Google's new version of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), brings enough new features that it's worth making sure your phone will get an update if you're buying a new one for the holidays. Some manufacturers have been more open than others when it comes to planning their ICS upgrades. Of course, if you get the Samsung Galaxy Nexus whenever it comes out on Verizon Wireless, you'll get ICS first—although as our full review shows, it will lack Facebook integration and Mass Storage support, which other phones may have. HTC has announced that several of its high-end smartphones will get ICS upgrades in 2012, and that's sure to include HTC's Sense overlay, with its better social-networking integration and improved lock screen. No carrier is left out: You can choose from the HTC Vivid (AT&T), HTC Sensation and Amaze 4G (T-Mobile), HTC Rezound (Verizon Wireless), and the HTC EVO 3D and EVO Design 4G (Sprint). Sony Ericsson has committed to ICS for many of its phones, but most of them aren't available from U.S. carriers. The only one we've seen in carrier stores has been the Xperia Play gaming phone, available in both Verizon and AT&T models. Motorola says the Droid RAZR and Droid Bionic, both for Verizon Wireless, will get ICS updates. No word on the rest of the company's phone product line. Samsung has been less forthcoming, confirming Ice Cream Sandwich only for the unlocked Galaxy S II, and with no particular date. AT&T's model is the closest to the international unit, though, so it's the most likely U.S. Galaxy S II to receive the update. If you're a killer geek, of course, you'll probably be able to push ICS onto almost any phone you can get your hands on. Hackers have already adapted ICS for the Samsung Nexus S, which may be your best no-contract budget buy for the new OS; it's available in T-Mobile ($99.99 at Wirefly), AT&T, and Sprint ($99.99 at Sprint) flavors. We're sure to hear more about Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades now that the OS has been open-sourced. But if you want to assure yourself of a smooth upgrade, it's best to go with one of the phones that you know will be getting the new software.
AT&T HTC Vivid
The HTC Vivid is a powerful Android phone with a beautiful screen and fast 4G LTE data on AT&T's brand new network. Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play 4G is an excellent phone for gaming, and a solid phone in its own right; just make sure it has games you want to play. Sprint HTC EVO Design 4G
The HTC EVO Design 4G is a comfortable world phone that offers solid performance and 4G speeds at a good price. Samsung Nexus S 4G
We found the Nexus S 4G's call quality and reception to be sorely lacking, but you can't deny that it's been the darling of the "pure Google" geek crowd, and it's the first phone to get new hacks. T-Mobile HTC Sensation 4G
The HTC Sensation offers a great balance of dual-core power with the elegance of HTC's Sense UI extensions to Android. HTC Amaze 4G
The HTC Amaze 4G has a big beautiful screen, a great camera, and fast HSPA+ 42 speeds, making it a top choice for Android smartphones on T-Mobile. Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid RAZR
The Motorola Droid RAZR is stunningly thin for a 4G LTE smartphone, made from cutting-edge materials to deliver a slim body without sacrificing power. HTC Rezound
The HTC Rezound is an amazing Internet and multimedia machine that fits into your pocket, but it's a bulky piece of kit Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S II
One of the finest Android smartphones available today, the unlocked Samsung Galaxy S II delivers in almost every way. Thing is, it's so expensive, it almost prices itself out of the market.
The reader's tablet is back. The new Nook Tablet delivers the best color e-reading experience available, especially for magazines and for childrens' books. It's a better e-reader than the Amazon Kindle Fire ($199, 4 stars), our Editors' Choice for small tablets. But the Nook doesn't quite match the Fire on music, video or apps, and the Nook Color ($199, 4 stars) offers the same great e-reading experience for less money. Make no mistake, the Nook is a very good small tablet, but the Fire delivers a better all-around tablet experience, and the Nook Color offers better value as a color e-reader.
