Finally a Galaxy Nexus

Samsung Galaxy Nexus (GNex)

review updated

Yep, the phone is here. It's an AP set though. A super fast phone I might say. Since my previous smartphone is an Android entry phone (HTC Wildfire), the difference in speed, size, screen clarity, weight and everything are damn obvious.

The size is extremely large. Not as big as Galaxy Note but still I have to hold it with two hands for a better experience. I have problem touching the opposite area of the phone as my thumbs are not long enough. Therefore, I applied the modified version of 'legacy menu' button and this is the result:

The 3 dots is actually a Setting button. That's ICS for you. The hack is to put another 3 dots on the bottom left side, so in case we need to use the phone while driving, it is now become much much easier.

I don't want to say much about GNex's good things. You can find them easily in tech blogs. But here are a few things I hate about my phone:

• Volume buttons are way too sensitive. It's good in a way that you can tune up the volume easily when doing calls but when it gets too touchy, it's annoying. Especially when I tilt the phone to take pictures. Never miss to pull out the volume pop up. FIX: Buy a Mercury Case. The buttons are now harder to reach. Phone is now heavier too, I think it's better if I don't apply any accessories at all. Seriously.
• The charging cable is not virgin anymore. I'm starting to think my AP set is probably a display unit. Aihhh... FIX: Again, thanks to the new casing, the cable is fitted well when charging due to the casing slot.
• The speaker volume is not loud enough. Googled and found out that most Samsung phones are like this. FIX: Volume+
• Panorama shot quality should be improved. FIX: Buy a DSLR.
• The stock earphones are no good. My cheap SonicGear is a lot better in handling bass and loudness.

Edit 1: Rooted the phone (of course..) and flashed AOKP custom ROM which has 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) version update. There is a Power Saving option installed. 

Here is the first test with casual tweeting + 3G + Wifi + apps installation (Power Saving mode OFF):

Not bad kan?

Edit 2: Been testing kernels a lot lately. I can't promise which gives the most battery life and buttery performance but here is my review:

Leankernel - gives me the best battery life when phone is in deep sleep mode (screen off) but I noticed small delay while unlocking. It's not that bad, I can live with it.

Franco.kernel - seems like my phone experiences some noticeable lag with this kernel. It's not so obvious but when you're playing with your phone most of the time, you'll notice something is not right. Most of the reviews gave good marks though so I don't know.. Maybe the saying "every chip is not made the same" is true afterall.

Update: After 5 days of testing franco's, this kernel gave a perfect balance between battery life & performance. No lag or delay and the phone was able to get 10-15 hours on average. That's on 3G signal + Wifi all the time.

Apex kernel - testing the kernel now... I'm not sure how to put this but I will not use this as my everyday setting. It's just not right. Not bad but not that good either.

Edit 3: I have removed the screen protector as it collects fingerprints a lot easier than the original screen. The screen is now naked but I hardly notice any fingerprints. Excellent quality huh?

Edit 4: Updated radio baseband to XXKK6. Wifi and Edge signal are now stable. 

PS: I have tested those kernels for 3 days the least. I know it's not enough to judge within 3 days only, so I'll try with 1 week when I start my practical this 25th. That should give proper cycle charges I think.

PPS: Your experience with them might not be the same as mine. We have our own way so it really depends on oneself to tell which kernel serves best. I don't play games much with my phone. Never listen to MP3s with it, no browsing either. Tweetdeck is set to 15mins refresh, Facebook sync every 2 hours, Currents auto update every 12 hour. Messengers like Gtalk, WhatsApp, FB Chat are on all the time.

PPPS: I'm using stock kernel with AOKP build now. Haven't tested new franco update, I'll wait for CM9.

A Week Before FYP1 Presentation

Sultan Selangor aku rasa paling famous sebab almost everyone knows his birthday. Mana tak nya, semua orang masuk KL untuk shopping. Everyone is enjoying the holiday except me. My past weeks have been hard with assignments and final year project (FYP) progress development. The presentation day will be this Friday and for my section there will be only two examiners (including my supervisor lulz). It should be fine.. I think.

Update 1

Update 2

Truth is, I don't really know what to present. Of course I can explain the background studies, logbook sketching and all but I think there are too simple and common. Everyone can do that. I need to come up with something interesting like... making a short video? That'll be a waste of time. I'll proceed with designing the project on Pro Engineer software. At least, the examiners can have a clearer view. Kan?

Update 3

That's the assembly part of my Robot Manipulator Gripper. I only managed to get up to this point haih.. I have no idea on how to design the second arm. Thing is easy when you sketch it on paper.. until you realize it's impossible to proceed without making adjustments and tweaks. The worst part is not here yet.. which is force and moment analysis. By looking at it, I accidentally added up one extra servo. Talk about tweak eh?

Update 4

Update 5

Finally, the full assembly design. It looks weird I know, but even this should be good enough for the presentation. Actually 3D drawing is not required but since I've already start designing, Mr SV suggests to just continue with my current progress. My logbook is filled with cakar ayam drawings. No more nice sketching with proper ruler line. Logbooks are supposed to be like that right?

MOOOREEE AND MOOREE TWEAKS!

It seems so easy to build robot kan? And I am here dying just to design one.

Wordless Wednesday