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Hardware and software tour of Gingerbread on the Nexus S
Pt. 1 of 5 | 3:21 |
Monday February 7, 2011
How Do I? Using Android 2.3 Gingerbread on the Nexus S
Monday February 7, 2011
The new so-called Google Phone, the Nexus S, is the follow-up to the Nexus One. We take an in-depth hardware and software tour of Gingerbread, Android 2.3, running on the flagship Android phone.
The Nexus S is a sizeable upgrade over the Nexus One, but it does feel incremental... perhaps that's why it's dubbed the Nexus S as opposed to the Nexus Two?
The Nexus S is a sizeable upgrade over the Nexus One, but it does feel incremental... perhaps that's why it's dubbed the Nexus S as opposed to the Nexus Two?
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Nexus S hardware tour
The Nexus S by Samsung looks very much like a Galaxy handset.
Front
A 4-inch Super AMOLED screen dominates the front, surrounded by a small bezel. The glass has a slight concave curve and has a fingerprint resistant coating. On the top, the front-facing VGA camera sits beside and to the right of the earpiece. To the left of this earpiece are the light and proximity sensors. The former dims the screen in low-light and brightens it in direct light while the sensor shuts off screen input while you're on the phone.
Back
The five-megapizel camera is in the top left with a single-bulb LED flash to the right. The speaker grille is in the top-right corner. The bottom of the device has a bump that makes it feel very good in the hand.
Sides
On the left, we have a standard volume rocker and on the right, a power button. In side profile, we can see the curve of the screen too.
Top and bottom
On the top, we just have a tab to pull the battery cover off. On the bottom, a micro B USB port for charging and syncing and a 3.5mm three-stage jack for the included stereo headset with mic.
Tour of Gingerbread, Android 2.3 on the Nexus S
The improvements in Gingerbread are incremental and amount to tweaks rather than the full overhaul that we half expected. Things like kinetic scrolling are much improved to be more responsive and natural. We're also presented with a flash when we reach the end of a list; a small touch but useful.
The darker overall color scheme in Android 2.3, Gingerbread makes this OS very AMOLED friendly. AMOLED screens require more power to display whites and less to display darks. The overall OS uses a dark color scheme without feeling oppressive.
We're presented with a few new live wallpapers, a feature we advise against using, but that's neat none the less. We're most enamoured with the new screen off animation that looks like an old school TV.
Nexus S tech specs
4-inch 480x800 contour display at 235 ppi
Back 5MP with LED flash and front VGA cameras
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
* Quad-band GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
* Tri-band HSPA: 900, 2100, 1700
* HSPA type: HSDPA (7.2Mbps) HSUPA (5.76Mbps)
The Nexus S by Samsung looks very much like a Galaxy handset.
Front
A 4-inch Super AMOLED screen dominates the front, surrounded by a small bezel. The glass has a slight concave curve and has a fingerprint resistant coating. On the top, the front-facing VGA camera sits beside and to the right of the earpiece. To the left of this earpiece are the light and proximity sensors. The former dims the screen in low-light and brightens it in direct light while the sensor shuts off screen input while you're on the phone.
Back
The five-megapizel camera is in the top left with a single-bulb LED flash to the right. The speaker grille is in the top-right corner. The bottom of the device has a bump that makes it feel very good in the hand.
Sides
On the left, we have a standard volume rocker and on the right, a power button. In side profile, we can see the curve of the screen too.
Top and bottom
On the top, we just have a tab to pull the battery cover off. On the bottom, a micro B USB port for charging and syncing and a 3.5mm three-stage jack for the included stereo headset with mic.
Tour of Gingerbread, Android 2.3 on the Nexus S
The improvements in Gingerbread are incremental and amount to tweaks rather than the full overhaul that we half expected. Things like kinetic scrolling are much improved to be more responsive and natural. We're also presented with a flash when we reach the end of a list; a small touch but useful.
The darker overall color scheme in Android 2.3, Gingerbread makes this OS very AMOLED friendly. AMOLED screens require more power to display whites and less to display darks. The overall OS uses a dark color scheme without feeling oppressive.
We're presented with a few new live wallpapers, a feature we advise against using, but that's neat none the less. We're most enamoured with the new screen off animation that looks like an old school TV.
Nexus S tech specs
4-inch 480x800 contour display at 235 ppi
Back 5MP with LED flash and front VGA cameras
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
* Quad-band GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
* Tri-band HSPA: 900, 2100, 1700
* HSPA type: HSDPA (7.2Mbps) HSUPA (5.76Mbps)
Tagged:
AMOLED
,Android 2.3
,Gingerbread
,Google phone
,Nexus One
,Nexus S
,Samsung
,Samsung Galaxy
,Super AMOLED
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