technology

Illegear Bolt Gaming Monitors: Reasonably Priced Performance

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Originally Published: 1st November 2021 on eGG Network

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Disclaimer: We were loaned review units, courtesy of Illegear in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are the author’s own and not influenced by Illegear, and/or its affiliates, in any way.

If there’s one thing that Malaysians are constantly on the lookout for, it’s a bang for your buck product! And if there’s a gaming hardware company that understands that, it’s none other than Illegear. For years the company has been pushing out powerful gaming products at reasonable price points and their current series of gaming monitors, the Bolt 24 and Bolt 27 are great examples of their philosophy. After spending some time with the Bolt 24 and Bolt 27, here’s what we think about the displays.

Bolt 27

I’ll start with the larger display, the Bolt 27. Its main draw is its attractive price point – at RM1,199, you’ll be hard-pressed to find another curved 27” monitor with all of the same features. Samsung VA panels, 2560 x 1440 QHD resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, HDR, and 4ms response time. Not to mention, the monitor is an attractive looking piece of hardware, especially with the glowing “X” in the back which can spice up your room a little.

We tested the monitor out and it performed as expected – it ran games at 144Hz with no issues, colours were shown correctly and so on. It also has plenty of I/O ports – 2x HDMI 1.4, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.2, 1x Headphone. If there’s one thing I could wish for, it would be for us to be able to hold onto the review unit forever!

Jokes aside, the Bolt 27 isn’t perfect – the stand that comes with the monitor has extremely limited adjustability. Besides the angle (tilting up/down) of the display, you won’t be able to move anything else. Fortunately, it comes with optional brackets that allow you to use the monitor with VESA mounts (for your walls or table monitor arms). The monitor also uses a power brick instead of a regular power cable, so it can take up some table space.

However, these drawbacks don’t detract from the overall experience of using the Bolt 27. The stand was extremely easy to put together and we had it up and running in a matter of minutes. It probably took more time to remove the display from the box!

If you’re looking for a high-res, high-refresh-rate, and HDR-capable monitor, you can’t go wrong with the Bolt 27, especially at this price. However, if you don’t need something that large (i.e. limited table space or you don’t have the GPU for such high resolution), the smaller Bolt 24 might be what you need.

Bolt 24

The Bolt 24 can be touted as the little sibling of the 27. While it does cost almost half the price at RM659, some sacrifices had to be made –  namely, its smaller size (only 23.6” wide), lower resolution (1920 x 1080 Full HD), and no HDR support. However, depending on your requirements, this might be all that you need. You still get the high refresh rate, funky backlighting and a curved display that uses a Samsung VA panel.

While the monitor does perform well, it does have some caveats – 144Hz refresh rate is only available through DisplayPort, due to the monitor using HDMI 1.4. Unlike the Bolt 27, which has HDMI 2.0 support, you’ll need a DisplayPort capable GPU in order to enable the highest refresh rate, if not you’ll be stuck at 120Hz. Something to take note of if you have limited DisplayPort outputs available. Fortunately, like the Bolt 27, it does come with a DisplayPort cable included. The Bolt 24 has the following I/O ports: 2x HDMI 1.4, 1x DisplayPort 1.2, 1x Headphone.

The Bolt 24 comes with a very limited mounting stand as well, with the monitor tilt being the only thing that’s adjustable. Fortunately, it also comes with VESA mounting support so you can rectify those issues. One thing I didn’t like about the default stand is that it attaches to the back of the monitor via a single screw. I felt that two should have been the minimum because a single screw for such an important job seems questionable to me.

Lastly, the recessed ports on the Bolt 24 are a double-edged sword – they keep your connectors hidden, but this also means that they are quite troublesome to remove (not an issue for most people but it does slow down the job of a reviewer). It also makes it hard to keep the cables out of sight since they are forced to exit downwards.

All in all, if you’re looking for a curved, high refresh rate 23.6″ monitor at a reasonable price, the Bolt 24 might be right up your alley.

Both of the monitors are available now, on the official Illegear website:

Stay tuned to eGG Network for all the latest news and reviews on tech and gaming products!

