The new Samsung Galaxy Nexus mobile phone is a device that looks to rival the very best mobile technology currently available
. The handset offers some impressive hardware but we want to take a closer look at some of the features that are offered by the new Android operating system that the phone incorporates.
The new Ice Cream Sandwich version of the Android operating system used by this phone totally overhauls the design of the widgets that you see on screen. One of the most impressive changes here is that the widgets can be resized. This enables each application to display more information directly on your homescreen. A great example of this is the GMail widget which as a default displays your two most recently received e mails. If you hold your finger on the icon and then drag one of the corners the size of this widget can be increased to display the last 3 or 4 emails. This means that users can dedicate more space to features that they use frequently. Photography features have been revamped and the new camera facility is faster than ever. There is literally no shutter lag on the camera meaning the moment that you press the button the image is captured without any delay. The camera is also very quick at preparing itself for another shot and it is possible to take two snaps in well under a second. For the first time on an Android device screen grabs are also possible. Previously an application needed to be downloaded to enable you to do this but now you can capture an image directly from your phones display at any moment. This is handy for saving a social networking feed or a photograph from a website.
There are some advanced features on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus that rival the sort of innovation that can be found on the impressive iPhone 4S. The handset offers a voice recognition system that enables you to dictate SMS messages and e mails to the phone which will then be turned into text. In practice this feature works superbly and more efficiently than the similar Siri service offered on the iPhone. When you dictate the message the words appear on screen only a few syllables after you have spoken them. Another very futuristic feature of this model is the new Face Recognition Lock. When you first use the handset Android will take a few moments to analyse the structure of your face. This is then stored and your face is the only one that can unlock the phone. This works very well in good lighting conditions but in lower light you may have to revert to the more traditional swipe pattern in order to unlock your phone.
Features such as the ones mentioned above further add to the overall appeal of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Expect this handset to be competing with the very best mobile phones available over the coming months.