Droid Sector » Nexus One

Battery Life with Flash Player on the Nexus One

Jeff — Sun, 30 May 2010 21:39:38 +0000

On full brightness, the Nexus One without Flash Player got 3 hours and 45 minutes. Playing the video through Flash Player gave a battery life of 3 hours and 8 minutes. Not a big dropoff. At half brightness it was even better. The Nexus One without Flash got 3 hours 56 minutes and the Flash version got 3 hours and 31 minutes. Just a 10.5% change, which isn’t bad at all considering everything Flash Player does.

blog.digitalbackcountry.com

How many megapixels in 5 megapixels?

Jeff — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:34:50 +0000

Many phones nowadays have cameras with 5 megapixels and above. Let’s take a closer look:

Looks like the Nexus One is using sharpening while Galaxy is not. The image from the Milestone is sharp but very noisy.

Now, another test:

The photo taken with the Nexus One looks more like a 3 megapixel image. The Milestone produces sharper photos, but overall quality is not very good.

So, do you still think that a 8 MP cameraphone is better than a 5 MP cameraphone?

Nexus One: The Story

Jeff — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 11:25:10 +0000

Google released a series of short films documenting the making of Nexus One.

All episodes

Update for Nexus One: 3G fix, multitouch in stock apps

Jeff — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:44:38 +0000

This update also includes Google Googles and updated Maps app:

Starred items synchronized with maps.google.com – access your favorite places from your phone or computer
Search suggestions from your personal maps.google.com history – makes it easy to search for places you’ve searched for before
Night mode in Google Maps Navigation – automatically changes your screen at night for easier viewing and driving

Google Nexus One Board

Want this update right now? Here’s a method for devices with LOCKED bootloader:

Make sure you have enough battery.
Download update file: here or here.
Rename the file to update.zip
Copy the update.zip file onto your SD card.
Turn off the phone, then power on while holding down the trackball.
In the next screen, select ‘Recovery’.
After phone reboot, you should see an exclamation point inside a triangle.
Press the Power button and Volume Up button at the same time.
Select “Apply sdcard:update.zip” with trackball.

Via Android Forums

This update also available for unlocked phones in CyanogenMod 5.0.

Nexus One desktop dock now available

Jeff — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 01:32:25 +0000

Nexus One Desktop Dock is now available for purchase from the Google online store.

“As soon as you slip your phone into the desktop dock the Clock app opens, providing quick access to the local time and weather, alarm settings, photo slideshows, and your music.

The dock comes equipped with a charger and a 3.5mm-to-RCA audio cable, for connecting the dock to your stereo, so you can listen to your phone’s music on your stereo system.

The dock is priced at $45 and can be bought as a separate accessory from the online store, or bundled with the purchase of your Nexus One phone.”

Review: http://www.androidcentral.com/review-nexus-one-desktop-dock

Dear iPhone fans: Nexus One is better, get over it

Jeff — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:12:25 +0000

Looks like every tech blog is comparing these phones, so I’ve made my own table:

Screen:

OLED screens have much better colors and viewing angles. Blacks are really deep because there is no backlight behind. Below is the picture comparing iPhone, Samsung i7500 and HTC G1 screens.

Camera

With small lenses like in these phones, the number of megapixels doesn’t really matter. As for a LED flash – sometimes it’s good to have it as a flashlight.

Video

Just found this test on the net: Nexus One vs. iPhone 3GS: Which Phone Is the Better Video Device?

Storage

Many reviewers have written about a 256 MB storage for installing apps. Most applications are less than 1 MB in size, so you can easily fit 200-500 apps in Nexus One.

Speaking about gigabyte games: there is no executable code of this size. I think it’s 10-20 MB at most, the rest is game data (levels, textures). And this game data can be stored on your SD card. Did you ever happen to download a small installer which then continued to download the rest of the data? This technique is already been used by Android developers, both in applications and games.

Controls

Back button is used not only to return to the previous screen within the same application, but also to return to the previously started application. You don’t have to return to the Home screen every time.

Menu button might not be very intuitive on first day of use, just like a Mac menu bar for some Windows users. But it saves a valuable screen space.

Trackball is rarely used, but it’s helpful for precise browser navigation and in other apps that support it. It’s also the only possible way you can dial a number with your gloves on.

