How to: transfer files between the Galaxy Nexus and Mac OS X

Guides

  • December 15, 2011 at 3:51 am

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Galaxy Nexus connected to a MacBook Air via USB

Connecting the Samsung Galaxy Nexus to your MacBook Pro, Air, iMac or any other Mac OS X computer isn’t as straightforward as other Android devices. Other Android devices offer access through a protocol named USB mass storage, which means your device is treated like a USB flash drive. The Galaxy Nexus uses the Media Transfer Protocol (MTP in short) in order to allow you to transfer media and other files between your computer. Windows PCs have built-in support for MTP but Mac OS computers don’t. If you want a more detailed account of MTP, USB mass storage and the Nexus, hit our article here.

To transfer files between the Galaxy Nexus and a Mac OS X system you must first download and a install the small official Android application named ‘Android File Transfer’. First go here and download the application dmg. Once the download has completed, doubleclick on androidfiletransfer.dmg. Now in the installer window click and drag the Android File Transfer icon to the Applications folder on its right (note you may be required to enter you system password at this point). Now the tool is installed on your Mac.
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Connecting the Galaxy Nexus to your computer via MTP and the lack of USB Mass Storage

Guides

  • December 10, 2011 at 5:41 am

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For better or worse, Google has been pushing to abolish microSD card slots from Android devices. Some of the reasoning behind this move revolves around making making the experience easier for beginners, i.e. not having to worry where apps will be installed, applications breaking when you remove the SD card or having to download and use a file manager. Of course this goes against rightly disgruntled advanced users who’ve been used to the convenience of expandable external storage.

The Galaxy Nexus (read our full review here) is Google’s brainchild, proudly becoming the first Android device to run version 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and as such, it does not have a microSD card slot. Moving the external storage discussion aside, there is one specific functionality that’s become collateral damage. That is USB mass storage. To clarify here, Ice Cream Sandwich has support for USB mass storage but the Galaxy Nexus doesn’t.

USB mass storage is the protocol that allows your computer to view any USB device as a normal storage drive, i.e. gives it a drive letter and you can open it with Windows Explorer or Finder on Mac OS and transfer files and folders as you would with any other drive. If you’ve ever connected a USD thumb drive to a computer and browsed its contents, then it was using USB mass storage. USB mass storage allows block level access, i.e. ‘complete access’ to a storage device. As the Galaxy Nexus has one, unified, built-in storage which hosts both the Android operating system and your personal files it was impractical (if not impossible) to permit block level access on that storage.
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Verizon Galaxy Nexus offered a 2100mAh extended battery

News

  • December 7, 2011 at 12:57 pm

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Verizon Galaxy Nexus 2,100mAh extended battery and cover

We’ve been reviewing the Galaxy Nexus and we’ve found battery life to be quite decent for an Android device. However, if you want to squeeze every last minute possible out of your new favorite gadget, then Verizon is offering an extended battery for the LTE version of the smartphone. The Verizon-bound 4G LTE Galaxy Nexus comes with a 1,850mAh battery as standard but for $49.99 you can get the 2,100mAh extended battery, which you see above. That’s only a 13.5% increase in capacity but that could mean the difference between getting through a whole day with one charge or not, depending on your usage.

During our tests with the GSM HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus, we could consistently get by for around 15 hours and 30 minutes until battery went below 15%, and that was with the screen on for 2h 30m, not bad at all. A 13.5% increase in capacity could mean around 2 more hours of usage. The GSM Galaxy Nexus only comes with a 1,750mAh battery as standard but the LTE version, because of its radio, presumably consumes more battery.
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Samsung Galaxy Nexus complete review

FeaturedReviews

  • December 5, 2011 at 6:41 pm

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus in hand - on homescreen

There has been a lot of buzz around the release of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and that has mostly centered on the fact that this is the first smartphone to carry the latest (and greatest) iteration of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (‘ICS’). Similar to previous Nexus devices, it acts as Google’s launch device for a major Android version.

What one must understand is that this is a mass adoption device rather than a super high-end smartphone. It lacks the exotic materials found in other high-end phones and features such as Bluetooth 4.0, GLONASS satellite navigation or an advanced camera.

Nevertheless, it’s a well-executed device, albeit a few early teething problems. The Galaxy Nexus features a sharp 4.65-inch Super AMOLED 720p display and a fast dual-core 1.2GHz processor. It’s also a pure Google Android experience smartphone, without any user interface customizations such as HTC’s Sense or Samsung’s TouchWiz, which is important for some.