Armaggeddon Starship VI Gaming Chair

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Originally Published: 9th January 2021 on eGG Network

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Disclaimer: We received a review unit, courtesy of Armaggeddon Malaysia in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are the author’s own and not influenced by Armaggeddon Malaysia, and/or its affiliates, in any way.

The gaming chair space is currently flooded with choices, and if you’re looking for one, how do you decide which one is for you? Having experienced a few different chairs around the office, the common consensus we’ve come to is that as long as you feel comfortable when sitting in one for extended periods, that chair is good enough for you. As you would already know by now, everybody has different needs and preferences, and there’s no one-size-fits-all. However, there are chairs that are adjustable enough to suit the needs of a lot of people.

As we discussed with ergonomics experts in the past, the main feature to look out for when buying a chair is how comfortable you feel sitting on it, and how well it can support your body.

Some people are completely fine with their RM100 office chairs, and others can struggle to sit in them for over an hour. The best way to find out if a chair is good for you is to use one for a while but it’s not a feasible option for everybody (lack of showrooms, models, inconvenient locations etc).

That’s when reviews like these come in handy. While we can’t say that the chair is going to be exactly what you’re looking for (we’re not mind-readers!), we can share our experiences with the chair and our body sizes/weights to help you with your purchasing decision.

Episode 0: Assembling the chair

Before we can sit in the chair, there’s something we need to do – put it together. The chair comes delivered in a hefty box that’s filled to the brim with everything you need – a common obstacle you’ll encounter when purchasing a gaming chair. Not that it’s a big deal, but it’s definitely something to keep in mind if you’re not a fan of DIY products.

The instructions were minimal at best and it didn’t take long for me to figure out what to do (important to note as this was my first time putting a gaming chair together, but I’ve had plenty of experience with IKEA products in the past). That being said, they could have done a better job of walking people through the process. The chair can be assembled by a single person, but having an additional pair of hands will greatly speed up the process. My colleague and I took about 1.5 hours to put the chair together.

There were a few times that I had to remove and reinsert the screws because I accidentally put them in at a slight angle, which messed up their ability to catch onto the threads properly. Overall, the process wasn’t extremely difficult for me but I can see how people might struggle to understand the instruction sheet.

The Starship VI

The first thing I observed when I plopped myself onto the chair is that it felt smaller than other chairs I’ve sat on in the past. Based on measurements, the chair isn’t that much different compared to other chairs I’ve tried. I believe this could be due to the angle of the seat’s sides which give less room for you to spread your legs. It was a new sensation for me because I’ve previously felt like other gaming chairs that I’ve sat on were much too big for me – this one felt a little snug in comparison. It was in no way uncomfortable, but something that I immediately noticed.

The bottom cushion is made from an extremely soft foam which makes it comfortable to sit on. For my use cases, the chair was adjustable enough – I could get my armrests at the right height to match my table, and chair tall enough so that my feet were flat on the floor at the same time. One complaint I have about the armrests is that while they are adjustable, they feel very limited when it comes to rotating them. I would have appreciated larger angles and more positions, but having three is better than none at all. The armrests were also pretty wobbly when we pushed them around but this should not be an issue with regular usage.

The chair uses large casters which makes them easy to roll across most surfaces. We used the chair in our carpeted office and it had no problems rolling across the floor. It has 5 casters (standard for most office chairs) which means it stays stable regardless of which direction you lean towards while sitting – but also an important feature if you decide to use the chair as a bed.

Yes, the back of this chair can tilt all the way back, turning into a makeshift bed if you ever need some shut-eye but don’t want to get out of your seat. The lumbar cushion will need to be removed in this case though since it creates an uncomfortable bump when you’re lying flat. Speaking of the lumbar cushion, it is nice, firm, large, with adjustable straps that allow you to determine how high or low you need it to be.

First Voyage

My colleague and I gave the chair a go for a couple of days and here are our thoughts on the chair: 

The chair feels very sturdy and solid. I was initially apprehensive because I wasn’t sure of my chair-building skills but as soon as I sat down on it, those worries disappeared. I thought it was a snug fit, and didn’t feel uncomfortable at all when using the chair. The armrests could do with wider angle rotations but they were adequate.

