***Official Galaxy Nexus Pre-Release speculation thread**

[MMcCraryNJ]

Yes, and I think with good reason. In the past, everyone has gotten Nexus updates all at the same time. One of the reasons a lot of people were excited about this device is that it would give them the most cutting-edge Android perpetually, out of the box. Yes, you could root and unlock it, but you could already do that with many device (albeit with more effort). This would give you updates as they arrived, straight from Google. At least, even if never explicitly stated by Google, that was the tradition.

As your cited article pointed out, this likely did involve some behind-the-scenes testing. So, no, the updates didn't bypass the carriers per se; the carriers just didn't really get the way. Because the carriers interfered so little that it didn't matter, I think most people didn't think they were involved at all. Maybe that was naive of them, but it was likely the case. This, however, is Verizon. As Motorola recently told us, they notoriously take 2-3 months to approve any update to any device. Google isn't going to wait that long. They are going to release the GSM update, and then let VZW continue testing the LTE version. That is going to leave buyers of the Nexus with a version of Android that is at least 2 months behind the cutting edge, which was the main reason a lot of us wanted this device, despite knowing that quad-core is just around the corner. So, with an article containing a quote that indicates that not only are we likely to get delayed, but even some GSM owners are getting delayed as well... is it reasonable for us to get upset that the straight-from-Google update tradition is now gone? I think so.

TL;DR: Updates were one of the main reasons a lot of us wanted this phone, and at least for stock, that seems to be slipping away. I think that's a reasonable thing to get upset about.

But this is the point everybody is missing. Updates are not coming from Samsung. Verizon doesn't need to "ask" Samsung or Google to make the update, as most carriers do with most Android phones. Updates are going to be written by Google. Updates will be directly sent to us by Google. Verizon plays a limited role in testing to make sure the update doesn't break their network functionality. This is NO different than how any of the other Nexus S devices worked in regards to updates. Go look at the source code for the Nexus One that T-Mobile offered subsidized. Go look at the source code for the Nexus S that you can get subsidized from ATT. You WILL find lines of code from the carrier for network optimization on these devices, which the carrier has tested and deemed to be suitable. In this regard, every Nexus phone ever isn't truly untouched by the carrier.

Things aren't going to change now simply because it is "Verizon". This is what I'm talking about with the Verizon-hate train everyone has going here. Everybody wants to latch onto the idea that because this is "Verizon", updates won't be panning out the same.

To give you an idea, the Xoom WIFI (a Google Experience device, updates direct from Google) has an LTE version from Verizon. The 3.2 Honeycomb update took an additional 2 weeks to get to the LTE model. 2 weeks. We aren't talking months and months of delays because the OEM has to rebuild the update from scratch. 2 weeks.

If those 2 weeks REALLY bother you, then grab the unlocked GSM model which will see updates 1-2 weeks quicker and go jump on ATT, T-Mobile, or any one of a handful of regional GSM carriers in your area. You guys do have that choice, you know. The golden rule is, once you take a subsidy from the carrier and sign a contract, you play by their rules. The rules for the previous Nexus devices included waiting some additional time (not much) for the carrier to test things out and make sure things work well for you in regards to the network. Other than that, they are hands off the device, as is the OEM which in this case happens to be Samsung. Things are no different with the Verizon Galaxy Nexus.

I'll pose this question, and this isn't really directed at anybody, but if you guys are upset over a 1-2 week delay in updates for testing purposes, what other device are you going to buy with a shorter delay? You think getting the ReZound or the RAZR is going to make it all better?

 

[mac7357]

Well, since i got a welcome email from both verizon and google, i guess i might as well come out of hiding....

I'm the lucky guy that got a non-corp store to sell him a GNex.

Can't wait to join you. Well done on getting the phone.

