I have quite the track record with Android.

Bought a HTC G1 aka HTC Dream in November 2008, a T-Mobile Vibrant (Galaxy S) at launch in 2010 and now a Galaxy Nexus, also at launch. I’ve been one of the G1’s numerous beta testers, (bravely) relying on a half-baked OS as a daily driver. I also witnessed Samsung’s many failings, mostly leaving the Vibrant stuck with Android 2.2 and shipping a very buggy OS, unstable and prone to bizarre behavior.

The G1. This was the definition of cool if you were a geek in late 2008

Still, I love Android. From the very beginning, Android offered me the same qualities of Windows Mobile (customization, flexibility, freedom) with none of its limitations (resistive interface, terrible browser, lack of apps). The Vibrant, warts and all, made me a believer. While deeply flawed, the performance was well-ahead of my first Android phone (the G1), a thoroughly modern “superphone” capable of running circles around the the barely adequate hardware found in Google’s first Android phone. And that screen… Super AMOLED rocked my world.

Which brings us to the Galaxy Nexus, Google latest halo device and the first Android 4.0 device in the world.

One of the wallpapers shipping with the Galaxy Nexus, a perfect showing of Super AMOLED power

DESIGN

The Galaxy Nexus is a beautiful phone. The design is clean, organic and devoid of any logos/trademarks above and below the (massive) screen. Monolithic-looking when off (think 2001: A Space Odyssey), the Galaxy Nexus is a black slab of high-grade plastic built around a rigid metal frame, giving it the feel of a premium device.

My phone stays inside a hard case, so I don’t really deal with the back cover. I hear it’s “plasticky,” like most Samsung phones, obviously far behind the chic glass in the iPhone 4S. The back cover is a non-issue for me.

Being a native Android 4.0 device, the Galaxy Nexus doesn’t have any physical buttons. Of course, it does have a power button and volume slider but no Back, Menu, Home or Search buttons like previous Android phones. The power button is more solid than the one on the Galaxy S. Same for the volume slider. In general, the phone feels great in the hand and it’s also very light.

PERFORMANCE

(specs)

Those looking for Galaxy S III-grade specs on the Galaxy Nexus will be disappointed. Nexus devices were never about specs alone; the Nexus One was the fastest Android phone in the planet for a whole month. Likewise, the Galaxy S II has a much faster GPU than the Galaxy Nexus, the Mali-400. In the Galaxy Nexus, the PowerVR SGX540 GPU found in the Galaxy S makes an appearance once again, albeit running at 384 MHz this time. The CPU on the other hand is among the fastest circa Q4 2011, an OMAP 4460 with two cores running at 1.2 GHz.

Then, the screen. Allegedly the first true HD display on a smartphone, the 720p Super AMOLED panel in the Galaxy Nexus is quite a sight. Bright, colorful and over-sized, the 4.65-inch display puts most smartphones to shame. The iPhone 4S looks like a toy next to a Galaxy Nexus at full brightness. However, this is a PenTile display we’re talking about. At low brightness grays get muddy, with a textured look, and vertical lines stretching from the top of the screen to the very bottom are easily observed. Some consider it a huge issue, going as far as returning the phone but it doesn’t bother me. I love it so far, with the added sharpness of 720 lines of resolution making reading ebooks and browsing the web easy on the eyes.

My home screen. I like how folders keep everything organized. Top notch icon design as well

But is it fast? I’m used to the typical Android slowness, where the OS fails to respond to touch, freezes or goes to sleep — never to return. Both the G1 and the Vibrant suffered from those ailments. Well well well… Consider it fixed. This phone is not fast… It’s insanely, back-pressed-against-the-seat fast. Smooth as butter, eerily similar to iOS devices like the iPad 2 and the iPhone 4S and oh-so-different from all Android devices before it. It has never kept me waiting and 1.5 weeks after buying it, I have never had to restart it. No SD card? No problem. If that’s the price for out-of-this-world performance, I’m all for it.

The camera on the Galaxy Nexus is a 5.1 megapixel unit. Sadly, it is not the second coming of Christ — the one on the Galaxy S II, an 8 megapixel unit, is still the king among Android smartphones. The camera is very fast, though: no startup lag, no lag between shots. On top of that, the built-in editing tools are easy to use and effective. Finally, uploading pictures to the cloud with Instant Upload and Google+ is a piece of cake. The camera could be better, yes, but I deem it good enough.

