Month: December 2010

Nexus S vs Galaxy S vs iPhone 4

The latest Google Android reference phone is out. This is going to be a three way fight between the current top Android phone and the latest iPhone. The tale of the tape:

Samsung Google Nexus S Samsung Galaxy S Apple iPhone 4
Size 123.9 x 63 x 10.9 mm 122.4 x 64.2 x 9.9 mm 115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm
Weight 129 g 119 g 137 g
Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
HSDPA 1700 / 2100 /900 HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100 HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
Display Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors LED-backlit IPS TFT, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
480X800 pixels, 4 inches 480X800 pixels, 4 inches 640 x 960 pixels, 3.5 inches
Processor ARM Cortex A8 1GHz processor ARM Cortex A8 1GHz processor 1 GHz Apple A4 processor
RAM 512 MB RAM 512 MB RAM 512 MB RAM
Internal Storage 16GB 8/16GB 16/32 GB
External Storage No External Memory Up to 32GB No External Memory
Data Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP
Near Field Communications Yes none none
Video 720p@30fps 720p@30fps, LED video light 720p@30fps, LED video light, geo-tagging
Operating System Android OS, v2.3 Gingerbread Android OS, v2.1 Eclair w/ TouchWiz 3.0 iOS 4
Camera 5 MP, 2560 x 1920 pixels, autofocus, LED flash 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Apps About 100K from Android Market + access to non-market apps About 100K from Android Market + access to non-market apps About 300K from Apple app store
Battery Standard battery, Li-Ion 1500 mAh Standard battery, Li-Ion 1500 mAh Standard battery, Li-Po 1420mAh
Standby Up to 713 h (2G) / Up to 428 h (3G) Up to 750 h (2G) / Up to 576 h (3G) Up to 300 h (2G) / Up to 300 h (3G)
Talk-time Up to 14 h(2G) / Up to 7 h (3G) Up to 14 h(2G) / Up to 7 h (3G) Up to 14 h (2G) / Up to 7 h (3G)

Based on the specifications, the winner is the iPhone 4 though not overwhelmingly. And it seems the Nexus S in not at all too different from the Galaxy S. Understandable since it’s made by Samsung but not expected since it is newer and Google is involved. So there’s no real reason to get the Nexus S unless you’re developing NFC applications. Just as well since it’s probably going to be priced higher than the Galaxy S which is already overpriced as it is.

No Net

I walked into the office this morning to find the new cubicles and partitions finally in place. It’s something overdue for about a month already. But a closer look and I saw that the cabling was not yet done, there were no plugs at the ends of the cables which were stuffed haphazardly within the cubicle panels. There was also a pile of discarded old cables on the floor. But worst of all, there were no network guys to be seen! This was at past 9AM already.

So we had to make a call to the help desk. Not straightforward as the phones rely on the same cabling so there were no working phones in the immediate area. When someone finally arrived, he went about  laying out temporary cables picked up from the pile of cables on the floor. He didn’t even check if each user has a working connection. In the end, I had to finish up my network connections myself.

I’ve worked with smaller teams with less budget and they were more proactive and could do a far better job. Sheesh!

Hostage

The Aquino government stayed away from the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a Chinese democracy activist because the lives of six Filipinos in death row are at stake. They don’t give in to the demands of terrorists (or a bus hijacker) but they kowtow to a known oppressive state. Talk about lack of integrity. Next thing you know they’re gonna give up our claim to the Spratly Islands.