Verizon Galaxy Nexus Runs Speedtest in the Wild

You'll have to put up with all these Galaxy Nexus posts at least until the phone becomes officially available in a week or so. Probably shipping with Android 4.1 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box, the phone has surfaced in a real-life video running Speedtest over data connection.

As you can see in the image above, the results turned out to be really good. They're in the 8600kbps range which is especially good as the phone itself that runs the test is in an area which can only light up two signal bars on the screen. Check it out below and keep your fingers crossed for those December 8/9/11 dates we've heard rumors of.

Galaxy Nexus Dock Accessories Revealed

While reviewing Samsung's Galaxy Nexus, we pointed-out the phone's set of metal contacts on its side, designed for use with docking accessories. At the time, no such hardware was available, but today we get to take our first look at a whole bunch on their way for the Galaxy Nexus.

Those metal contacts line-up with the spring-loaded pins in the handset's landscape-orientation desk stand. While in place, you can charge the phone's battery, and attach headphones or speakers to the dock's audio output.

If you'd prefer a portrait-orientation dock, the HDMI desktop dock is the one for you; besides letting you charge the phone, you can easily connect it to a larger TV or monitor to share videos with others.

Next there's a stand for the Galaxy Nexus that doesn't directly charge the phone, though it does give you the freedom to use the phone in either portrait or landscape modes. Instead of powering the Nexus itself, this stand has a compartment for a spare battery, which it can keep charged. Then you need only swap it out with the battery in your phone to jump right up to a full charge.

Google Employees Getting Ice Cream Sandwich Nexus S OTA

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has made its way to the "dog food" stage of its development on the Nexus S. "Dog fooding", for those who don't know, is where a company uses their own staff to internally test a product before they release it to the public.

In this round, it's Google's previous flagship phone. We suspected an ICS update wouldn't be too far out, and this step validates our suspicion.

According to the source, the update is coming to internal users via an OTA update, no special update process or PC required! This could change when the final release comes out, and we don't know if the updates are going out to just the GSM version of the phone, or if Sprint 4G phones are getting it, too.

Regardless, it's good news that ICS might be coming to more users sooner than later.

Source: Android Police

How Does Apple Want Everyone Else Building Smartphones?

If you've been following the work of Apple's legal department, you'd know the company is out with a vengeance to stop companies which it sees as ripping-off the design elements that Apple considers as defining the iPhone and iPad look. Samsung's been feeling the brunt of this assault, going so far as to redesign products to try avoiding Apple's wrath. Just what kind of products would Apple like to see everyone else building? Some details revealed in legal documents prepared by Apple give us a sense of the awful, ugly hardware it would prefer to be competing against.

These design elements come from a list of suggestions Apple prepared, offering Samsung ideas that wouldn't violate Apple's design. Not all of them sound like awful ideas, like a front screen with no bezel, but they're largely laughable. Technically, some supposedly only concern tablet design, but they still speak to Apple's belief that it owns the rights to hardware looking like this.

This is just a portion of all the ideas Apple put forward, iterating design steps that a company should take to avoid copying Apple's look:

● The front of device shouldn't be black
● If the basic design is a rectangle: no curved corners
● An off-center screen
● No horizontal speaker slots
● A front design that's cluttered/features excess adornments
● A device that's not thin

What do you think, is Apple taking reasonable steps to protect its intellectual property, or does it really think it should be the only one making smartphones as we know them today?

Source: The Verge

Samsung Galaxy Nexus OTA Update Rolling Out Now

When resuming my GSM Galaxy Nexus from sleep moments ago I was asked if I wanted to apply an update.

This OTA software update brings "the latest version" of the Android OS for the phone, ITL41F, which "contains an important bug fix". At only 960KB, the update is pretty small, but it does require a reboot to install, and another to apply.

When booting Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich you're always met with the message that "Android is upgrading", even when it's just booting up (which is kind of weird). In this case, however, it was actually updating, and applied 28 items.

After the update the Android version is still 4.0.1 (the same as before the update), but the build number has been updated to the aforementioned ITL41F. Rumor has it the Verizion LTE Galaxy Nexus will come with Android 4.1.0.

What was included inside this update, I'm really not sure, but it was likely only the "volume fix" that we've been hearing about for the last several days -- but luckily doesn't impact very many people.

Samsung, Intel and Sprint Prepping ICS Phone for CES?

Here's a rather interesting rumor that just popped up: Samsung together with Intel and Sprint are preparing a smartphone powered by Google's Android 4.x Ice Cream Sandwich which they will reportedly show off at CES in a little bit more than a month from now.

We've already heard reports of Google optimizing Android code to run on Intel chips and the CES/MWC bit was also rumored when the Intel Developer Forum floor allegedly saw Intel personnel reportedly walk around with HTC smartphone prototypes running Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Intel's latest Atom processor, codenamed Medfield, reportedly runs Ice Cream Sandwich just fine. How fine? Intel CEO Paul Otellini said that "Medfield processor will beat the competition hands down". While it is definitely not lacking in performance, "it usually comes in second or third place when compared against smartphones already in the market" when it comes to power consumption.