Starbucks in December. The camera is no slouch, but not “awesome” either

Since this is the LTE version, it would be a major omission not to talk about Verizon’s network and battery life. If you never tried an LTE phone, prepare to be amazed. It’s 2 to 3 times faster than my home connection, a 10 MB cable modem. Some have clocked it past 40 Mbps down and almost 20 Mbps up. It redefines “mobile connectivity” — sites load in an instant and streaming high-quality YouTube videos is never an issue. At the same time, however, the LTE modem requires a fair amount of CPU usage, resulting in reduced battery life when compared with the GSM version. I get about 6 hours of “screen time” (everything on, listening to music and browsing the web) and around 20 hours or so of standby. I’m a power user and play with the phone a lot, so others might see better performance from the battery. Still, it’s not like 4G is required 24/7. If I know I’ll be out for a whole day — or the whole night — I can simply turn 4G off and fall back to Verizon’s 3G network. It’s no speed demon, but more than enough for email/browsing and maybe even Google Music streaming.

ANDROID 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich

The latest version of Android is old news at this point, with literally hundreds of blog posts dissecting the OS back in November (and a very detailed write-up on Ars Technica). I’ll approach Android 4.0 from the point of view of someone stuck in Android 2.2 instead, focusing on the main differences — and improvements — in Ice Cream Sandwich.

The Recent Apps button makes it easy to switch between applications with live snapshots

Android 2.2 was a milestone release for Android, unlike 2.1. FroYo featured Wi-Fi tethering for the first time, as well as Dalvik JIT compiling and proper Exchange support. It was much faster than 2.1. I know from experience because the Vibrant shipped with 2.1; the performance boost attributed to 2.2 was certainly there. In short, Android 2.2 was a great release, maybe the greatest before Android 4.0.

If my Vibrant had “stock” Android, maybe it would end there. But Samsung messed with it, added TouchWiz and, in short, broke a lot of stuff. As a result my phone was always a mess. Freezes were common, SD cards (two, one acting as internal storage) had to be “read” every time I deleted/added a file — and at every boot — or the phone would suddenly slow to a crawl for no reason. Occasionally — and often — it would crash when running Google Maps. I once had to do a battery pull while stuck in traffic (!)

Android 4.0, up to now, is a revelation. Streamlined, fast and stable, it’s very Apple-like without the annoying Apple limitations. It just works. No crashes, not a single one (I know I’m repeating myself, but it’s a big deal). Smooth scrolling, perfect multitasking — a big improvement over all previous Android versions — and Google apps redesigned to make things easier while giving the user more control. I really can’t put into words how much better Android 4.0 is.

Android 3.0 introduced true dual-core compatibility at the OS level. Android 4.0 made it perfect with hardware acceleration for the interface. Finally, Android is as responsive as iOS. I haven’t had enough “street time” with the phone (using it in public) but I’m already planning on showing it off to friends and family, particularly those carrying with fast-but-tiny iPhone 4S’s. No wonder Joshua Topolsky, editor-in-chief at The Verge, bought one.

The icing on the cake is the newly-added Data Usage feature plus goodies like NFC (near field communication) and Face Unlock. Android 4.0 is an embarrassment of riches for Android users.

CONCLUSION

This is the best Android phone ever made — period. As hard as I try, I can’t find anything wrong with it. Old Android annoyances have been fixed, performance is mind-boggling and the phone looks and feels great in the hand. It’s a tour de force, the new standard in smartphones and what they can achieve in software, hardware and design.

If you have an upgrade approaching, this is your next phone. If you have an iPhone 4, this is your chance to switch to Android without making compromises. The iPhone 4S might have the performance edge for now, but Android 4.0 is a game-changer on its own right, before even looking at the top-notch hardware assembled by Samsung.

The Galaxy Nexus is a must-buy and it gets a 9/10.

Before Apple versus Android there was Sony versus everyone else. Decades prior to Apple suing Samsung for copyright infringement, Apple was the one learning everything they could from Sony, from design to factory uniforms… and beyond.

