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Quick Review: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on 2011 Sony Xperia devices

After a wait of nearly half a year since the initial announcement that all Sony Xperia smartphones released in 2011 would be upgraded to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the promised upgrade has finally arrived on my Xperia Mini Pro after being rolled out to the Xperia Arc S, Neo V, Ray, Arc, Neo and Pro and being cancelled for the poor Xperia Play. Given that many Xperia users, myself included, have been eagerly looking forward to this upgrade, I decided to do a quick review of Sony’s remix of Android 4.0 as it exists on my little Android phone.

Sony Mobile has done better than most in upgrading existing devices to Android 4.0I’m certainly no newcomer to Android 4.0 or indeed the Android world itself; I’ve actually been running the very latest version of pure vanilla Android on my Xperia for several months now through a little custom ROM project called CyanogenMod. Going the custom ROM route in order to have the very latest Android experience as Google intended isn’t without its downsides; you definitely lose a degree of stability, certain features such as HD video recording and mobile hotspot simply do not work, you’ll have to set aside time to regularly flash newer versions of the custom ROM in order to enjoy the latest bug fixes and I’ve experienced issues like poorer battery life running a custom ROM on my device as opposed to running a manufacturer-supplied ROM. In fact, even the process of flashing a custom ROM isn’t something that a layperson can understand. That’s why I don’t consider custom ROMs a real solution to the issue of Android software upgrades, rubbish custom skins and poor out-of-the-box experiences. It is important that Android hardware makers push official platform upgrades for devices, and Sony Mobile has done better than most in this regard.

I haven’t noticed any substantial lag or slowdown, but the bloatware is a huge downerDespite Sony Mobile’s attempts to manage user expectations by making the Android 4.0 upgrade optional and providing prominent warnings that users might see decreased performance after the upgrade, I actually haven’t noticed any substantial lag or slowdown on my Xperia Mini Pro, and navigating through the user interface and in and out of apps feels just as speedy as it was on Android 2.3 and vanilla Android 4.0. Where the device really feels limited, however, is internal storage. My Xperia Mini Pro has a total of 420MB of internal storage; on CyanogenMod, I could make use of the entire chunk of it. On Sony Mobile’s official build of Android 4.0, only 280MB remains accessible to the user. I don’t understand why Sony Mobile insists on continuing the tradition of loading bloatware on these Xperias knowing full well that they are already rather lacking in internal storage.  I took another look, and most of the bloatware can indeed be disabled, but PlayNow is definitely sticking around. It’s thoroughly disappointing.

You’ll probably wonder whether the upgrade actually completed successfully or notUpgrading a device to Android 4.0 is one thing; being able to push a high-quality upgrade that allows users to fully enjoy what the new version of Android brings to the table is another. However, when you first boot up your newly-upgraded Xperia device for the first time, you’ll probably wonder whether the upgrade actually completed successfully or not. Sony Mobile has swapped out the old Sony Ericsson bootscreen, of course, with one that just says ‘Sony’ and then ‘Xperia’, but you’re then confronted with the exact same launcher that existed on Sony Mobile’s build of Android 2.3, complete with old Gingerbread-style menus and dialogs along with the old Timescape widgets that all look so dated today. However, much of the iconography has been replaced; most of the built-in apps gain new, cleaner-looking icons, the status icons up in the notification bar are new and so are the icons that appear in various menus and dialogs in the user interface. I don’t really mind the new iconset (of course, I’d have preferred that Sony Mobile leave the icons as they are in vanilla Android 4.0, but we’ve got to deal with what we’ve got here) but I’d have liked a little more consistency because, as usual, some icons have been neglected entirely and left as they are.

It’s worth noting that certain UI elements such as the lockscreen clock and unlock slider, as well as the buttons, radio buttons and checkboxes have been brought over from Sony’s new UXP NXT custom UI that we’ve seen on the 2012 Xperia devices. The settings app has been skinned to look the same as how it did on Android 2.3 as much as possible, complete with prominent separators between menu items. It’s very disappointing to see that Sony Mobile has entirely forgotten about user interface consistency in this upgrade. I wish Sony Mobile could have just embraced Holo UIIt’s already bad enough for a device manufacturer to take Android 4.0′s beautiful, understated and minimalist Holo UI and completely piss on it with a custom UI. It’s even worse to mash various elements from 2 very different-looking custom UIs and then dump that mess on top of Android 4.0. I’d have loved to see UXP NXT, or at least a stripped-down version of it, come to the 2011 Xperia devices via the Android 4.0 upgrade. Even if that isn’t possible, even a wholesale transplant of Timescape UI would be a bit more palatable than the mashup we’ve got because we’d at least get to keep some extent of UI consistency. What we’ve ended up with just makes me wish Sony Mobile simply put out a completely vanilla build of Android 4.0 for these devices and called it a day, because the worst is yet to come.

