Your Google Apps account interacts directly in the cloud with your device. You can install Apps right from the Google Apps web site. And, the purchases I made two years ago with my Nexus One, were still available for download to my Galaxy Nexus.  I'm not a Android expert by any means, but I don't put ICS in the same league with previous versions of Android. The last version I became intimately aware of was the version my Nexus One had installed out of the box. I'm not a big fan of tampering with OS rooting or jail breaking, so I typically stick with the version that ships. The Nexus One shipped with Android 2.1 (Eclair), then upgraded to 2.2 Froyo a few months after I purchased my device. The Nexus One had several problems, mostly including hardware. Overheating when using GPS to navigate was my biggest problem. The other really annoying bug was the USB recognition was problematic; sometimes my Windows XP set found it, sometimes it didn't. More times it didn't find it than it did. That was a serious drawback. But that was then, this is now. I've yet to experience any glitches with the USB connectivity with the Galaxy Nexus after a full week of pretty intense usage. Another score for Galaxy Nexus and Google. Score - Google - 2 to Apple - 0 Apple Retina Display vs. Galaxy Nexus Super HD AMOLED Ice Cream Sandwich is packed with functionality and customization features including widgets than can really soup up a home screen. Here's a shot of my home scream at present. Is that gorgeous or what? The Galaxy Nexus runs the Super HD AMOLED display, which is absolutely gorgeous. The problem still with this display technology: it still under performs in brightly lit conditions in direct sunlight, even if shading the screen. This was a problem on my Nexus One and it remains a problem with the Galaxy Nexus. The Apple has the Retinal display and it is absolutely gorgeous as well with incredible graphics and photo details. Score one for the iPhone, direct sunlight doesn't diminish the quality or viewability of the screen in brighly lit conditions as much as the Super HD AMOLED display. One point for Apple and the Retina display. Score - Google - 2 to Apple - 1 Functionality of Desktops and Activities (viewable screen where work is done)  Don't get too excited Apple, Ice Cream Sandwich is getting ready to pile on some points in the functionality department specifically because of the flexibility of customization of the Apps, display customization and power of the Apps. ICS permits a user to arrange their App icons anywhere they want on the screen. Apple forces you to push around other Apps with a cascade effect which moves all other Apps down the page. I never liked that. ICS permits you to put your Apps anywhere you want on an Activity screen. Another thing I like about Ice Cream Sandwich, when you long press an icon to move it, there is no "giggly" mode for ALL other apps, which is cool, because I only want to interact with the "one" app I long press. Second, long pressing the icon also permits you to move the icon to the trash without uninstalling the App. The App icon can still be found on the "master App. pages list". There may be many pages if you have a lot of Apps. On Apple devices, if you long press an Icon, and click the "x" in the upper left hand corner, you are removing the App from your device. Ouch! Score 2 for Google (Android Ice Cream Sandwich) and zero for Apple - App shortcut portability - Display and App customization Score - Google - 4 to Apple - 1 Google Wallet  This counts for a 2-point conversion, sorry Apple. Score - Google - 6 to Apple - 1 Integration with Google Apps The level of integration when using Google Apps as your collaboration software is currently unmatched. Apple iCloud is light years away from Google's list of tools and functionality. Because you're on a Google device; and assuming you've linked your device to a Google account; Gmail, Docs, Calendars, Sites etc., all log in automatically without having to enter your username and password subsequent to the initial login. This is an incredible time saver. Google went a long way toward making the use of Google Apps a natural choice when looking for a single source cloud solution for information and communication collaboration. When you set up your phone the first time, Google will ask you which user account you'd like to use as the default account. Once you identify that account (which means you have to use Google Apps), everything happens automatically. Not the case with Apple. If you've used an your.email@me.com account, you'll find yourself re-logging in all the time. And God forbid if you use a Gmail account on your iPhone, you'll also find yourself logging in all the time. Apple just can't get anything right! Google scores again for collaboration and integration of cloud services and ease of set up. Score - Google - 7 to Apple - 1 All Important Batter Life Scary!!! If you have LTE turned on, forget about it. It drains almost so fast you can see the battery indicator dropping while you're watching it. Not true. I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. The Galaxy Nexus is ill-equipped to run 4G / LTE. But then again, there's no phone ou there that will unless it facilitates a larger battery. As long as consumers insist on thin devices, 4G / LTE is going to disappoint when it comes to battery life. One remedy is that Samsung is providing a higher capacity battery for $49.99 which includes a molded cover so the increased size can be contained. My problem with that: I seriously dislike having to carry an extra fuel cell for my cell phone. Albeit, I already do. I travel; a lot and permanently nestled in my travel bag is an extra battery for any mobile device, and I use it regularly, even with the iPhone 4. My solution: keep the network set to CDMA and this phone will last more than a day. I've tested it several days in a row. However, I haven't used it for a lot of phone calls. The display is the largest consumption component if it's lit continuously, so don't (assuming the 4G / LTE is switched off). It's quick and easy to turn on LTE / 4G if you want it, otherwise I just leave it off. Score - Google - 7 to Apple - 2 Processor Speed, Memory, Physical Storage CPU - Dual-Core 1.2 GHz Cortex A-9 - Fast! Really fast. No doubt about it, faster than the iPhone 4, but then I haven't played with the iPhone 4S (1 GHz dual-core A-9 Cortex), and with its dual-core processor, I would estimate there's only a marginal difference one way or the other. I have read that it's been clocked at faster speeds than the iPhone 4S. RAM is 1Gb, way more than is necessary, but that's why you never wait when opening an App, installing an App or opening a file. The Galaxy Nexus comes with 32 Gb of physical storage and its not expandable on the US model. If you want the European version, you can get a 16Gb physical storage option. There is no SD slot, so 32 Gb is the max you can expect to store in videos, photos, and music. For me that's plenty. But for kids, they might find this a limitation. Galaxy Nexus scores 3 points here. Google - 10 to Apple - 2 So in summary, overall I have no reservations in recommending the Samsung Galaxy Nexus until other carriers roll out new mobile devices with Ice Cream Sandwich as it's Android OS. Google and Android are in my opinion the best choice for a new mobile device, the only category where Apple scored with me was with the Retina display. Full List of Specifications   |
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Galaxy Nexus |