We are now used to the idea that Apple offers the best product design, app store and mobile gaming on touchscreen devices. While the Cupertino powerhouse might sometimes lag behind high-end Android phones in the specs department (hello 720p and NFC), we can’t deny Apple’s commanding presence in the marketplace, from its passionate fan base to seemingly unbeatable design and usability.

Just like Sony in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

The Walter Isaacson bio on Steve Jobs tells us that Jobs was a huge fan of Sony. He went as far as trying to implement the uniforms policy seen in Sony’s factories back at Apple. Jobs recognized Sony as an engineering and design leader, the company to beat in consumer electronics. And he knew as far back as the mid-1980s that Apple’s future was not in personal computers but on consumer electronics. That’s the principle that dictated the design of both Apple II and, later on, the Macintosh. They were made to look like appliances – which explains the presence of oversized handles on both the Mac and the iMac G3.

The colorful iMac G3

Apple also witnessed Sony’s rise as video gaming giant. They saw the value of being in control of a single, far-reaching platform welcoming developers from all corners of the world. Sony was a trusted brand with a pedigree in electronics, which allowed it to leverage disruptive technologies like 3D accelerators and CD-ROM drives to dominate console gaming for a decade. Gaming was the last thing in Steve Jobs mind (Wozniak was the gamer after all) but he would soon realize how powerful gaming would be for the iPhone and, later on, the iPad.

Founded in 1946, Sony revolutionized three industries in a row: home video (the ill-fated Betamax VCR), music (the Walkman) and gaming (the PlayStation). Much like today’s Apple, Sony was lean, fiercely competitive, nimble and home for the best engineering in the world at the time. Sony was “Master of the Analogue,” according to Sea-Jin Chang in Sony vs Samsung: The Inside Story of the Electronics Giants’ Battle For Global Supremacy.

Sony was able to develop and successfully market three waves of consumer electronics:

Betamax: while they lost the from a consumer point-of-view (and despite inventing home video recording as we know it), Betamax was a winner with professional users. Beta SP was the most popular format among broadcasters and production companies for decades.

Walkman: it was created on a whim, at the request of one of Sony’s founders. He wanted to be able to listen to music during long transcontinental flights and didn’t care for a built-in speaker like the ones found in transistor radios. The rest is history – the Walkman was the iPod of its generation.

PlayStation: launched in 1994 in Japan and 1995 elsewhere, Sony’s first game console forever changed the industry. While not analog by any means, the PlayStation’s high-end DSPs and audiophile-grade components owe their existence to Sony’s experience in the home. Fast three-dimensional graphics, a CD-ROM drive and low media costs allowed it to take the industry by storm and severely cripple Sega in the process.

The first Sony Walkman, model name TPS-L2

Sony was Steve Jobs’ role model for what a successful consumer electronics firm should be like. They believed in “betting the farm” on new technologies, investing millions in R&D and even moving ahead of the market if necessary (with the failed MiniDisc format). At the same time, Sony’s penchant for sci-fi-looking VCRs with menacing LEDs and an assortment of functions were clearly an example of misguided creativity. Sony VCRs were anything but simple; they were designed to impress consumers and mock VHS decks, not be friendly to the touch – or welcoming. Jobs would learn from Sony’s mistaken understanding of the need for complexity to revolutionize personal computing and, later on, smartphones and tablets.

A “simple” SuperBeta deck

Samsung Electronics is part of a huge conglomerate; South Korea’s largest, in fact.

Founded in 1969, Samsung Electronics built black-&-white TVs (it didn’t have the expertise to build color TVs), microwave ovens, air conditioning systems, etc. No “halo” products, no design/engineering masterpieces like a Sony Trinitron TV set or Walkman-like personal media device. In 1984, as VHS manufacturers were about to deal a final blow to Betamax (and almost 10 years after the introduction of home VCRs), Samsung finally launched its first VCR in the United States. However, due to quality issues it was often used as a loss leader.

An ancient portable TV set built by Samsung

The Korean behemoth was VERY strong on semiconductors, however. In the 1980s, the company decided to move towards developing and manufacturing DRAM modules for PCs. This move completely changed the game for Samsung; it now had a footing in the semiconductor business, which would explode in the 1990s thanks to Windows 95 and the Internet.