 

[appomaticsoftware]

Anyway. here is the article:
Editorial: Is the Verizon Galaxy Nexus really a Nexus? You betcha

Well then I guess this is the counter argument from the folks at XDA.
Is the Galaxy Nexus Still a

 

[bradm77]

I'm sure the Rezound will get support, just not as quickly as some of us would hope. Just getting S-Off would be a great start. I could care less about Beats audio, I hear it's basically like having bass boost on. I don't think I've used headphones on my DInc the whole time I've owned it.

Not true. Yes, the bass is kicked up a bit, but ALL the sound is in general CRISPER and CLEARER, no matter what headphones I am using.

 

[chanop]

So potentially I might be able to get The Nexus the same day that LTE gets turned on in my area (15th). Double win.

 

[cggorman]

Spoiler

WRT reception, I feel the bars report low. The GNex seems to have reception on par with the OG Droid despite seldom reporting more than 2 bars. I live in a rural area and drive thru farm land, so I guess I'd say its fine in weaker areas.

I think the camera is fine. It won't replace a real camera, but I don't think its realistic to expect it to. It's leagues better than the OG. Leagues.

GPS is outstanding. More accurate and faster lock than the OG.

THE PHONE GETS HOT. I think this is gonna be a source for much complaints from casual users. I'm quite used to it coming from a highly overclocked OG, but many people are not. The screen dissipates at least half the total heat, which is new to me. I think the major contributor is the 4G radio.

I'm having a hard time adjusting to the switch from vertical scrolling to horizontal.

THE APP SWITCHING AND MULTI-TASKING IS BRILLIANT. I honestly can't give it higher praise. Its damn near at parity with a desktop PC.

The included codec package is still too restricted, IMO. No mkv yet. Although we can get 3rd party apps that work. MX Video player works good. They say the pro version supports dual core...I might buy it to see if there is much improvement..

 

[compwagon]

Look, I am not leaving verizon over this so, sure, it wont hurt them now - but they should consider the value of consumer loyalty goes way beyond a single purchase.
Every company stumbles at some point, and there will come a time when they will need loyal consumers to stick with them through tough times - look at netflix. You can bet if zappos has trouble, I will give them the benefit of the doubt. Verizon? I'm gone.

Actually, I think this is an excellent point that very few have made. The only issue is that a) VZW has such a superior network that, no matter what stumbles may occur, unless someone someone magically gets a better network, people would STILL stay with them (myself probably included *hangs head in sadness*), and b) the vast majority of the userbase has had no impact to their loyalty over this situation, because they don't even know it happened (and probably wouldn't care even if they did).

Even so, the value of geek loyalty is often undervalued. Sometimes our impact isn't fully reflected by our numbers...

 

[sgrinavi]

Stopped at 2 Best Buys and a VZW corp store this morning. Nada, nothing..... the weenie at the first BB told me Mid Feburary, I asked where he heard that, he said "Google News"

 

[zedster]

See a lot og droid users on their last legs, have to say running cm 7 with a 1.1 ghz kernal makes the phone pretty snappy

 

[bradm77]

Thanks,
Seeing your Avatar says Ohio Valley Photo, I presume you knew enough to have wiped the finger oil off the lens eh? Not saying you did not, I am just reminded of how I first discovered what happened to a few of my pics one day.
Just a couple comments, questions....
I agree with your feelings there...
This is where they begin steering us into the clouds. It's Google remember? Look for more of the same in the future. Phone MFG's wanting to be competitive and have no "cloud" investments will hang on to the SD Slot.
Did you stroke ringtones and notice any volume level weaknesses?

Thanks

My MGR friend opened the Ice CReam sandwich box, put the battery in, turned it on, and handed it to me - clean lens. Volume was crisp and plenty loud as aI was browsing through ringtones, and I ignored the initial OTA alert when the phone booted up.

 

[wysts43]

NW Ohio.

What part of NW Ohio!! Are you willing to say which store?

