3 issues that I'm worried about for Galaxy Nexus

**dammitcubs** · 10-24-2011, 05:19 PM

1) With the removal of capacitive buttons and moving to a 3 button layout, is anyone bothered with the fact that there is no longer a dedicated menu button? That's like our right click and it was nice to have extra settings available in the menu button which can be different for each application. That would mean that every developer that makes their software compatible will have to added a section in the window for settings.

2) How good is this OMAP4460 chipset. It seems like this picked over the Exynos because it works better with LTE. Also, probably because these supply agreements are made months ahead. I know that the Exynos is a beast (as I'm holding the epic 4g touch) and I wonder how good this OMAP4460 will perform in comparison.

3) The screen size says 4.6 inches but bottom capactive buttons means we lose them in our display. For what it's worth, except for homescreen unlock and movies, this space will only be used for buttons thus we don't really have a 4.65 display. Also, my making the lower section the replacement buttons. If you combine that with the burn in issue in AMOLED. and the fact that you will see these fake buttons for 90% of the time, then you will see some serious burn in issues when you use the entire screen.

**Andrew Ruffolo** · 10-24-2011, 05:30 PM

1) menu button appears on top when a menu option is given. In honeycomb, HC optimized apps had the menu at the top and standard android apps had it at the bottom.

2) I'd take an OMAP4460 on software that is hardware accelerated and throws in an LTE as a bonus over an Exynos anyday

3) I've seen some screens where the app occupies the entire space and others where it doesn't. While I don't know the full utilization, I'd be interested to see how this relates to apps being coded. For instance, a standard app where screensize isn't vital for maximum utility, the buttons are visible (99% of apps... yes, my statistics are made up) and where screensize is important (i.e. to play videos) have the buttons hidden.

**rabaker07** · 10-24-2011, 07:20 PM

yeah, the only time I will really care is with video (and games). Otherwise, keep the form factor down. I plan to carry this thing around in my pocket, thanks.

**philly** · 10-24-2011, 07:28 PM

Originally Posted by dammitcubs

1) With the removal of capacitive buttons and moving to a 3 button layout, is anyone bothered with the fact that there is no longer a dedicated menu button? That's like our right click and it was nice to have extra settings available in the menu button which can be different for each application. That would mean that every developer that makes their software compatible will have to added a section in the window for settings.

2) How good is this OMAP4460 chipset. It seems like this picked over the Exynos because it works better with LTE. Also, probably because these supply agreements are made months ahead. I know that the Exynos is a beast (as I'm holding the epic 4g touch) and I wonder how good this OMAP4460 will perform in comparison.

3) The screen size says 4.6 inches but bottom capactive buttons means we lose them in our display. For what it's worth, except for homescreen unlock and movies, this space will only be used for buttons thus we don't really have a 4.65 display. Also, my making the lower section the replacement buttons. If you combine that with the burn in issue in AMOLED. and the fact that you will see these fake buttons for 90% of the time, then you will see some serious burn in issues when you use the entire screen.

well my current phone has 4 buttons on the bottom.. it looks like they got rid of the Search button.. shouldnt the other 3 still be on there or did they swap one of those out for something different?

**dammitcubs** · 10-24-2011, 07:43 PM

Well the 3 buttons seem to be back, home and apps (which i think is better than holding how the home button that took forever). But I liked having a dedicated menu button.

**humpagardengnome** · 10-24-2011, 07:52 PM

#2, is an uneeded concern in the forum. I'm not really concerned about the use of an OMAP over Exynos. Apple is killing the competition across the board w/ half the RAM & an underclocked 1Ghz dual core processor, which topped out around 800mhz, in the last scoring data I read. Proving speed doesn't unequivocably override, less being more, occasionally. They opted for the 4460 and built the OS to be optimized while using their new "flagship" device.

**CynicX** · 10-24-2011, 07:58 PM

The buttons are on screen, they will change depending on the foreground app. It works great in Honeycomb, you'll love it.

**hyperdude** · 10-25-2011, 12:46 PM

They removed the dedicated Menu button because starting with Honeycomb, all the things you would put in the options menu now belong in the action bar (and it looks like in ICS, two or three show up on top and the other icons can show up at the bottom of the screen - based on the new Gmail app at least). Those actions shouldn't be hidden behind a button press, they should be right on the screen.

**1088933** · 10-25-2011, 12:59 PM

I don't think that having a menu button will be that bad. I agree it was our right-click, and that it was used a lot, but ICS looks very well thought out and integrated. Don't think we should be worrying about all this stuff until we see the phone and see how it performs.

**Jaycemiskel** · 10-25-2011, 01:21 PM

The great thing about having on screen buttons is that they can change at any time. If we need a menu button at that current time then there will be one. That's definitely nothing to worry about. Like everyone said about the processor, I would prefer that the software be optimized like it is. Specs aren't everything. As for the size of the screen, think about it like this, if you had a 4.3" screen you could only see so much anyway. Now when you watch videos you get extra space. It's kind of like a bonus.Just my .02.

**philly** · 10-25-2011, 05:37 PM

this is good news... I was concerned about if I bought the Razr, then updated to ICS would the hardware buttons on the bottom just be deactivated/waste of space / would the lcd buttons be redundant.. basically noone wants to have 2 layers of the same exact buttons on the bottom of their phone.

but according to this article.. ICS will overide and switch to the hardware buttons, on phones that have them. To me this is a bonus to the Razr.. because honestly I do prefer non on screen buttons.

One of the reasons why is Ive had times where my touchscreen becomes non responsive or my phone gets stuck in some sort of loop.. using the hardware buttons actually got a response from my phone.

