GENTLEMEN...START YER ENGINES...

[gerio]

...and head to the Verizon where, unless something silly happens, the Galaxy Nexus will be available for purchase!

No, I won't be getting one, but I'm looking forward to reading about other folks' reactions and experiences with it.

Geri O

[droidsw]

If/when it comes out, I too will be watching and reading very closely. ICS could make or break Android.

Yeah, that's a mouthful, but something's got to change before I purchase another Android phone and if ICS doesn't do it, is there another ace in the hole?

[21stNow]

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droidsw wrote:
If/when it comes out, I too will be watching and reading very closely. ICS could make or break Android.

Yeah, that's a mouthful, but something's got to change before I purchase another Android phone and if ICS doesn't do it, is there another ace in the hole?

---

What features have you heard about from ICS that interest you the most?  Or are you referring to the smoothness or stability of the OS overall?  What are the make it or break it things for you?

[droidsw]

Everything you mentioned and an overall less buggy, glitchy experience. Not needing to perform frequent battery pulls and reboots. Not having to perform the inevitable hard resets. Stock phone apps (camera, camcorder, gallery) that function without locking up, or otherwise malfunctioning. An O.S. that isn't so vulnerable to Market app conflicts and SD card issues. Other than that. I don't ask for much.

[21stNow]

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droidsw wrote:
Everything you mentioned and an overall less buggy, glitchy experience. Not needing to perform frequent battery pulls and reboots. Not having to perform the inevitable hard resets. Stock phone apps (camera, camcorder, gallery) that function without locking up, or otherwise malfunctioning. An O.S. that isn't so vulnerable to Market app conflicts and SD card issues. Other than that. I don't ask for much.

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Can you remind me again of which phone(s) you had?  Different users experience different things with any smartphone.  Because these phones have operating systems that are similar to desktop computers, frequent rebooting is recommended on any smartphone, just like it is for desktops and laptops.  I'm still trying to form the habit of rebooting every day, but it has been hard for me. 

That said, your experience will vary in how much the phone's performance is negatively impacted if you don't reboot your phone.

As for battery pulls, I may have needed to do it a few times on my Samsung Vibrant.  I know that I needed to do it on the Nexus S, but that was after I tried to reboot into recovery the wrong way.  Outside of that, I never needed battery pulls on that phone, or any of my Android phones after that.

In my experience with the Galaxy Nexus (GSM), the stock apps are performing just fine.  I am having some Bluetooth issues that I'm trying to narrow down, but that's it.  I don't have as many apps on the Nexus yet, due to apps not being compatible with ICS yet.  If I add apps in the future, maybe problems will occur, but maybe not.  I don't remember app conflicts being a problem on my Nexus S. 

Overall, you may be happier with a Windows Phone (does VZW have one now?) or an iPhone.  I noticed that you were realistic and weren't looking for a perfect experience.  The iPhone may be less buggy or glitchy for you, however it is not perfect.  I have had a few apps forceclose on an iPhone, but nowhere near the level of one of my other Android phones (not a Nexus phone).

[jleebiker]

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droidsw wrote:
Everything you mentioned and an overall less buggy, glitchy experience. Not needing to perform frequent battery pulls and reboots. Not having to perform the inevitable hard resets. Stock phone apps (camera, camcorder, gallery) that function without locking up, or otherwise malfunctioning. An O.S. that isn't so vulnerable to Market app conflicts and SD card issues. Other than that. I don't ask for much.

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All kidding (and preconcieved notions) aside, check out Windows Phone 7. It has alot of compelling arguments including what you mentioned. Vzw only has one real choice for now, but wait till CES in Jan. There's supposed to be some big changes announced.

[droidsw]

21stNow, are you in Canada, or the UK? How do you have a Nexus already?

My experience has been with one phone (Droid X) since Aug '10. It's a long boring story that involved 3 replacements when Froyo was released.

I admit upfront that part of my "bad" experience revolves around how many people I convinced to purchase Android phones that went on to have horrible experiences.

That is embarrassing.

I wasn't referring to the occasional daily reboot. I don't have an issue with that. I was referring to the phone locking up when the Dialer is open and I am attempting to make a call.

I was referring to the phone becoming slow and unresponsive when it was rebooted an hour beforehand.

I was referring to trying to take a photo/video and the stock apps won't open, or lock up the phone.

I don't think it's a lot to ask not to experience such issues. And yes, I have gone down the hold your mouth just right, clear the cache, check your apps, re-format the SD card, do a hard reset......road.

For those that imply that I (and those that I mislead into purchasing similar phones) should just "get a phone that we understand" (not your words), is a cop out.

The recurring theme among some is that you have to be a virtual genius to have an Android phone that works properly and those with issues are **bleep**.

Hence the "get a soccer mom phone, then" mentality that is so prevalent in the Android "community".

[21stNow]

droidsw, I'm in the US.  I bought the Galaxy Nexus online before Thanksgiving. 

Please don't think that I was referring you to a "soccer mom phone".  People use their phones in different ways.  If anyone told me that their main uses for a smartphone were for talking and taking pictures, I would definitely recommend an iPhone 4S, because that phone excels in both of those areas.  I prefer Android phones because my primary use is to get information now.  Widgets facilitate that and larger screen sizes make the information easier to see.  Add to that a great and free voice-guided native app for GPS, it becomes a winner for me.

If someone told me that he prefers to text and update Facebook, but is not really into a lot of other apps, I would recommend a Windows Phone.  If someone already has a BlackBerry, I tell them to stay with BlackBerry, unless that person convinces me that she wants to change platforms.

[droidsw]

And, no argument here that the large displays (a major advantage Android has over over an iphone), widgets, free navigation, etc. are great Android features.

In fact, I will argue that Android offers more than all the other performs.

Just not without bugs and glitches.

The reason for hoping that ICS changes that.

[droidsw]

And a new experience to share. While browsing, couldn't get webpages to open. Closed browser and reopened it. Google homepage would not even load at this point.

Closed it again and homescreen was frozen.

Phone would not power down to reboot. Had to pull battery.

Powered phone back up. Continued browsing. Everything appeared normal.

Plugged in charger cable and the battery icon did not indicate that the battery was charging. Checked battery widget and it indicated the same. It wasn't charging.

(Battery was at 90%, but I usually bump it back to 100% before retiring for the night).

Grabbed work phone and plugged it in with same cable and it charged. Tried computer usb cable and it wouldn't charge (this phone) either.

Powered down phone again. Pulled battery. Powered phone back up. Still would not charge.

Searched the forum. Didn't find any useful threads.

Shut phone off, thinking I better leave it off and conserve what was left of the battery (82% at this point) until tomorrow.

After maybe two minutes, I decided to email a friend about it, so I powered it back up again. Plugged charging cable in again and it started charging.

It is NOT the socket. I can giggle the plug and the connection is good. After reaching 100% and allowing it to drain back down a little, I plugged in the cable again and it charges fine.

It had been off the charger and idle for at least two hours before this, so the battery was not hot.

But, for one hour, it simply would not charge at all.

Another story for my "Life With The Droid X" book.