 

[Phil05]

Long time lurker, first time poster

Anyway, went to my local corp store yesterday and had a nice talk with a rep. Phone was supposed to be out last week (12-9) but was pushed back. He didn't know but said it looks like this week. Latest he had heard was 12/13 or 12/15. I asked if I could get on a list or something to hold one, he laughed. His quote was "Dude, you don't even know, we've been stocking them for like 2 weeks. There are more than plenty in back." I feel a whole lot better now after stopping in there. I just need it in my hands this week. My rooted Eris's screen is not responding in one corner.

Ok, back to lurking. This is the best forum out there by the way.

 

[gapi]

Updates not from Google?

Is the Galaxy Nexus Still a

 

[cggorman]

This is the FIRST phone with the new version of Android. The phone has no buttons on it at all. Here is an example:

When you are at the home screen, and want to go into settings, you do this:

Hit the MENU button
Choose settings
Change whatever you need to change.

It was like that in Android 1.6, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, etc, etc - you hit that sequence without even THINKING about it.

You CANT do that in ICS and on the Nexus - there is no menu button - the way you interface with the phone is DIFFERENT now......

Is it better? Is it worse?

In ICS, there is a dedicated settings shortcut in the notification drop down, so we can now access global settings from ANYWHERE. Huge improvement, IMO.

 

[ebe3692]

I'm sorry, but anybody who repeatedly ignores customers and tries to push us to buy an inferior product for no reason than corporate greed is no friend of mine. I stand by everything I said.

I wouldn't say enemy. Buuuuut I am going to add @vzwbrendar to my #VZWNEXUSFAIL tweets.
as long as we are not being personally disrespectful in the tweets, I think its all good.

 

[alee0729]

The included codec package is still too restricted, IMO. No mkv yet. Although we can get 3rd party apps that work. MX Video player works good. They say the pro version supports dual core...I might buy it to see if there is much improvement..

If Dice ever figures out their Android Market issues, it's worth the money to buy it. Their player is fantastic and plays back full screen on the Gnex.

 

[IndecisiveElle]

OT -- warning, this is a long and sad story about my absence over the end of the week. Please do read it though because I have a really important message at the end I want to share!

Spoiler

Friday was possibly one of the worst days of my entire life. One of our puppies, Lucy got very sick very quickly. I thought it was just from her vaccines, but after a nap with her Daddy, she wouldn't wake up so I rushed to meet them at the vet ER. She declined very quickly and suffered multiple seizures as we learned her liver was failing and so was the rest of her tiny body. She was only 7.5 lbs at 13 weeks while her sister Scout is a healthy and hearty 12 lbs. Lucy was also suffering from an extremely severe gastrointestinal infection, the worst the emergency vet said she had ever seen. We took her in around 4 and by 7, we had to put her down. We are devastated as you can imagine. I haven't stopped crying for more than 20 minutes since Friday night.
When we got home after, our first concern was our other puppy and how she would handle it, we started talking about when we might be ready to find her another sister. I realized that we didn't know the adoption status of two of their sisters (2 of the other girls and the 1 brother were adopted around the same time we brought Scout and Lucy home). Apparently Lucy's former foster mom had the same idea - she sprung into action and arranged for us to adopt one of them at no attentional charge. So yesterday morning, we bravely faced that decision.
When we saw the two girls, we realized how gravely ill Lucy had always been. Her growth was clearly stunted by whatever disease had destroyed her liver. They were big happy healthy puppy girls. We brought home one of them - we have named her Boo. She has been a blessing - she's literally perched on my shoulder right now as i lounge on the couch typing this. She's so affectionate and reminds us so much of Lucy - but she has quickly become a wonderful playmate and companion for Scout as well. Scout is still struggling somewhat. She whined liked I'd never heard her before when her Daddy just left, I can't imagine how sad she would be with no sister by her side.
It's going to be hard for a while, especially seeing Lucy's grave outside and seeing so much of her personality in Boo, but we feel so thankful that she chose us to be her parents while she was on earth. We are so blessed to have been able to give her sister a home too.