The move to digital devices, where SoCs (system-on-a-chip) replace sophisticated analog boards, took out Sony’s main competitive advantage, expertise in analog engineering, allowing Samsung to finally defeat long-time rival Sony.

Samsung versus Apple

Sony is a company in trouble. The latest financial numbers point to a Q2 loss of $1.6 billion. The only bright spots are the PlayStation division and mobile – which might also lose money next quarter due to the Ericsson buyout.

Apple learned from Sony and overtook it. Samsung is attempting to do the same to Apple. The battleground is smartphones, where Android manufacturers are now on a fight to the death with Apple over intellectual property. Samsung learned about the value of marketing, premium products and advanced product design from Apple. It embraced Android. It builds the beautiful AMOLED screens that power Galaxy class devices along with the A5 SoC found in both iPhone 4S AND iPad 2. Finally, Samsung has now overtaken Apple as the world’s top seller of smartphones with almost 30 million units shipped last quarter.

Apple knows Samsung’s goal is to dethrone it as the world’s most valuable company. After all, that’s what Apple did to Sony, even before its long-awaited “smart TV” is unveiled to the public. The iPod replaced the Walkman. Macbooks replaced VAIO laptops. The iPhone replaced Sony’s smartphones, PSPs and digital cameras/camcorders.

Apple and Samsung learned from the best – Sony – and are now on relatively equal footing on key areas: technology, marketing, market penetration. 2010 was a warm-up year for Samsung with the original Galaxy S. 2011 saw the first real gains, with the Galaxy S II taking the world by storm. The real battle will take place in 2012.

The Galaxy Nexus, Samsung’s not-so-secret weapon against the iPhone

Stay tuned — and make sure to share your thoughts in the comments :)

You can write this down: the new Droid RAZR is Android’s answer to the iPhone 4S. It’s the form-factor revolution most were expecting of the “iPhone 5.” It’s as desirable — or more — than any iPhone or BlackBerry while innovating on several fronts.

Keep in mind this is a phone for the masses, not for Android developers or “geeks.” It’s a status symbol just like the first RAZR.

Yes, it lacks Ice Cream Sandwich but an update can fix that. What it adds to the game is much more meaningful:

• Thinnest phone out there — 7.1 mm
• (probably) the lightest big-screen smartphone in the world
• Gorilla Glass (always awesome, a required feature in my book)
• KEVLAR body that makes it super-tough and resistant to spills

You’ll see this phone in best-seller lists this Holiday season, even if you can’t replace the battery or play with the bootloader. It’s the first DROID all over again and a huge step forward in smartphone engineering and design.

Decided to move the X’Eye back to the living room to use it for Sega CD games (the model 1 SCD is not very keen on backups).

It turns out this is a great way to conduct A/B tests in regard to audio/video quality. All I have to do is choose input [1] or [2] on the A/V switcher.

On the left:

Sega Genesis VA6 + 32X and Sega CD model 1

On the right:

JVC X’Eye, late model (without the RGB port, only composite out)

Both are connected to a 61-inch LED DLP set and a Yamaha surround receiver in 2-channel (stereo) mode.

GRAPHICS:

The X’Eye is sharper but the image has a bit of noise (visible on Ecco title screen). Colors are a bit weaker than the VA6. I guess “dull” is the word I’m looking for.

The VA6 + 32X has darker colors, not as sharp as the X’Eye but with no noise whatsoever. The 32X really does wonders for the video signal.

Winner: VA6

SOUND:

The X’Eye sounds really good. It’s bassy and accurate. I had a non-TMSS unit before but I was happy with the X’Eye in the living room. This is much better than the VA7-ish recordings on YouTube.

The VA6 DESTROYS the X’Eye. It’s even more bassy somehow. Shakes the room, no kidding. It’s also clearer and with more dynamic range. Full-bodied, booming — very similar to my old non-TMSS unit.

Winner: VA6, again

The games:

I tested World of Illusion, Beyond Oasis, Ecco The Dolphin, Lightening Force (Thunder Force 4 abroad) and Outrun. Guess which one clearly indicated the winner?