Most importantly, it’s the only device to officially run Ice Cream Sandwich, for a while, and similar to past Nexus devices, it will be the first smartphone to receive future software updates as they are released by Google — at least until the next Nexus device is launched. Although the Galaxy Nexus might not be bleeding edge with regards to hardware features, it will be cutting edge on software, which, can be argued, is more important.

This review is an in-depth look at the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and centers on the device’s hardware features, real-life performance, as well as what’s new in Android Ice Cream Sandwich. We will further cover Android Ice Cream Sandwich in more detail in a future review. So read on for our opinion on the latest and greatest Android smartphone.
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Samsung Galaxy Nexus display has a slight yellow tinge, forgets about white

News

  • November 27, 2011 at 6:08 am

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Galaxy Nexus (left) screen has a yellow tint

We’ve been reviewing the Samsung Galaxy Nexus over the past ten days and there is one thing that has particularly struck me when using the phone. The Galaxy Nexus has a very nice 4.65-inch 1280×720 resolution Super AMOLED display. With a pixel density of 316dpi, text and photos are very crisp, it’s practically impossible to distinguish between individual pixels. Nevertheless, the display’s color temperature seems to be slightly off, this is especially visible when viewing large white blocks and when brightness is lower. It is easier to spot when the Galaxy Nexus’ screen is viewed side-by-side with another display. You also have to look at the screen more-or-less head on, looking at the Nexus’ screen at an angle gives it a blue tint, similar to the Nexus S and other AMOLED displays.

In the image above (click to enlarge), the Galaxy Nexus is on the left, while on the right we’ve included for comparison an HTC Sensation featuring a 4.3-inch Super LCD display. There is a subtle but distinguishing difference between the two screens, the Galaxy Nexus’ whites have a yellow/orange tint. The shots were taken at a display brightness of around 80% for both smartphones. Setting the Nexus’ brightness higher reduces the effect (although even at maximum brightness whites still have a yellow tint), while putting it lower increases it. At low brightness, whites are a shade of yellow tinted grey.
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Galaxy Nexus drops 1.8m, joins the ranks of shattered glass-screened phones

News

  • November 26, 2011 at 2:27 pm

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Galaxy Nexus shattered glass screen

It comes at time in a glass-screened gadget’s life when it will be accidentally dropped. Some will survive, others will be shattered. A user over at XDA forums going by the name tamarian, was unfortunate enough to drop his new Samsung Galaxy Nexus from a height of 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) and onto some unforgiving kitchen tiles. You can see the result in the picture above.

The Galaxy Nexus’ 4.65-inch display doesn’t feature Corning Gorilla Glass, rather another type of fortified glass, which seems to shatter just as much; though 1.8m is a big drop by any measure. Our hearts are with you tamarian, we hope you can get it fixed soon.
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Verizon 4G LTE Samsung Galaxy Nexus to be priced at $199.99

News

  • November 25, 2011 at 9:22 am

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Verizon 4G LTE Galaxy Nexus price ad

Although the actual release date of the Galaxy Nexus in the US has yet to be confirmed, the above holiday-themed ad has surfaced. The Verizon advertisement has the 4.65-inch Super AMOLED and Android 4.0 carrying Samsung Galaxy Nexus going for $199.99 with a two year contract on the company’s 4G LTE network.

The Galaxy Nexus has already been released in the UK, though a strange ‘volume bug‘ meant that the launch didn’t go as smoothly as Google and Samsung would have wanted. The UK HSPA+ version of the Galaxy Nexus has 16GB of built-in storage, whereas the Verizon LTE Nexus would have 32GB. More storage is always welcome, especially since the Galaxy Nexus doesn’t have a mircoSD slot.
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Galaxy Nexus volume bug could be hardware related, UK retailed holds off shipments (video)

News

  • November 22, 2011 at 6:35 pm

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Galaxy Nexus 'volume bug' on 2G GSM 900 network

We’ve seen it time and time again. New devices generally have teething issues, though many of these can be patched with a software update, others have more serious hardware problems. The iPhone 4 had the infamous ‘antennagate’ issue, the HTC Sensation its own Wi-Fi deathgrip and it seems the Galaxy Nexus is now joining the ranks of not so smooth product launches.

The smartphone went on sale in the UK last week, and a number of users are reporting that the phone’s volume controls behave erratically when it’s transmitting on a 2G network at GSM 900 (900Mhz). This ‘volume bug’ could be a result of radio interference on the 900Mhz band and it has been replicated by placing another phone on 2G GSM 900 next to the Galaxy Nexus. The bug is quite serious because it can mute your phone’s ringer and notifications.

