Review: Samsung Galaxy Nexus for Verizon Wireless
Calls
The phone application has been revised a bit, but not significantly. Pressing the phone button on the home screen brings you to the dialpad. You can swipe sideways to access the call log, and your favorite contacts. The call log provides some information about calls (time, duration) in addition to shortcuts for redialing or sending a text message to that number.
In-call actions are available via controls that appear on the bottom of the screen, You can easily call up the dialpad, turn on the speakerphone, mute calls, or add a line. I like that the button to end calls is absolutely HUGE, making it easier to hang up when you're done.
Contacts
The contact application sees a refresh and some changes in behavior. Contacts are automatically synced with your Google accounts, and your Google+ account. The contacts app grabs the Google+ profile data from your contacts who have Google+ accounts (images, links, videos, recent posts to Google+) and you can see it in the contact cards. Neat. It also managed to sync Facebook profile images even though I didn't sign into Facebook. Creepy.
The contact cards look cleaner and more organized. The information is easier to grasp right away and the tools for accessing, editing, sharing, and otherwise interacting with your contacts are all easily found.
As noted, you can place contact cards, or direct dial or direct message shortcuts to the home screens, which give you instant access to your besties. You can also add contacts to your Favorites list — which is visible in the phone application.
The integration of contacts with Google+, in particular, may be unsettling to some, but to Google+ fans its really cool to be able to see and access your circles from the Galaxy Nexus contact app.
Last, the contacts app is also aware of the status of your Google Talk friends. As you scan through your contacts, you can see who's available for chatting, who's away, and who doesn't want to be bothered.
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