Sony Mobile ripping out core Android 4.0 apps depresses meWe all know that Android 4.0 brings a new level of UI consistency and polish to the Android platform, and this is especially apparent with core apps such as the messaging and contacts apps that no longer look like they were built in an afternoon. But if you were hoping that Sony Mobile would leave these alone, you’ll be sorely disappointed. They couldn’t bring themselves to leave the core apps as they were; it was far too challenging. So what they’ve done is to transplant apps from Android 2.3. I’m not even kidding. The gorgeous, functional Android 4.0 Calendar app has been given the boot in favour of Sony Mobile’s calendar app that they shipped with their build of Android 2.3. Ditto for the Messaging app. And the Clock, Calculator, FM Radio and Music Player. The Phone and People apps in Android 4.0 have also been dumped and replaced with the integrated contacts and dialer app from UXP NXT. The Android 2.3 Gallery app has also been retained and rebranded as ‘Xperia Gallery’ just for the sake of it – the Android 4.0 Gallery app is still present and unmodified. Even the old virtual keyboard has been retained when it would be trivial to include the much-improved virtual keyboard from UXP NXT. It’s downright depressing. There isn’t a single valid reason that I can think of that would explain why this had to be done.

On a brighter note, I do like how we finally have direct camera access and music controls on the lockscreen, a feature that I’ve found nearly indispensable on my iPhone. I also appreciate all the areas where Android 4.0 is allowed to shine through – the Gmail, Maps and Browser apps are fantastic, and being able to swipe away individual notifications is really nice. The multitasking menu is smooth and responsive, and Sony Mobile has brought over the Camera app from UXP NXT that’s really fast and can shoot macro photos without making the user switch to a dedicated macro mode.
It’s fair to say that I expected a lot more from this upgrade. I just don’t understand why a reasonable person would conclude that it makes perfect sense to deliver a major software upgrade to a smartphone that dumps so much of what’s new in favour of the old. I’ve been waiting for so long for Sony Mobile to finally get around to releasing this, but now that I’ve got it, I’m not sure I want it anymore.

Perhaps this underscores how I feel about Android now. As a tech blogger, I still cover the platform and stay up to date with its development because of its dominance and relevance in the smartphone space. As a user, I still use an Android phone day to day because it’s what I’ve got at the moment and because I need to write about Android. But instead of loving the platform or heck, even enjoying it, I merely tolerate it. I merely put up with it. This is yet another disappointment then. I’ll deal with it.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Review

As the current Google flagship smartphone, the Galaxy Nexus by Samsung is the first device to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The version for Verizon's LTE network in the U.S. is slightly thicker than the European model, but it also gets a larger battery and, of course, the 15Mbps 4G downloads on Verizon's network, otherwise they're functionally the same.
The super large, super high-resolution display on the Galaxy Nexus is a dream to look at, and the new Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system gives users something very new and interesting to work with. It's a good combination.
Unfortunately the phone does seem to carry a flaw from scratch, though. Reception, especially on 4G, can be a problem. Not everybody seems to experience this, only showing itself in weaker signal areas. Apart from that, the Galaxy Nexus is every bit the hero smartphone that Google needs it to be to move Android to the next stage of its evolution.

Hardware

The Samsung-built Google Galaxy Nexus shows off an interesting design without being groundbreaking. It features a subtly curved front glass panel that protects the 720p resolution (720 x 1280) Super AMOLED HD touchscreen display. There are few exterior controls on the phone: a volume control on the left edge and a power switch on the right. The phone feels to be solidly constructed and its 146.2g (5.2oz) weight gives it a nice amount of heft.

The Galaxy Nexus' 136mm x 68mm x 10.0mm (5.4in x 2.7in x .4in) dimensions can make it a bit of a handful, though. It's longer and significantly thicker than the Motorola Droid Razr, but fits in the hand a bit better since it is narrower, even when the Razr has a smaller screen. There are no dedicated touch sensitive controls on the phone, which is a feature of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but it still takes a pretty long reach to get to the upper edge of the display when using the phone one-handed.
The display is absolutely brilliant. It is sharp, bright, and colorful, and its 4.65-inch diagonal size is amongst the largest in the smartphone world. It is my favorite smartphone display on the market today, even though it uses the much-derided Pentile sub-pixel arrangement. Without magnification, I don't think a normal person will notice the difference and that is what matters in the end.

Removing the Galaxy Nexus' somewhat thin rear cover reveals the micro-SIM card and slot required for LTE service on Verizon as well as the battery. There's no microSD memory card slot on the phone, as was the case on the Nexus S, but the Galaxy Nexus does come equipped with 32GB of internal storage. Also found on the back are the 5 megapixel camera and flash. A secondary 1.3 megapixel camera can be found on the front of the phone, and there is also a large, hidden notification light resting beneath the display near the bottom edge of the phone.

Usability

With the arrival of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Google's OS finally appears to be growing out of its somewhat awkward childhood years and approaching maturity. While Ice Cream Sandwich uses many of the UI themes first introduced in Android 3.x Honeycomb (for tablets), they have been refined and now make better sense. Google has even introduced a new font for the operating system called Roboto. But while Android is a visually changed OS, it still offers the same basic functionality that it always has.
The Galaxy Nexus offers 5 home screens that you can configure. Users still swipe left and right to switch between them, and they can be configured with shortcuts and widgets as before - though all of these features are now accessed from the Widgets tab of the main menu where one previously only found apps. Since there are no hardware keys beneath the display, the main navigation controls are now drawn on the bottom of the touchscreen, which allows them to be more visually appealing and adjusted at times, as needed.
Home and back functions remain, but search and menu are gone. Search is replaced by in-app functionality and the search bar found on every home screen panel. Menu is replaced by an on-screen control made up of three vertically aligned dots that can appear at the top of an app, the bottom of an app, or to the right of the third, and new, main control at the bottom of the screen.