Outrun. Magical Sound Shower really pushes the sound chip on the Genesis. It uses a lot of panning, too — left, center and right channel. Drums, samples, you name it. It was hard to tell the difference with the other games butOutrun is merciless.

Overall Winner: Sega Genesis VA6 + 32X and Sega CD model 1

p.s. having the X’Eye in the living room was an excellent idea for another reason: it helped me figure out an issue with the sound output of the VA6 through the Sega CD. It turns out that the white and red outputs are INVERTED on the Sega CD. Worse still, something happened inside the unit itself because I had to literally switch the white with the red on the A/V switcher to get proper stereo out of it.

This is wild because I’ve been wondering about the stereo output of that VA6/32X/SCD combo since I got the SCD model 1 a few weeks ago in the mail. It’s fixed now, tested against the X’Eye which uses standard RCA cables. Whew!

I’ve been after a Sega CD for a while. I have an X’Eye, but it’s not compatible with the 32X. I wanted to build the fabled Tower of Doom, a dream of almost two decades. In order to achieve this, I needed to somehow get my hands on a healthy model 1 Sega CD — there was no other way.

Fast-forward to a few days before Labor Day. I stumble on this unbelievable bundle on Ebay. Original (functioning) model 1 SCD + Genesis + games (most CIB). I didn’t care about the Genesis because I really love my non-TMSS model 1. I grew attached to the damn thing after rescuing it from a Salvation Army store in L.A.

The full lot — pic taken by the seller

After some wise (read: aggressive) bidding, I got the whole thing for $114, shipped. It even included two original 3-button gamepads.

Here’s the list of games:

• Sonic CD (U.S.)
• F-117 Night Storm (cartridge)
• Racing Aces CIB
• Cliff Hanger CIB
• Dark Wizard (disc-only)
• Mortal Kombat CIB
• Pitfall CIB
• Surgical Strike (got 2 of this one, 1 is disc-only and 1 is CIB)
• Fifa Soccer CIB
• Rage Cage CIB
• Sewer Shark (pack-in, disc-only)
• LHX Attack Chopper (cartridge)

Well, the package arrived today. I rushed to set everything up… I was so excited. First attempt was a FAIL: my non-TMSS console was not outputting a signal. So I disassembled it, cleaned the contacts with rubbing alcohol and tried again. Success!

Sega CD BIOS (version 1.10)

Tried a few games. Everything was perfect UNTIL…

Sitting at the BIOS, bizarre artifacts suddenly appeared behind the spinning Sega CD logo. They looked like the snow from a bad RF connection (I had the console hooked via RCA). It got worse… little by little, as the console remained on. In-game everything was fine.

Disassembled the whole thing (Genesis / Sega CD / 32X). Assembled again.

It seemed like I fixed it.. then it happened again. I noticed that only the screens generated by the Sega CD were affected: the BIOS and the memory manager. I was actually seeing garbled characters moving around the screen like some weird 16-bit rain effect. It didn’t look good. At all.

I disassembled and reassembled the whole Tower of Doom 4 more times (that has to be some sort of world record!) I suspected the Sega CD itself, the video plug on the 32X, everything BUT my trusty non-TMSS unit. Then it dawned on me. That console had started exhibiting a bit of audio distortion lately. It usually happened after an hour or so of it being on.

Could it be? Could the original console be dying? After 22 years of service, could this be it?

Except that, by sheer luck, I had a replacement at hand.

A unit I previously didn’t care for — which turned out to be a legit VA6 revision. High Definition Graphics ports, covered EXT port, no HDG logo. A bona fide MIRACLE.

I disassembled and reassembled the tower for the last time — now with a new heart at its core. It worked like a charm. No snow, no problem. Smooth as silk. I even let it “soak” for 1 hour or so while me and my wife had dinner, just to be sure.

And the sound quality… OMFG. I just can’t believe how good it sounds. I think the RCA outputs are responsible in part — I used to rely on the headphone jack. Every bit of music sounds 100 percent accurate, no distortion, deep strong bass. Freaked me out. I tested it with Ecco The Dolphin (sound test) — it sounded better than any other consoles I ever had, including the J’Eye and Sega Nomad. 

So that’s my story. Started looking for a model 1 SCD. Ended up with a lightly used VA6 unit that now powers a newborn Tower of Doom. Plus a bunch of games :)

More pictures (click on each image for a high-res version):

I just love the look of this thing. The original Behemoth!