So how does this fit in the picture? According to rumors, Samsung has reportedly extended its relationship with Intel to include smartphones. Intel CEO Paul Otellini has a keynote set up at CES and Sprint already announced its own just after the chip-maker's. Of course, while this is all based on rumors, reports and speculations, it could be a bit off but an Intel-powered Android smartphone should definitely hit the market early next year, let it be announced at CES or MWC.

Source: AndroidAndMe

Judge Denies Apple's Request to Ban Samsung Phones in the U.S

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh ruled against Apple's request for a preliminary injunction on Samsung's smartphones in a rather important episode of the lawsuit between the two companies. Apple filed suit against Samsung in the U.S. back in April for "slavishly" copying the iPhone's design.

Late Friday Judge Lucy Koh rejected Apple's request for banning sales of three Samsung Galaxy smartphones in America. The Judge said that "it is not clear that an injunction on Samsung's accused devices would prevent Apple from being irreparably harmed". "This ruling confirms our long-held view that Apple's arguments lack merit" said a Samsung spokesman while Apple only commented that Samsung's "blatant copying is wrong".

While Apple might still be in for a win in the bigger picture, Samsung has managed to win yet another victory over Apple. The denial of an injunction for Galaxy phones could very well be used by Samsung in its other cases where Apple brought the company to court, even if a U.S. court ruling is not recognized by courts of other countries.

Source: Reuters
Via: PhoneDog

Apple Licensed iOS Patent to Nokia, Offered It to Samsung Too?

This summer we reported that the Nokia-Apple war, which was going down in a court room instead of the market, was settled. Nokia initially sued Apple at the end of 2009 over ten GSM, UMTS, and WiFi related patents allegedly infringed by Cupertino in its iPhones; Apple got back in the game with a lawsuit against Espoo for alleged infringement of thirteen Apple patents.

Turns out that when the two companies reached a settlement and withdrew complaints from the U.S. International Trade Commission, Apple not only paid up a one-time check but also forked over on-going royalties to Nokia. One of the things Apple licensed to Nokia – and IBM – is reportedly the iOS software patent related to scrolling, especially the part where over-scrolling reveals a textured background. This by itself demonstrates that Apple lost a major fight as the Cupertino company was never so willing to give away code, especially if that bit was referring to iOS.

What’s even more interesting is that Apple reportedly offered the license to the same patent to Samsung during failed settlement negotiations in November 2010. This, of course, in a context in which the late Steve Jobs wanted to “destroy Android” because he regarded it as being a stolen product. There’s no information on why those specific negotiations failed (or whether others are ongoing with lawsuits between the two companies now existing on almost every continent).

Source: The Verge
Via: MyNokiaBlog

Galaxy Nexus take on rumored Droid RAZR MAX?

Two of the major smartphone players at the present time are that of the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Motorola’s Droid RAZR. Whilst the big red US carrier Verizon are still waiting for the Galaxy Nexus to arrive (rumored Dec 8th), Motorola has been stealing a little of the limelight with their new Droid 4 rumored to be coming this month. Although in specs it’s fairly similar to the RAZR, it does have the appeal of a slide-out keyboard.
But what do we hear now? Not another Motorola being thrown into the mix? Today news via fonehome.co.uk, has reported that in order to up the competition against the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus, they will in fact be bringing out a revamped version of the Droid RAZR, called the RAZR MAX. At this stage we’ll not sure how much truth is in this, or if in fact it’s the new XT928 that’s heading to China.
If a so-called Droid RAZR MAX does show itself, we may be looking at a chunkier model with improved battery life and HD screen, therefore giving it perhaps more credibility against the Galaxy Nexus.

US Verizon Galaxy Nexus sneak peek

Whilst the rest of us are now starting to enjoy the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus packed with Android’s new OS, the US are still patiently twiddling their thumbs as to when the new smartphones will arrive. News is still pointing to December 8th, as to the time when carrier Verizon will finally receive the newest Sammy addition, whilst for rivals AT&T, it seems that a Android 4.0 device of some description may be arriving to them fairly soon.

The Galaxy Nexus we know is wanted by a great number of you, and up until now we’ve been trying to keep you posted on the slightest inkling of when Verizon customers can at least pre-order their new smartphone. But today news courtesy of Zach Honig at Engadget, has reported that yesterday at the “Samsung Experience in Columbus Circle,” in New York, customers could in fact get a feel for the new phone where it was being showcased within the Manhattan showroom.
Zach was keen to point out that they were lucky enough to get a taster of the new Nexus with four pre-production models to speak of which were running on Android’s 4.0.1 OS as oppose to the final 4.1 version that it due to be updated in the not so distant future. Testing them out was made a little difficult as each model came without a SIM, although Zach did report on taking the Nexus for a speed test using a Verizon LTE MiFi, which resulted in download speeds ranging from 5000-7000kbps, with upload speeds of 300-2000kbps whilst being connected to LTE over WiFi.
To find out more on this, along with some hands-on pictures, head on over to Engadget’s link above.