As was forecasted. the Samsung Nexus S is available in the US starting today, just in time for the holidays. Those in the UK will have to wait until the 20th of this month before being able to waltz into a UK Best Buy or Carphone Warehouse to sang one.
Nexus S Tracking Page Specs, Details, Links, and More
If you’re in the US you’ve got two options You can buy the phone unlocked for use with any old GSM carrier for $530. If you are opening a new T-Mobile account, or are eligible for an upgrade, you can nab the Nexus S for $199. The phone is available through Best Buy exclusively, though it looks like for the time being, the unlocked option is only available in-store, while the subsided version can be purchased in-store or online. Definitely check with your local Best Buy before heading on over though, there’s no telling how many each store has to sell initially, or if they allocate a maximum number that can be sold as unlocked.
No HD Video Recording (Sadly)
As we mentioned in our earlier story on the Nexus S, the device doesn’t record HD video. This is a strange omission which I thought might have simply been a mistake as there was conflicting information on Google’s Official Nexus S page. After getting in touch with Google, we’ve confirmed that the Nexus S only records 480p video (720×480). They’ve also amended their official Nexus S page to reflect this.
This is a surprise to me considering that the last two Samsung Android smartphones that I’ve tested have both been capable of 720p HD recording. Perhaps this could be changed with a software update, but it looks like out of the box, the Nexus S’s recording capabilities will be inferior to most modern smartphones.
I wanted to get an official Google backed phone since the Nexus One got all the updates first and doesn’t have some UI skin over it.
However, I really would like physical directional controls (ie. trackball or optical trackpad) on it. It really helps when browsing. My fat fingers just can’t click those tiny links. Sometimes I think I zoomed in enough and try to click a link but end up clicking on the link above or below it. So I have to press the back button, wait for the page to load again, zoom in even more and try to touch the link again.
It also helps when I log into some websites that pop up some hovering log in form over the web page like Disqus. I touch the username input field but end up clicking some link under the hovering element and find myself on whatever page that link sent me to. Having directional controls lets me highlight the area I want to click on first before actually sending the click command. This issue seems to be more of a bug with the web browser since I don’t have this problem on desktop browsers.
Sometimes I just wish there’s a mouse pointer.
Android’s tapping recognition is simply not as good as iOS’s. I think Apple went through a lot of trouble to understand why people’s fingers usually contact the screen relative to what they are trying to tap on, and then made the correct adjustments in the software end to compensate. The result of which is incredible consistency on hitting the things that I’m trying to on webpages. I’m continuously amazed at how I am able to press exactly what I want when I’m zoomed far out and the link is surrounded by other links. On Android I have to consciously tap somewhat about what I’m trying to press, otherwise I’ll miss it. I with Android would improve this.
I think part of the fine tap detection of iOS is due to the hardware /software combination. Apple can fine tune iOS to its touch screen as it uses one or two screens.
Android uses hundreds and the ‘genericness’ of the driver and fine controls mean it will never be quite as good.
On the Nexus S, its a damn shame about HD recording considering it uses the same optical sensor at the Galaxy S
How do you deal with mouse over elements with iOS?
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