Most of Europe, Africa, Middle East, Australia and most of Asia use the GSM 900 band, so the number of users that could be affected is huge. Affected Galaxy Nexus devices behave normally when connected to 3G networks, so a temporary fix would be to force the phone to only connect on 3G, but that means you will be left without a signal where 3G connectivity is not available.
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Adobe confirms Flash support for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich by end-2011

News

  • November 21, 2011 at 9:20 am

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Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on Galaxy Nexus

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus, running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich currently ships without support for Adobe Flash. Although a ‘Flash-less’ future is in the horizon, since Adobe has declared that it will stop developing Flash for mobile devices, it has been officially confirmed that Adobe will provide a final Android 4.0 ICS Flash release before the end of 2011.

Apple has long declared its discontent with Flash and all iOS devices don’t currently offer support for the format. Google, on the other hand, has been touting that Android offers the “full web experience” since support for Flash had been continuously available on the platform since Android 2.2 arrived on the Nexus One. It’s ironic then that the latest Nexus, won’t support Flash, for a while.

Nevertheless, the Flash support argument has become much less relevant nowadays, since technologies such as HTML5 have been gaining popularity and adoption in mobile platforms.
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Ice Cream Sandwich and the Galaxy Nexus arrive in the UK, first handset is a dud

News

  • November 17, 2011 at 9:36 am

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus in box on UK launch

It’s the 17th of November and that means the official release of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the first device to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. As expected, the phone has launched in the UK first, unfortunately the release is not as far-reaching as we would have hoped, as Phones4U managed to get a few days of exclusivity. The Galaxy Nexus has been on sale from the UK retailer since 8am this morning, and you can grab one with a new contract or unlocked for £530. Phones4U has been celebrating the launch by offering, what else, ice cream sandwiches.

The Galaxy Nexus will be arriving directly from three UK mobile carriers, O2, Three and Vodafone, in the coming days. Those who would rather get their phone sim-free from an online retailer, should also be treated to some frozen dessert next week as well.

Just a reminder for anyone that hasn’t been paying attention, that the Galaxy Nexus has a 4.65-inch 720p Super AMOLED (PenTile) display, dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 5-megapixel rear and 1.3-megapixel front-facing cameras.
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Samsung Galaxy Nexus release date slips past the 21st of November in the UK and Europe?

News

  • November 10, 2011 at 7:35 am

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Android Ice Cream Sandwich Galaxy Nexus

There’s a lot of anticipation for the release of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and that is no small part because it will be the first smartphone to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich — you might want check out our guide of what ICS has to offer.

Samsung confirmed the 17th of November as the official release date of the Galaxy Nexus in the UK and Europe two weeks ago during their Galaxy Note promotional event in London. It seems that this date has now been pushed forward to the 21st. Handtec, an online UK mobile device retailer, has posted on its blog that it has received confirmation from Samsung distribution that the Galaxy Nexus will arrive to retailers in the week commencing 21st of November, here is their original post:
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Android heroes: Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. HTC Rezound vs. Motorola Droid RAZR

News

  • November 3, 2011 at 6:10 pm

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Android heroes: Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. HTC Rezound vs. Motorola Droid RAZR

Three major Android manufacturers, Samsung, HTC and Motorola, have all recently announced their big-screened flagship handsets, just in time for the holiday season. Now that everybody’s cards are on the table, we take another look, comparing the 4.65-inch Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich bearing Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the rugged and super-slim 4.3-inch Motorola Droid RAZR and the Beats Audio sporting and retina busting 720p 4.3-inch HTC Rezound. If you are an Android fan, it’s never been harder to choose a new smartphone, hopefully our handy comparison, which is after the break, will help you make up your mind.
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You can watch the entire Samsung Galaxy Note and Galaxy Nexus event now here (video)

News

  • October 28, 2011 at 6:08 pm

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Samsung Galaxy Note London event

You can now watch the full 52 minutes and 55 seconds of Samsung’s London event showing off their Super AMOLED HD duo, the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Nexus. The Note was the star of the show, with Samsung representatives going over every detail of the 5.3-inch tablet-phone and embellishing over the S Pen stylus. However the last fifteen minutes were devoted to the upcoming Galaxy Nexus — if you missed it, you can watch the Galaxy Nexus and Android 4.0 event here.

You can find the video after the break. We should let you know that you can get the Galaxy Note right now in Europe (U.S. availability still under speculation), while the Galaxy Nexus will roll-out first in Europe on November 17th and a U.S. release will follow shortly after.
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