No, this post isn’t about food. It’s about tech. So if you came looking for desert move along, but if you want some sweet tech talk let me tell you why I love Ice Cream Sandwich.
As a long-time Android user, I eagerly awaited the arrival of Ice Cream Sandwich (Android’s latest operating system). I was so over the lag issues with Gingerbread (the last phone operating system), and my techy husband told me that Ice Cream Sandwich was expected to be faster with some of the features I liked in Honeycomb (on the Droid Xyboard). Of course it became available on my Droid right before my Galaxy arrived, but I didn’t have much time to play with it before switching over to my new phone. So not only did I get an awesome new phone with the Galaxy, but it came complete with the brand new operating system that I had been waiting for.
I am THRILLED to report that after using my new phone and Ice Cream Sandwich for a month it is everything I hoped it would be and more! Gone are the annoying delays due to lag time, the phone is zip-zip-zippy. Sure I know part of the reason is that the Galaxy phone is just plain awesome, but there is also a lot to be said about the processing of the new operating system too. (Of course I am not a techy, so I am not going to even try to go into all of the technical reasons the OS is faster, but it is.)
Of course, everything looks different too. For a girl who doesn’t like my tech to change, updates like this always take some getting used to. But now that I have become accustom to the new look, I really like it. It is a simpler look, with more clean lines.
Other visual improvements include updated folder abilities and widget previews — both very nice.
In addition to speeding up Internet browsing, Ice Cream Sandwich includes some fun updates as well. For example, there’s no reason to memorize another password combo, the new lock screen includes facial recognition. My hubby had fun with this feature, locking me out of my phone by setting his face as the unlock key.
Going back to lag issues. One of the reasons I often have lag problems with my tech — including phone and laptop — is that I am a constant multitasker. At this moment I have… 38 tabs open in my browser on my computer and 13 on my phone. (Ouch, that’s almost embarrassing.) Keeping all of those things processing at once eats memory. With the new Ice Cream Sandwich task manager, closing one of my many open applications is as easy as a finger swipe. If only I could turn off some of the processes in my mind as easy.
Speaking of mental multitasking, I feel my sweet tooth aching. Couldn’t Android name it’s OS after something less tempting?
Jenn @therebelchick says
That looks like a really fun phone!
Ashley - Embracing Beauty says
Looks very fun and I agree, that name makes me want an ice cream sandwich! Good thing there’s one left in the freezer! 🙂
Tesa @ 2 Wired 2 Tired says
I love the names, they make me hungry! Glad to hear this one is zippier.
Thomas Murphy says
cool phone!
Stefani says
I have an iPhone and was thinking of going to an Android phone. I got a Samsung Galaxy Tablet instead!
Beeb Ashcroft says
We like Androids around here!
Shell Fruscione says
Facial recognition?! That’s awesome! Don’t tell my fiancee about that though, we are in a Droid vs. iPhone war {I’m Team iPhone} and he’ll rub that in my face!
Rob says
Melinda and I have had the Galaxy S3 since the day it came out and we LOVE it. Thanks for letting me know about the facial recognition to unlock the phone, that is way cool and James Bondish. LOL. We love the photo bump feature where if we touch our two phones together we can transfer pictures from phone to phone. I know there is still a ton to learn but so far we are loving our phones.