That new control is the task switcher, which is inherited from Android Honeycomb. Tapping on that control brings up a visual history of applications that are running or have recently been used on the phone. One scrolls up and down through the list, switches to an app with a tap, or removes it from the list with a swipe left or right. I was unimpressed by it on a tablet, but love it on a smartphone.
The swipe-to-remove gesture can also be used in the updated notification area at the top of the screen, making it now possible to remove individual or all notifications as desired - something all prior versions of Android lacked. A convenient link to the phone's Settings app is also found there.

Android still has no proper ringer profile support, but now it allows to toggle between normal, vibrate, and truly silent ringer settings using the volume control. A tap on the on-screen volume will do the trick, as will pressing up or down repeatedly on the volume key on the side of the phone. The Android keyboard has been updated, and features a much larger space key. Voice input on the keyboard, when enabled, is fantastic. It inputs words in near real-time as you speak them when you have a fast enough data connection.
While there's no built-in support for social networking on the phone, Google provides an API that allows third party apps to integrate not only contacts with the phone, but to also show status updates in a contact record. The new contacts app features an oddball color scheme that doesn't match that of the rest of Ice Cream Sandwich, though. It's pretty, but inconsistent with the electric blue on black leanings of the OS as a whole.
Overall, though, I can't put into proper words just how happy and pleasantly surprised I am about how Android 4.0 operates. There's a learning curve for new users, but it's not a particularly steep one, and the rewards in the end are worth it.

Calling / Data, Messaging, Browser

Calling / Data

Samsung's Google Galaxy Nexus for Verizon offers pretty reasonable audio quality during voice calls. Inbound sound is quite pleasant, and outbound audio is acceptable. As an LTE 4G equipped phone, the Galaxy Nexus is capable of some extreme data speeds. When in stronger signal areas, 15Mbps downloads and 9 Mbps uploads were common. However, when signal strength dropped, I found that the Galaxy Nexus had a much harder time with data than other Verizon LTE devices that we sitting right next to it, such as the Motorola Droid Razr. When the signal is not so strong, the Galaxy Nexus can have trouble maintaining a data connection, flip-flopping back and forth between 3G and 4G, and sometimes just getting stuck.

While I don't expect a firmware update to improve the phone's reception abilities, I do expect that a future update could make it behave better with lower strength signals. Verizon says a related update is in the works. In addition to 3G and 4G connectivity, the Galaxy Nexus also support Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth. The phone can also tether over USB or share its connectivity though its Wi-Fi hotspot mode support.

Messaging

Like any Android phone, the Google Galaxy Nexus offers up a fine suite of messaging capabilities. The built-in Gmail and standard email apps, which were beefed up and polished as part of the Ice Cream Sandwich update, handle multiple accounts with ease. The new text messaging app is very nice to look at and functional as well. Instant Messaging is limited to Google Talk out of the box, but there are plenty of third party solutions available from the Android Market. Social networking apps will also need to be found in the Android Market, as none come pre-installed. The new Twitter client does integrate tweets with the contacts application, though, which is cool.

Apps / App Store

While application support for Android 3.x Honeycomb tablets was a real sore spot, smartphones running Android 4 don't seem to have any large hurdles to overcome. Almost all of the apps I tested performed exactly as I expected, which speaks well for the Galaxy Nexus user when it comes to the other couple of hundred thousand apps offered in the Market. Apart from a few Verizon-branded services like VZ Backup Assistant and My Verizon Mobile, you'll find no real bloat on the Galaxy Nexus; just a ton of pre-installed Google apps that now includes Google+ right out of the box. The core Android apps have all been refreshed as part of the OS update, so you will find a new calendar, calculator, and clock app - among others - on the Galaxy Nexus.

Browser

One of the core components of Android to get a major upgrade is the browser, which is now based upon the same browser found in Android 3.x Honeycomb. Like Google's Chrome desktop browser, the Android 4 browser supports tabbed browsing and WebKit-based rendering extensions. While I approve of the new interface and find the browser to be stable and quite functional, it's not as smooth as it should be.
Even with the phone's 1.2GHz dual-core processor, there's still a slight lag when you start to pan or scroll complex pages (even with Adobe Flash support disabled). It's not a huge deal, and the browser is very smooth otherwise, but it is a minor distraction that should not be there.

I also find that the browser doesn't render pages quite as accurately as the old browser did, in that it appears to shrink columns of text down more than it often should, which can result in misplaced ads and such. Usability has taken a solid step forward, for sure, but at the cost of some accuracy it seems.

Camera, Battery Life, Conclusion

Camera

The camera app in Android also received a major update, even if the Galaxy Nexus camera only features a 5 megapixel sensor. The camera is super fast, making it possible to fire off shots in rapid succession as long as the phone's decent built-in flash is not being used. Images look quite good, and there's a built-in panorama mode. In camcorder mode, the camera can record 1080p Full HD video, but the video can become a bit choppy. It also offers a number of cool effects that can be used in videos, such as "big eyes."