But there is still one of their litter mates left in foster care, so in dedication to Lucy I have made it my mission to find her a home for the holidays! And in the end, that is the reason for this very long post, so I hope you have made it this far!

Please have a look at Jambalya!!

If you don't live in Michigan, please pass this along to anyone you know who does! She is a healthy, happy, loving, energetic girl who is great with other dogs and cats. She seems to really like kids too and I bet would be the perfect first dog because she always wants to play. She is almost completely house broken as I understand as well. Jambalaya is about 13 lbs and 13 weeks old, so a bit bigger than the picture on her website. She is also all up to date on her shots (so she only needs one more round of boosters and a rabies shot this year). If you live in Metro-Detroit you may recognize the name of the rescue because they were some of the leaders in the Save Ace campaign.

Anything you can do to help me find this little girl a home would mean the world to me under these circumstances.

Also, not sure how to upload a photo? I'd love to show off the last one of me and Lucy so you can all see what a loving baby she was.

If you made it to the end, thank you for reading this. I guess my Gnex puppy photo comparisons will be a little different now.

 

[cggorman]

Hmmm I'm in NW Ohio, care to share where you got it? You can always PM me

I actually got the phone in NE Indiana at a Cellular Connection, but I'd rather not disclose the specific location as an effort to protect the sales associate who sold it. Im sure he's already in deep shit, I'd hate for him to get fired...

 

[compwagon]

I'll pose this question, and this isn't really directed at anybody, but if you guys are upset over a 1-2 week delay in updates for testing purposes, what other device are you going to buy with a shorter delay? You think getting the ReZound or the RAZR is going to make it all better?

Hopefully you're right. If the delay really is 1-2 weeks, then I don't think anyone will care. I think we just fear for the worst, but you are right: the speed of updates to XOOM does offer a fair amount of hope.

Remember, though, that XOOM was the only VZW device with Honeycomb, and it was a highly favored VZW device with pseudo-DROID branding. Here's hoping that, with the GN, they don't stall the updates like they stalled the device itself, just to keep their own favored devices from seeming as delayed as they are...

 

[NEXUSorBUST]

Verizon Galaxy Nexus Delayed, Hitlers Reaction - YouTube

 

[bradm77]

In ICS, there is a dedicated settings shortcut in the notification drop down, so we can now access global settings from ANYWHERE. Huge improvement, IMO.

Oh, I'm not saying that it is not better, just pointing out that it is DIFFERENT. Whether or not DIFFERENT=BETTER or not is up to each person to decide for themselves, and in many cases, their technical expertise level is a huge factor in answering that question.

 

[Joe Schmuck]

What's up? text me when you read this. On bus?

 

[cggorman]

Are you on 4g though? Saying farm land just curious if u get 4g and wondering about 4g radio...

And by hot can you get temp? How hot is it? my rezound is constantly in the 115's and have reached 140 before.

Thanks. Just really wanna no if 4g radio is good. The rezounds is excellent

4G, yes. Much better coverage than I expected. The local VZW coverage map is actually pretty accurate (here).

Temp? I'd guess the surface temps are in the 115 range. Not uncomfortable, but warm enough to keep your palms clammy.

 

[mac7357]

Long time lurker, first time poster

Anyway, went to my local corp store yesterday and had a nice talk with a rep. Phone was supposed to be out last week (12-9) but was pushed back. He didn't know but said it looks like this week. Latest he had heard was 12/13 or 12/15. I asked if I could get on a list or something to hold one, he laughed. His quote was "Dude, you don't even know, we've been stocking them for like 2 weeks. There are more than plenty in back." I feel a whole lot better now after stopping in there. I just need it in my hands this week. My rooted Eris's screen is not responding in one corner.

Ok, back to lurking. This is the best forum out there by the way.

Welcome to limbo!

 

[zx10droid]

what's up? Text me when you read this. On bus?

wut?