**humpagardengnome** · 10-25-2011, 07:38 PM

Originally Posted by Jaycemiskel

The great thing about having on screen buttons is that they can change at any time. If we need a menu button at that current time then there will be one. That's definitely nothing to worry about. Like everyone said about the processor, I would prefer that the software be optimized like it is. Specs aren't everything. As for the size of the screen, think about it like this, if you had a 4.3" screen you could only see so much anyway. Now when you watch videos you get extra space. It's kind of like a bonus.Just my .02.

I have issue w/ it cuz I don't like the fact that it's not a user controlled option in the display settings. It's determined by the OS, randomly, only when using specific apps/processes. Google said that many of the ICS features were added to make the UI, user friendly & a highly customizable experience for users. To not include, a user controlled tab in the display settings, seems like a glaring omission. Hope they correct that in a future update because it really doesn't make sense to put such a large (HD) screen on a device, of it's usage isn't optimized.

**dammitcubs** · 10-25-2011, 07:54 PM

here is a overview that might answer some questions:

**milan03** · 10-25-2011, 07:57 PM

Originally Posted by dammitcubs

1) With the removal of capacitive buttons and moving to a 3 button layout, is anyone bothered with the fact that there is no longer a dedicated menu button? That's like our right click and it was nice to have extra settings available in the menu button which can be different for each application. That would mean that every developer that makes their software compatible will have to added a section in the window for settings.

2) How good is this OMAP4460 chipset. It seems like this picked over the Exynos because it works better with LTE. Also, probably because these supply agreements are made months ahead. I know that the Exynos is a beast (as I'm holding the epic 4g touch) and I wonder how good this OMAP4460 will perform in comparison.

3) The screen size says 4.6 inches but bottom capactive buttons means we lose them in our display. For what it's worth, except for homescreen unlock and movies, this space will only be used for buttons thus we don't really have a 4.65 display. Also, my making the lower section the replacement buttons. If you combine that with the burn in issue in AMOLED. and the fact that you will see these fake buttons for 90% of the time, then you will see some serious burn in issues when you use the entire screen.

And where is the "issue" in this post?

**Yadao** · 10-25-2011, 10:03 PM

Originally Posted by dammitcubs

...If you combine that with the burn in issue in AMOLED. and the fact that you will see these fake buttons for 90% of the time, then you will see some serious burn in issues when you use the entire screen.

Current Android phones have the notification bar up top that is largely static. There's hasn't been any huge issues that I know of with burn in associated with the notification bar. I think we're fine with the soft buttons. Also, I believe that when an AMOLED screen is displaying black the pixels are simple not powered on. So that helps. (using a black theme will actually save you some battery :P)

**Jaycemiskel** · 10-25-2011, 10:48 PM

Originally Posted by humpagardengnome

I have issue w/ it cuz I don't like the fact that it's not a user controlled option in the display settings. It's determined by the OS, randomly, only when using specific apps/processes. Google said that many of the ICS features were added to make the UI, user friendly & a highly customizable experience for users. To not include, a user controlled tab in the display settings, seems like a glaring omission. Hope they correct that in a future update because it really doesn't make sense to put such a large (HD) screen on a device, of it's usage isn't optimized.

So you don't like that you can't control when the buttons show up?
I'm glad the hardware buttons will still work and there will be no on screen buttons on devices that have them. So I wonder if holding the home button down is the equivalent of the apps button.

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk

**1088933** · 10-26-2011, 12:58 AM

Originally Posted by dammitcubs

here is a overview that might answer some questions:

I wish I spoke Italian :/

Sent from an app that you can probably guess.

**ottscay** · 10-26-2011, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by dammitcubs

1) With the removal of capacitive buttons and moving to a 3 button layout, is anyone bothered with the fact that there is no longer a dedicated menu button? That's like our right click and it was nice to have extra settings available in the menu button which can be different for each application. That would mean that every developer that makes their software compatible will have to added a section in the window for settings.

As others have pointed out, the whole interface has been redesigned so that gestures and consistently available UI buttons (I mean ones in core apps, not the bottom nav buttons) provide you with faster and more intuitive access to the same functions. And it will make mutli-tasking far more practical, both for power users and for people who never heard of "multi-tasking" before they bought the phone. Speaking for myself it'll take a little while before I get used to looking for the set up/options area in the app tray, but it's a small sacrifice to make for the other UX gains IMO.

2) How good is this OMAP4460 chipset. It seems like this picked over the Exynos because it works better with LTE. Also, probably because these supply agreements are made months ahead. I know that the Exynos is a beast (as I'm holding the epic 4g touch) and I wonder how good this OMAP4460 will perform in comparison.

It'll be fine. The OMAP4460 is a fully current chip that is actually designed to run at 1.5ghz (although I agree with their decisions to underclock it to improve battery life). And moreover the OS is tuned for it. It's true that the GPU architecture lags behind that seen on the A5 and Exynos, but the GPU is also overclocked to make up for that, so the real world impact will probably be its relative impact on the battery rather than a noticeable drop in performance.

3) The screen size says 4.6 inches but bottom capactive buttons means we lose them in our display. For what it's worth, except for homescreen unlock and movies, this space will only be used for buttons thus we don't really have a 4.65 display.

I prefer the phone be a smaller form-factor than having to carry around a Dell Streak-like mini-tablet. Outside of watching movies and a couple of other activities, how important is that extra 80 or so pixels? It'll still be a huge screen with fantastic resolution and contrast, and the software buttons will not only let the navigation buttons turn with orientation, but potentially could change with context or allow theming (we'll have to see what comes to light after developers get ICS in their grubby little coding paws). It seems like a good trade off to me, but I suppose that's just personal preference.