The forward-facing 1.3 megapixel camera, which lacks autofocus and flash, can record its own 720p HD videos. All of this functionality is controlled through a new user interface that is a vast improvement over the old one, and the photos and videos the phone creates are of good quality.

What more could you ask for, really? Oh, an HD video editing app. You could ask for one of those, and you'd get it, too. It's a little awkward to edit video on a phone and the rendering can take its time, but having the ability to do it is cool no matter how you look at it. All that's left to ask for is more resolution, and Google's partners will certainly fill that gap when they release their own Ice Cream Sandwich smartphones.

Music

The Galaxy Nexus features an Ice Cream Sandwich version of the Google Music app, which supports Google's cloud music service. It lacks the fancy 3D rendered look of the Honeycomb app, but it is otherwise very similar in look and function. It offers music controls in the notification area and lock screen, and comes with home screen widgets as well. Audio quality is outstanding with a good set of headphones, and exactly what you'd expect without. Enabling the 5-band graphic equalizer, let's you tweak the sound the way you like. Users have the ability to mark a track as liked or disliked and there's a convenient link into the Android Market's music store (which is somewhat limited at this time).

Battery

The Google Galaxy Nexus features a high-capacity Samsung 1850mAh battery that includes an NFC antenna. In spite of the reception issues people are experiencing with the phone, I still managed to get an easy work day out of a full charge as long as I wasn't goofing off too much and kept the screen's brightness set to automatic. That is, quite honestly, much better than I expected. Verizon claims that the phone's battery is capable of powering it through up to 12 hours of talk time or 6.25 days of standby time.

Final Thoughts

While all of the early reviews of the GSM/UMTS version of the Google Galaxy Nexus out of Europe were full of superlatives and the written equivalent of high-fives, I had only modest expectations for the Galaxy Nexus on Verizon. I dislike Android 3.x Honeycomb that much, but I'm floored by Ice Cream Sandwich, to be honest.
I'm also in love with the the HD resolution display on the Galaxy Nexus. I could certainly do with better reception, but I have some hope that Verizon's promised software update will deal with that. I'm also pleased that the battery life seems to be basically as good as most non-4G Android smartphones, even if that still falls somewhat short of what I really desire.
At $299.99 on contract, it's a pricey affair and the reception issues bug me a bit, but I have not had so much fun playing with a smartphone in a long, long time.

90

Pros: Big and beautiful display, slick new user interface, fast camera with good effects, LTE data speeds.
Cons: Quite large, LTE reception issues, relatively low resolution camera.

HTC One X Review

Many in the industry believe that HTC, which was once most beloved among Android fans, has fallen from grace. That the company has lost its way, its edge. I am here to tell you that those people are wrong. I offer as evidence the new HTC One X.
The One X, the company's new flagship Android smartphone, is the kind of phone that just leaves you breathless. Its single-piece polycarbonate body is unique in the Android world, and it is as comfortable to hold as it is drop dead gorgeous. The X's 720p resolution touchscreen display is just as attractive and functional as it is expansive, measuring 4.7 inches across the diagonal.
The One X's two marquee features, however, are likely its Android 4 OS with the new Sense 4 user interface and the phone's powerful NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, which has 4 processing cores that can run at speeds of up to 1.5GHz. The real world impact of a quad-core processor might be negligible for most tasks, but there's no denying that the marketing appeal it offers is great.

About the only thing that is missing is 4G connectivity, since that shiny new Tegra 3 processor lacked LTE support until very recently.Apart from LTE, the HTC One appears to be everything that the Google Galaxy Nexus by Samsung is and should have been. Read on.

Hardware

The HTC One X is an exquisitely designed device. The white body of our evaluation handset is made from a single piece of polycarbonate that features a matte finish, save for the high-gloss edge of the phone. It is supremely attractive and comfortable, and it blends perfectly into the tapered edges of the Gorilla Glass front of the phone that protects its 720 x 1280 pixel Super LCD2 display.
Offering a dot pitch of 312dpi, the One X's 4.7-inch HD touchscreen is more than sharp enough to make even the smallest of fonts look entirely readable - assuming your eyes are up to the task. The X's display also shows significantly deeper black levels than previous HTC HD displays, such as the one seen on the HTC Vivid for AT&T. It still can't quite compete with Super AMOLED for black levels and color saturation, but it is getting quite close.

Since it is an Android 4.0 device, and was designed from the ground up as such, the HTC One X features only three touch sensitive controls under the display. Users will find a back button, a home button, and the task switcher button. Missing is the search button found on most older Android smartphones, and I am glad to bid it farewell since a three button arrangement is much easier to use without looking, as LG showed on its Nitro HD for AT&T.
Above the display on the front face of the phone is the secondary 1.3 megapixel camera for video chatting, which supports the primary 8 megapixel camera, with LED flash, that resides on the back of the phone. A power button sits on the top edge of the One X, where it is somewhat difficult to reach - even with large hands. A 3.5mm headphone jack resides there as well, as does the hidden tray for the phone's mandatory micro-SIM card, which requires a paper clip or something similar for removal. A micro-USB port for charging and data is located on the left edge of the phone, with the volume control sitting exactly on the opposite right hand edge.