Audio playback controls. Yes, I’m asking where is audio playback buttons on these so-called “multimedia” phones. And AVRCP support is not very good on iPhone, at least I can’t get to work these buttons on Jabra Halo wireless headphones.

Applications

Many people think that applications on the iPhone are more polished. Well, maybe not all:

My point is: nothing prevents the developers from making polished apps for Android.

Multimedia

Sure, it’s hard to beat the iPod. But I personally think that Spotify and similar services are the future. You can listen and discover music on a mobile device or a desktop, and there’s no need in syncing your music via USB cables or something else.

Multi-touch

It may be a matter of preference, but for me personally the multi-touch proved to be useful only when playing a game or typing on a virtual keyboard. It’s good as an additional zoom method in Google Maps, and may or may not be handy when browsing the Web. As for the latter, a double tap in the browser works good enough for me.

Anyway, the Android platform has multitouch support in its API since version 2.0. If you want multi-touch support in the browser (it’s device dependent) or in the maps application, try downloading Dolphin and Maverick from Android Market.

Update: multitouch functionality in stock apps (browser, maps, gallery) added in the recent OTA update.

Fragmentation

There aren’t many problems with multiple screen resolutions on Android devices. Check out this post on how the same application looks on 240×320, 320×480 and 480×854 screen resolutions.

Of course, different devices have different Android versions, but eventually all of them will be upgraded to 2.x (maybe except Samsung i7500, but some hackers are already porting v2.0 to it). Generally, if you have a phone with 1.6, you can install any app from the Market.

Dear iPhone fans

Please stop shouting “iPhone is better!” on every corner. If you are happy with your current devices, Apple will be happy with their sales. Maybe that’s why 3GS is not that different from its previous generation. Why bother making a better device if your current sales are so good?

Competition has always been a natural way to get the best out of someone. Google has done a remarkable thing in the mobile devices front in terms of openness to software developers, something that Apple has yet to surprise us.

Nexus One is official

Jeff — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:39:40 +0000

Nexus One is available for purchasing at www.google.com/phone in US and UK.

YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/GoogleNexusOne

Google Android Press Gathering Recording:

DroidDog hands on:

New 3D gallery:

Did you noticed ability to share photos via Bluetooth?

TechCrunch review:
www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/05/google-nexus-one-the-techcrunch-review

Spotify + Google Nexus One = iPhone killer

Jeff — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:58:12 +0000

Michael Arrington thinks that there’s a chance Spotify will be part of the January 5 Google announcement. Spotify is an excellent alternative to iTunes, both desktop and mobile versions. You don’t even need to connect devices for syncing playlists, Spotify downloads music over-the-air and plays it from cache when no connection available.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/04/google-spotify-launch-android-nexus-one/

Nexus One reviews

Jeff — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:42:49 +0000

Engadget (full review is ~~coming soon~~ complete garbage):

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/02/exclusive-google-nexus-one-hands-on-video…

Nexus One Blog:
http://www.nexusoneblog.com/blog/2010/1/2/nexus-one-review.html

Dimensions: 119 x 59.8 x 11.5mm, weight: 130g / 4.58 oz (iPhone: 136g, Droid: 170g).

If I had to walk in to a store today with endless funds to purchase a phone, I would have to go with the Nexus One. The main reasons I chose this phone is simply because of it’s hires display, speed, and it’s extremely attractive UI. On a 3G network, there is no reason to stray to any other device. Yes the iPhone shoots pictures and video a bit better, but if I REALLY want to shoot crisp photos I’ll do that with my real digital camera. At this point iPhone has the better gaming applications, but again the android Market is growing at a rapid pace. We’re likely to soon see some amazing stuff when developers get their hands on the Nexus One. I’m more concerned with the fact that I can actually MAKE phone calls from the Nexus One, and the fact that it makes browsing the web a truly unique and visually stimulating experience.

Currently, my main phone that I’m using is my Nexus One, and my iPhone is now my iPod. Hats off to Google and HTC on an amazing device!

High-quality video of the Nexus One UI

Jeff — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:56:19 +0000

New hi-resolution pictures:

http://www.bheller.com/old/images/NexusGoogleAndroid/

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