The Wii looks a bit uncomfortable sitting next to so much Sega awesomeness

originally posted on Sega-16

[phone rings]

Nintendo: Hello?

Sega: It’s time we have “the talk.”

Nintendo: Who’s speaking? And what do you mean?

Sega: Sega here, your old buddy from the 90s console wars. I’ve been thinking about you.

Nintendo: I don’t need you, Sega. Go back to making horrible Sonic remakes.

Sega: I feel your pain, Nintendo. I too once had a hugely successful platform overtaken by a much nimbler opponent. The Genesis was our pride and joy, but it only had 64 colors on screen, couldn’t do hardware scaling and lacked a CD-ROM drive — the next wave in interactive entertainment. So we fixed it with the Sega CD and the 32X.

Nintendo: You killed it, you mean.

Sega: Yes. Those were dark times for the House of Alex Kidd. But we learned our lesson.

Nintendo: I didn’t have a choice. iPhones and the Android Army are destroying the industry as we know it. The 3DS was our attempt to take the spotlight away from inexpensive mobile games. We went all out. Now look at us.

Sega: Pathetic, I know. But you must resist the urge to “fix” the 3DS. Just look at that NeoGAF thread. You’re getting killed out there. And this is just the beginning.

Nintendo: So you want us to do nothing?? We can’t let the DS franchise die like your ill-timed Dreamcast. The DS kept us alive through the Gamecube Era. It deserves better.

Sega: You need a proper follow-up. If we waited a couple years in 1992, then launched a Sega Neptune with a CD drive and built-in 32X tech, things would be different. Our customers would love us still. Instead, we launched expensive add-ons and killed them almost as fast as your 3DS price drop.

Nintendo: Screw it. The “hardcore gamers” asked for dual analog sticks: they got it. They made us do it. They will have to live with it whether they like it or not.

Sega: This is suicide! Think of Yoshi and Princess Peach. Think of Kid Icarus, for Pong’s sake!

Nintendo: We’ll die honorably. Goodbye, dear friend. I’ll see you in the Great BIOS in the sky.

Sega: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[hangs up]

Having played 50 percent of the NES library via Dreamcast emulator (NesterDC SE), I finally admit: NES games were much superior to Master System ones. It hurts to say it but it’s true.

I reached that conclusion after realizing NES games often had incredible depth (similar to 16-bit titles), better music (after all, the sound chip on the Master System was terrible) and novel gameplay (i.e. Famicom titles).

Example: Journey to Silius (Sunsoft)

In contrast, Master System games would often be simplistic, short and not very ambitious. It was a system with superior graphics but tied down by conservative gameplay and toy-like music and sound effects.

The Genesis gave Sega a fighting chance because they learned a ton from Nintendo after getting savagely beaten in the U.S. market. But in the 8-bit wars, there was no comparison.

The original Master System with its curious case design:

TL;DR Sega fanboy admits NES had much better games than the Sega Master System — 21 years later

Interested in game development? How about creating the next Super Meat Boy / The Witness / Octodad?

If so, click on the following links for FREE excerpts from Jeannie Novak’s latest book — the 3rd edition of Game Development Essentials: An Introduction.

GameDev.net — Chapter 6 — Game Design
http://www.gamedev.net/page/resources/_/reference/105/excerpt-game-development-essentials-3rd-ed-r2816

IndustryGamers — Chapter 5 — Story & Character
http://www.industrygamers.com/news/games-will-become-the-literature-of-the-21st-century-says-usc-game-design-professor/

Gamasutra/Game Career Guide — Chapter 3 — Platforms
<coming soon!>

New for the 3rd edition:

• Revised profiles, tips, and quotes from industry professionals and educators
• New and updated game screenshots, photos, illustrations, and diagrams
• Expanded sections on the newest trends in game development including mobile, social, and serious games
• Coverage of new console and mobile platforms including the PlayStation Vita, Wii U and Nintendo 3DS
• Discussions of new technologies — including 3D, motion control, augmented reality, game engines, and development tools

If you enjoy any of the chapters, please share this post on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and beyond — and help me spread the word :)