With a weight of only 134g (4.7oz) and a svelte profile of 9.2mm (.36in), the One X fits easily into a pocket. Its 134.5mm x 70.8mm (5.3in x 2.8in) length and width can make it a bit unwieldy to use single-handedly for those with smaller hands, but it is no worse than Motorola's popular DROID RAZR and DROID RAZR MAXX smartphones in that regard, even though it offers users a much larger, higher resolution display.Apart from the position of the power button and the micro-USB port, I find the industrial design and build quality of the HTC One X to be just about as good as it gets. It is a device worthy of both love and lust.

HTC Sense 4, Usability, Calling/Data

Usability

There was a time when HTC's Sense user interface was the belle of the smartphone ball, adored by all. In recent years, though, that has changed as Sense has gotten heavier and more intrusive, and once-hated systems like Samsung's TouchWiz have gained favor through iterative refinements. With Sense 4, HTC has started moving back in the direction of favored and refined, as some of the bulk in previous Sense versions has been removed, with the company even improving upon some of the base shortcomings in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich's stock user experience.
For starters, Sense still offers some of its key features, such as the shortcut icons on the lock screen and the ability to save multiple home screen configurations as "scenes" that can be quickly switched between. But gone is the waste of space at the bottom of the home screen for that oversized "phone" button we're used to seeing, having been replaced by 4 user configurable shortcuts.
The multi-paned, tabbed view of settings and shortcuts in the notification area has also been dropped in favor of a simple list. HTC's vertically scrolling main menu, which scrolled in one page increments, has been replaced with a horizontally scrolling paged menu that is similar to what Google offers as stock, but it comes with tabs for other views such as "downloaded" that makes it handier to use. On the other hand, HTC's new task switcher, with its paged view of apps, needs to be dropped. It is cooler looking than Google's stock switcher, but ultimately far less usable.
The new Sense on-screen keyboard is larger than before, due to the addition of dedicated arrow keys. It still supports a trace mode that emulates most of Swype's features, but is merely a pretender to the throne in that regard. I continue to dislike the keyboard's number mode key being located on the right hand side, as it has long been, but otherwise find the keyboard to perform quickly and accurately.
Some things that Google totally missed the mark on, such as widget management, have also been entirely replaced by far more usable HTC solutions. And while we still see cool Sense features like twitter and Facebook integration in the contacts app and a suite of beautiful clock and weather widgets, the UI as a whole now feels more like a benefit rather than a hindrance. There is still work to be done, but at least Sense is moving in the right direction once again.

Calling / Data

The HTC One X can be used on GSM and 3G networks around the world. I tested my European model on AT&T's network, where I still got ~HSPA data speeds - though not as fast (or stable) as I might have expected. In strong signal areas I managed to get data speeds of 3Mbps down and 1.5Mbps up. Reception on the phone appears to be somewhat weak, or at least inconsistent, but call audio quality was nice and crisp. The phone also supports Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n data connections as well as supports Bluetooth for headsets and other features and USB for connecting with a personal computer. A hotspot mode can be used for connection sharing with Wi-Fi capable devices, as well, and ~NFC support on the X can be used with functions like Android Beam.

Messaging

I absolutely love the email client that HTC includes on the One X. It's very attractive and offers functionality like a combined inbox view, gorgeous home screen widgets, and the ability to scroll through an inbox by date by using two fingers. You can use it with any mail server that supports IMAP, POP, or Exchange - which is just about everything. The messaging app is also well done, offering an clean interface as well as the ability to adjust the font size and configure the inbox to work as you like. The only instant messaging app pre-installed is Google's own Talk, but the One X comes with Facebook and Twitter loaded out of the box.

Apps / App Store

As an unlocked, carrier-free device, the HTC One X has very little bloatware. HTC loads a number of its own apps, like the HTC Watch streaming app, but mostly One X users will just find mostly Google branded apps (Maps, Gmail, Google+, etc). There are a few exceptions, though, such as HTC's Notes app, which is a slick front-end to Evernote that takes some of its inspiration from HTC's Flyer tablet. Polaris Office and a PDF reader handle Office document editing and viewing, and both are integrated with Dropbox (25GB for two years included) and Microsoft Skydrive support, which is truly useful. If you still need more, then the Google Play Store (formerly the Android Market) offers hundreds of thousands of apps (and books, songs) that you can browse through.

Browser

HTC has given the One X a fine new browser that is very fast and smooth in operating - with one exception. The browser exhibited some odd behavior during intelligent "double tap" zooming, often zooming in as desired, only to pan over unexpectedly to the wrong part of the screen. Apart from that, though, the Flash- and HTML5-capable browser worked very well. Still, for my money, you'd do even better by checking out the Chrome Beta browser from Google, which is just fantastic in most every way. Chrome doesn't yet support Flash, though, but it is expected to be the standard browser in future versions of Android.