Physical Design and User Interface Feeling a little more 'book-like' than the Amazon Kindle Fire, the Nook Tablet is significantly taller and slightly wider at 8.1 by 5.9 by 0.5 inches (HWD) thanks to its much bigger bezel, but it's lighter at 14.1 ounces compared with Amazon's 14.6. There's a standard 3.5-mm headphone jack, and a curious little loop in the bottom left corner, which serves as both a handle and a way to conceal the reader's MicroSD card slot, just like on the Nook Color. In fact the Nook Tablet and the Nook Color are almost identical save for the a slightly lighter-color metallic finish. The Tablet has physical Power button and volume controls on the side panels as well as a single, "N"-shaped home button at the bottom of the 7-inch, 1024-by-600 touch screen.
Do you feel that magic and unique atmosphere in the air? This is because a new Zelda is coming out soon. Missing a few days for this new game is in the hands of all and as you know, Skyward Sword will be a special edition which includes a golden color control. Here at Atomix did not want to miss the opportunity to unbox this issue and show its contents. Remember that the game comes out next November 20. Watch the video below
Motorola is doubling down on its docking smartphone. The original Atrix 4G was a fun, if somewhat buggy cell phone that converted into a laptop. A major firmware update resolved many of the bugs. Now Motorola is back for more with the Atrix 2 ($99.99), an incremental but welcome refresh—and one that finally delivers on its original 4G promise. The Atrix 2 is still an idea that's ahead of its time, but if you're the geeky type, you can have plenty of fun with it.
Design, 4G Connectivity, and Call Quality Like the original model, the Atrix 2 is a big slab measuring 5.0 by 2.6 by 0.4 inches (HWD) and weighing 5.2 ounces. It's also somewhat shinier than before. The newly textured, soft touch back panel and smoked chrome accented sides look sharp. The slightly larger, 4.3-inch screen is a beauty, with 960-by-540-pixel resolution and deep, vibrant colors. Any Android phone with a screen of this size is pretty easy to type on, even in portrait mode, and the Atrix 2 is no exception. The infamous PenTile display is gone; consequently, fonts appeared sharp and crisp this time around.
The Atrix 2 is a quad-band EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and tri-band HSPA+ 21 (850/1900/2100 MHz) device with 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi. We dinged the original Atrix "4G" for its HSPA+ 14.4 connection, which amounted to roughly 3G real-world performance; this time around, the 4G support is real, and the phone virtually screams it with a stylized 4G icon next to the signal strength bar. But I live in a rural part of Massachusetts, so I only saw average speeds of 2 to 2.5Mbps down and 1Mbps up (with three bars of "4G" signal). That's roughly HSPA 7.2, not HSPA+ 21, but it's because of AT&T's network, not the phone. The Atrix 2 also works as a 4G mobile hotspot for up to five devices with the appropriate data plan.
Voice quality was stellar, with a warm, full tone in the earpiece, and clear transmissions through the microphone. Even high-end smartphones sometimes give up voice quality in order to pack in so many other features, but not this one. Reception was solid.
Calls also sounded clear through an Aliph Jawbone Era Bluetooth headset ($129, 4 stars). But voice dialing was a total fail; Motorola and AT&T replaced the stock app with their own, which either missed what I said entirely, or heard half of the digits incorrectly. The speakerphone was clear and undistorted, if a little tinny, and went just loud enough for outdoor use. Battery life was very impressive at 10 hours and 43 minutes of talk time; credit the oversize 1785mAh battery.
OS, Hardware, and Docks Android purists will be miffed, since Motorola once again MOTOFIED its Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) build. You get five home screen panels that you can customize or swipe between. This time around, the icons get another refresh, the menus swipe left to right instead of scrolling vertically, and you can now change the four quick launch icons at the bottom. It's all pretty attractive, especially the dial screen, although much of it appears to be change for the sake of change—at the expense of timely OS updates later. The 1GHz dual-core processor looks similar to the original model's on paper, but it's actually a TI OMAP4430 chip; the Atrix 4G had an Nvidia Tegra 2 CPU. It benchmarks slightly faster, with a roughly 10 to 15 percent improvement across the board, including frame rates.
