As many would agree, it’s best to have an unbiased opinion to help the public see the truth in your word. And taking that to heart, I went out and purchased an iPhone 4S to get a better feel for its differences and similarities to Android. Sure, we’ve all messed around with an iPhone at a retail store – and after taking the Samsung Galaxy Nexus for a spin it’s instantly hard to reason with its pricetag. But the iPhone does so well, and people love it. This is why I needed to test it out for myself.

First off, iOS 5 is smooth and doesn’t skip a beat. But then again – it’s completely absent of widgets; this alone was the hardest to cope with. Customization of the homescreen is one of Android’s finest perks, and is currently an area Apple’s iOS 5 can even touch. Next up is the absence of an app drawer. I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve been sold on ADW EX since its initial release. When maneuvering throughout iOS 5, out of habit I often swiped upwards thinking my apps would appear. From my personal experience, I do not like a crowded homescreen – and prefer having my most used applications taking up specific screen real estate. It helps avoid accidentally openings.

Next up, you guessed it: You’re going to miss the large, beautiful, Super AMOLED displays that we’ve grown to love in so many new devices. Don’t get me wrong, the Retina display used on the 4S is spectacular – but I have huge thumbs. What’s a guy to do? Siri can only help so much when trying to carry on a conversation or surf the net. However, the iPhone’s smaller display helps you retain solid battery life throughout the day. That was my only gripe about the Galaxy Nexus, without loading a custom ROM and kernel – it wouldn’t last me more than four hours.

The dismal battery life on the Galaxy Nexus could also be attributed to having a 4G LTE connection, but after using the iPhone 4S and being limited to 3G alone, poor battery life is much easier to swallow. Once you’ve experienced Verizon’s 4G LTE, nothing seems to fill its shoes. Again, this is a personal opinion; I have access to my computer’s USB port most of the day, and an outlet is usually close by. Thus charging up the Nexus was never an issue.

Build quality in the 4S easily surpasses that of the Galaxy Nexus, hands down. It feels extremely solid, and ditching the plastic chassis should be a future implementation for Android to work towards. Another area the iPhone wins over is camera quality. I’ve never been much of a photographer, but after using the iPhone 4S – taking pictures is a much better experience. Each device has its pros and cons, but after this iOS 5 test drive I’ve come to the realization Android suits my lifestyle better. I enjoy Google services way too much, particularly Google Navigation, and an OS that isn’t so locked down. I’ve yet to tweak my 4S via jailbreak, but that probably deserves a comparison towards custom Android ROMs and kernels anyways.

Google is at it again and have just released their latest commercial of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. I for one am glad to see Google finally going big with these types of videos to demonstrate some of the awesome capabilities Android has to offer. Their latest Nexus ad shows the impressive panoramic mode with the camera in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Panoramic photos are always fun to do, especially if you are in NYC or Vegas and with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Google has made it easier than ever. I remember trying to align the pictures with my old Sony Ericsson to get a good panoramic picture but those days are long gone. The simple and elegant video demonstration below shows just how awesome it really is — not to mention gives you a look at the equally beautiful Galaxy Nexus.

Not only does the camera and ICS have this, but they’ve also incorporated a stock time-lapse feature into the camera that is equally impressive and works amazingly well. Just go into the camera, choose video, hit menu and find the time-lapse feature to get started.

I’ll be sure and take a few awesome panoramic pictures with my Galaxy Nexus during CES next week and share a few with our readers. Stay tuned for all the news you can handle over the next week.

Last night we had a glimpse at a Best Buy flyer that may have been quite outdated. It seems Samsung has now confirmed the U.S. launch of device will certainly be in December. I’m sorry folks, but there is still no word on the actual day or price. The DROID RAZR debuted on Verizon for $299.99, so my guess is it will be fairly similar

With the Europe already having access to GSM models of the Galaxy Nexus, we know it’s coming! There are only a couple reasons I assume they are putting us through this prolonged wait. One, there being a few issues with the hardware/software they are trying to work out. Two, like HiHoAg said in our forums, they may be lobbying to throw in some good ol’ Verizon bloatware.

No one wants to receive their precious Galaxy Nexus with any problems at all, so lets just stick it out and be glad when it gets here. Hopefully with no bloatware.

[via Business Insider]

The Verizon branded Samsung Galaxy Nexus seems to have surfaced in a leak from a Best Buy flier. Best Buy terms the Galaxy Nexus as part of the Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone line, and even calls it the “Samsung Nexus Prime”. It seems silly that Best Buy would leave out T-Mobile’s Galaxy S II and even the AT&T Skyrocket in the flier. Whether or not it will still be called the Galaxy Nexus by other carriers is still unknown.