Camera, Battery Life, Conclusion

Camera and Video Capture

Now on to one of my favorite parts of the One X, the 8 megapixel camera. Not only does the camera offer a truly magnificent user interface, with quick access to settings and controls of all sorts (even filters!), but it just takes great photos - both with and without flash. And it does so very quickly. In fact, you can shoot a burst of photos by simply holding down the on-screen shutter button.

On top of that, you can record full-resolution 8 megapixel still photos while you are recording a 1080p full HD video just by tapping the shutter button. Both buttons are on the screen at the same time, so you never have to switch modes. It's such a convenient feature to have. I also approve of HTC's fast and wide-angle lens, which makes the camera much more practical for real life situations.It doesn't hurt that a decent video editor, with themed transitions, is pre-loaded on the phone, though I occasionally had problems with focus-hunting while recording videos outdoors. No other smartphone has been as much fun to use for photography as the HTC One X, though.

Music

HTC's music player on the One X is very attractive and capable. It features integration with the 7digital music store, SoundHound's music identification service, and Tunein Radio's service for streaming live, ground-based radio stations.
The music app makes good use of album art, and is organized well, but it lacks support for Google's own cloud based music service, which is now part of the company's Google Play properties. There's nothing to stop you from downloading and using Google's music app on the One X, though, so your bases are pretty much covered.

Battery

HTC's One X comes equipped with a reasonably large 1800mAh battery that is permanently embedded inside its one-piece body. There's no option to swap out the battery, just as is the case with the Nokia Lumia 800.
HTC does not provide any talk time or standby time ratings for the One X, but I've found the phone to be a pretty solid performer in terms of real world battery use. Getting a full 24 hours out of the battery is easily within reach, but you still won't get two full days out of it unless you use it ever so sparingly and have it configured with few apps updating in the background.

Final Thoughts

The HTC One X is easily my favorite phone on the market today. Even Samsung's Google Galaxy Nexus pales in comparison. The sexy hardware design, the updated Sense 4 user interface, and the amazing camera team up with blazing performance to make the One X an unstoppable force of nature that I simply must have in my hand.
I am quite certain that there are going to be quad-core Samsung-built Android devices with equal speed and camera performance in the near future, but I doubt that Samsung has the grapes to put out an industrial design as bold as that of the HTC One X.

Pros: Beautiful design, great display, speedy and easy to use camera, improved Sense UI, quad-core processing speed.
Cons: Non-swappable battery, no 4G data support, somewhat large.

VLC 2.0 Player With New Look – Additional Codecs, Advance Features

VLC Player 2.0 is the latest version released by VideoLAN Organization. The official release of VLC 2.0 Final was made on 20th Feb 2012. This open source video player is very much capable of handling most media formats. VLC 2.0 is the first landmark update since its first official release in June 2009. You can find a lot of changes in the VLC 2.0 version. Especially the look and feel in Mac platform is really impressive. It can support the Blu-ray playback being overshadowed with amazing interface. VLC 2.0 on the Mac platform replaces the simplistic interface and resembles iTunes old versions. You can observe a lot of other additional features in the Mac version of VLC 2.0.

The stable Mac version of VLC 2.0 can play more audio and video files. You can find a two-paned window which contains a list of common locations for media files. You can see this in the left hand pane of VLC 2.0. And it also gives you an invitation to drag and drop files into the window for playback on right side of the player. Now if you come to the windows version, VLC 2.0 has got great support towards it too. The one major upgrade you can find in windows version is, you can find a dedicated 64 bit build of VLC.  Apart from this small upgrade, you can find many more updates and features like never before. Check out some of the features and upgrades in the below post.

 

VLC 2.0 : New Features, Advance Options

The most important features you will find in VLC 2.0 :
1) Simple, Fast and Powerful.
2) Plays almost all everything (Files, Discs, Webcams, Streams)
3) Supports all types of codecs like MPEG-2, H.264, DivX, MPEG-4, WMV and etc. without any packs needed.
4) Completely free from spyware, ads or user tracking.
5) Works on most platforms like Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Unix and Other.
6) Media Converter and Streamer.

The new VLC 2.0 can support a lot of Audio and Video formats, Check out the list of formats it support in audio and video.

VLC 2.0 : Audio Formats

MPEG Layer 1/2, MP3 – MPEG Layer 3, AAC – MPEG-4 part3, Vorbis, AC3 – A/52 (Dolby Digital), E-AC-3 (Dolby Digital Plus), MLP / TrueHD”>3, DTS, WMA 1/2, WMA 3 1, FLAC, ALAC, Speex, Musepack / MPC, ATRAC 3,     Wavpack,    Mod (.s3m, .it, .mod),    TrueAudio (TTA), APE (Monkey Audio), Real Audio 2, Alaw/µlaw,  AMR (3GPP), MIDI 3,  LPCM, ADPCM,  QCELP,  DV Audio, QDM2/QDMC (QuickTime), MACE

VLC 2.0 : Video Formats

MPEG-1/2, DIVX (1/2/3) , MPEG-4 ASP, DivX 4/5/6, XviD, 3ivX D4, H.261, H.263 / H.263i, H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC, Cinepak, Theora, Dirac / VC-2, MJPEG (A/B), WMV 1/2, WMV 3 / WMV-9 / VC-1 1, Sorenson 1/3,(Quicktime), DV (Digital Video), On2 VP3/VP5/VP6, Indeo Video v3 (IV32), Indeo Video 4/5 (IV41, IV51), Real Video 1/2, Real Video 3/4

Apart from these above formats, VLC 2.0 can support a lot of additional Input features,  Subtitle/Tag formats,   A/V outputs, A/V filters, Interfaces and other additional formats, In one simple world, VLC 2.0 is a universal player which can play anything. You can always check the list of features from the official site. Click here to check all the available features of VLC 2.0.

If you take a look at the new interface, you can find many changes in the look and feel of VLC player. The amazing silver look of VLC 2.0 is really pleasant and professional.

As you can see the above screenshot with different panels and different options, each one of them has got its own way of functioning. Take a look at the left and right panels in the player, which allow you to add multiple files at a time. As told above, the files can be added by just dragging them and dropping into the player. You can observe that almost everything is changed in the new VLC 2.0 Player. You can also download a lot of new VLC 2.0 skins from the official site. Click here to take a look at the latest VLC 2.0 Skins.

And if we talk about the stability, VLC 2.0 is more stable and will crash very less if you compare it with the previous versions. The new interface is really light, you can surely make out the difference between the older versions and the new stable version of VLC 2.0. If you want to download this amazing player, you can download from the below link directly. You can ask us any additional information related to new VLC 2.0.

Laptops vs Netbooks vs Ultrabooks – What’s the main difference?

Portable computers are usually referred to as laptop computers or simply, laptops. In reality, there are many types of laptop computers. There’s basically the default laptops, which have slightly less capabilities than a full desktop PC, there’s the desktop replacement laptop, there’s ultrabooks and finally netbooks. In the strictest sense, classifications like these are usually done based on a set of conditions the portable computer in question fulfills.

Laptops, their average capabilities and price range is already well known. They are portable, quiet and have all components integrated. However, the sub categories of laptops are still not very well known. It’s quite important to known exactly what type of laptop to buy because there’s not much sense in buying a full featured laptop when all you need is to edit a few word document or browse the web, is there? So lets break down the types of laptop computers on offer so you can choose one exactly according to your requirements. The categories are:

Desktop Replacement laptops:

These laptops are exactly what their name suggest, they are desktop replacements. They are often also called gaming laptops or media center laptops. Desktop replacements are basically large, bulky laptops with everything you can find in a desktop computer. They have large screens, powerful graphics cards,  high storage capacities and basically all the bells and whistles. The only downside is, they don’t offer much in the way of battery backup. Then again, they’re not exactly meant to be taken around everywhere, they’re just a portable version of your desktop. With all this power in a portable package, needless to say, desktop replacements are rather expensive.

For example, the MSI GT783R offers a 2nd generation Core i7 processor, 6GB DDR3 RAM, GeForce GTX580M graphics card with 2GB VRAM, 1TB HDD and a Blu-Ray drive! Similarly, Dell, Razer and Alienware offer such high powered laptops with amazing performance. They retail for around 2000$ and above. So if you’re looking for the highest computing power in portable form and aren’t concerned with battery backup, then grab one of these!

 

Ultrabooks:

Ultrabooks are Intel architecture only superlight laptops that sport good performance while not compromising on battery life. These category of laptops usually don’t have much storage capacity or expansion slots. They usually sport only SSD’s or an SSD in tandem with a small regular HDD. To minimize power consumption, size and weight, power efficient processors and RAM modules are used that offer good, but not blazing fast performance like the desktop replacements. The term “ultrabook” was basically coined by Intel and all ultrabooks run on Intel processors. Intel has applied for a trademark and dictates certain minimum specification a laptop computer must have before it can be classified as an ultrabook. The first set of specifications were stated in October 2011 and the second and current set will be effective minimum from June 2012. The minimum specifications are:

Release date	October, 2011	June, 2012 (expected)
Processor	Sandy Bridge microarchitecture Intel Core models CULV (17 W TDP)	Ivy Bridge microarchitecture Intel Core models CULV (17 W TDP)
Height (maximum)	18 mm for 13.3″ and smaller displays 21 mm for 14.0″ and larger displays	18 mm for 13.3″ and smaller displays 21 mm for 14.0″ and larger displays 23 mm for convertible tablets
Battery life (minimum)	5 hours	5 hours
Resume from hibernation (maximum)	7 seconds from S4	7 seconds from S4
Storage	no requirements	80 MB/s transfer rate (minimum) 16 GB capacity (minimum)
Ports	no requirements	USB 3.0
Software and firmware	Intel Management Engine 7.1 (or higher) Intel Anti-Theft Technology Intel Identity Protection Technology	Intel Management Engine 8.0 (or higher) Intel Anti-Theft Technology Intel Identity Protection Technology

(Table courtesy Wikipedia)

Although the ultrabook classification is basically Intel’s, the Apple MacBook Air also comes under the ultrabook classification as it satisfies the specifications albeit running on Mac OS X. An example for an ultrabook is the Dell XPS 13, which has an Intel Core i5 processor running at 1.6GHz, 4GB DDR3 RAM, 128GB SSD and Intel integrated graphics. It weighs around 1.3kg, has a claimed battery backup of 8 hours and costs about 1000$. So if you want portability and battery life at the cost of a little less performance, then get yourself an ultrabook!

 

Netbooks:

The last and smallest versions of laptops are called netbooks. They are sometimes also called mini-laptops. Netbooks feature small screens, low powered processors and less storage capacity. They often also come without optical drives, with small keypads and weigh 1kg or less. However, netbooks have a long battery life and are frequently used in educational environments. Netbooks usually run on the Intel Atom platform or the AMD Fusion platform. Although most modern netbooks run on Windows 7 Starter, netbooks running on higher versions of Windows 7 are available as well.

One of the best and most popular netbook series is the Asus Eee PC series. The Asus Eee 1016P offers a single core Intel Atom N455 processor running at 1.6GHz, 2GB DDR2 RAM, Intel Integrated graphics, 250GB HDD and features a 10inch screen. It runs on Windows 7 Professional. Asus offers 500GB of cloud storage for customers of the Eee 1016P, so you effectively have 750GB of storage space, which should be quite enough for most people. It’s worth noting that the 1016P is a very basic model and the newer Eee 1215B features a AMD Fusion processor running at 1.6GHz, 2-4GB DDR3 RAM, 250-500GB HDD and an AMD Radeon 6 series graphics card with a 12inch screen and Windows 7. This fair bit of performance comes at a higher price, but still offers around 8 hours of battery life.

While the specs don’t seem like much, it does everything it’s meant to do, you can surf the web, watch movies, listen to music and do most things, just not very system intensive things like video editing, gaming or heavy multi-tasking. Then again, netbooks aren’t meant for system intensive tasks. The biggest draw is battery life, the Asus Eee 1016P claims a whopping 13 hours of battery life! Most netbooks have a battery life of around 8-10 hours. For people on the go who just need the basic functions of a computer but need more flexibility than a tablet, get yourself a netbook. They are also quite affordable at around 500-600$.

So these were the types of laptop computers available, what would you prefer?

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HOW TO CHANGE FACEBOOK COLOR ?

By using the Firefox web browser & the Greasemonkey Add-on, and this userscript you are able to change the colors of Facebook to anything you wish.

(1)Make sure you are using the Firefox browser.

(2)Make sure you have the Greasemonkey add-on installed (this requires restarting your browser).


(3)When you have Firefox and Greasemonkey, go to this Facebook colour changer userscript page and click the install button at the top right of the page.

(4)Click to confirm that you wish to install the script, and it will be installed.

(5)Now, when viewing any page on Facebook simply go to ‘Tools’, ‘Greasemonkey’, ‘Userscript Commands…’ and then ‘Customise   facebook colours…’. See the image below for help with this. (Alternatively the same menu can be shown when right-clicking   on the monkey on the bottom right).
Select the colours you’d like facebook to be, click “Set!”, and you’re done!

Top 5 Internet Predictions for 2012

Top 5 Internet Predictions for 2012

2012 is coming with a lot of expectations; hence there have been lots of predictions about Internet in this year as well. Most people consider that these predictions are useless but they can provide a certain idea about the future too. They might not be correct every time but they surely clarify one’s thinking regarding the future. Customers are expecting retailers to be on the web during this coming year due to the expansion of e-commerce and mobile. Hence 2012 is expected to see huge development in terms of the web industry. Here are the top five predictions about the Internet:

1. Rise of more business problems and regulations

COPA is dealing with copyright infringement and it is felt that some innocent casualties can also result due to it. Moreover US recession is also affecting site sales and it has caused websites to focus more on converting their visitors into sales. It is a common fact that quality traffic is getting more expensive, and the successful ones are those who are able to turn their visitors into sales. The same trend will continue during 2012 as well. The fact is that 2012 has been predicted with the end of the world, though it might not be true but it is obvious that there might be many problems during this year. The question is how you will deal with them.

2. Chrome will rule

For the past few years, Firefox and Internet Explorer have slowly dropped in their popularity. Chrome, on the other hand, has been on a steady rise. Right now Chrome has passed Firefox and IE is dominant too. With the expectation that Chrome will unite with Android, Chrome’s numbers may climb sharply.

3. Rise of Ecommerce and entertainment-focused companies:

With the ever growing popularity of Internet that is reaching over a billion people now, Vertical markets have grown so massively that can even support huge companies that have a focus on one product category. With such companies leading nowadays, value creation and investment will surely prosper during 2012.

4. More focus on mobile development:

2011 shopping season has proved the fact that people are getting more interested towards mobile web. Around 15% traffic came through mobile devices, which is double in number than the previous year. Shoppers using iPads were seen spending more money than desktop shoppers. Hence retailers will try to match the scope and size with their mobile teams in 2012.

5. The popularity of social networking sites:

The most famous social networking site Facebook is believed to reach to 1 billion users in 2012. It already has 800 million accounts and people still expect the rise of this site as it is getting dominant in big developed market. 2012 is also expecting to see more popularity of Twitter which makes use of various ad formats that is why it is believed that Twitter will really scale up during the coming year.

Hence, these predictions are based upon the current situation of Internet world and the expectations from it during the coming year. So there is a certainty of these predictions to become true as well.