My stats: 175cm, 75kg, size 34 waist.

The chair feels cosy for smaller people. I like how soft and cushiony the seat is, especially near the front edge of the seat. It’s very comfortable. The material of the seat is also cooling, which I appreciate. Overall it feels very solid and firm.

My colleague: 163cm, 52kg, size 30 waist.

Conclusion

True to Armaggeddon’s brand name, you get a pretty good quality product for a reasonable price. Though there’s room for improvement in terms of design and the materials used, it felt as good to sit on as other gaming chairs, despite its lower price tag.

Some quality of life improvements could have been made to make the chair more attractive but as it stands, we’re pretty pleased with Armaggeddon’s first foray into chairs and look forward to seeing future models from them.

At the moment, we haven’t used the chair long enough for a long-term review, but check back in a few years and we’ll try to remember to update this article then!

The Armaggeddon Starship VI is available now for RM999 at their official Shoppee store.

There are cheaper models available, with the main differences being the price, the wheel base, chair-lift piston, back and headrest cushion.

You can also purchase the Nebuka III (RM899) and Shuttle II (RM699).

Armaggeddon Hornet-1 and Hornet-3 Wireless Earbuds Review

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Originally Published: 15th March 2021 on eGG Network

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Disclaimer: We received review units, courtesy of Armaggeddon Malaysia in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are the author’s own and not influenced by Armaggeddon Malaysia, and/or its affiliates, in any way.

Armaggeddon has decided to enter the wireless headset with two new earbuds in their new Hornet line – the Hornet-1 and Hornet-3. Since I was happy with the WASP-7 when it came to voice communications (it’s my go-to headset whenever I need to take calls or meetings on my phone), I jumped at the opportunity to check out these earbuds. Boy, I was in for a surprise.

Clipping

I’ll say it outright – these earbuds aren’t great if you’re purchasing them to listen to music. While overall they are usable, what bothers me is how music constantly sounds like its clipping. It reminded me of listening to music on an FM radio when you can’t find the exact sweet spot of the perfect frequency – the music can be heard clearly, but there’s that very slight hint of distortion. Tweaking my equalizer settings helped to reduce it but it’s not something I expect most people to do. When your budget earbuds don’t play well with default audio settings, it’s a point of concern.

This is much less prominent on the Hornet-3, which has a heavier low-end that drowns out the clipping but it is very noticeable on the Hornet-1. The audio quality would be acceptable if the earbuds were priced cheaper, but at RM129 (Hornet-1) and RM179 (Hornet-3) – I expected them to sound better than the notable budget-friendly options out there.

This distortion isn’t present when listening to voices, podcasts and in-game chat (but the quality of your teammates’ voices are out of your control) so if music isn’t a priority to you, the Hornet earbuds are adequate.

Communication

Honestly, the microphones on these earbuds performed a lot better than I had expected, but they are nowhere close to the quality of the one on the WASP-7. Though the sound was slightly muffled, Armaggeddon did a good job with the noise suppression/cancellation. My voice sounded clear when I was speaking normally.

Perhaps Armaggeddon could include the detachable mic in future versions of their wireless earbuds?

Comfort/Aesthetics

Both earbuds didn’t come with custom tips for different ear sizes but they could fit snuggly into my ears. The Hornet-1 felt very light but I was never worried about them falling out of my ears when walking around. No complaints regarding their comfortability.

The Hornet-3 looks like a trimmed version of the WASP-7, which I thought looked pretty cool, but the LEDs were too loud for my taste. I prefer the more subtle look of the Hornet-1.

Control

Though buttonless touch controls look fancy and ‘next-gen’, they were a pain point of these earbuds. When you can’t feel if you’ve successfully pressed a button and you can’t see the lights on the earbuds without a mirror or removing them, adjusting the audio was quite a challenge. The lack of tactility and any visual cues led me to rely on my phone to control my music. The only thing I could do reliably was play/pause the audio and turn them on/off. Adjusting the volume was near impossible – the earbuds kept pausing the music instead.

Game Mode

The Hornet-1 and Hornet-3 feature a ‘game mode’ (tap the buds four times to enable/disable it) which is said to improve audio latency. As to why it isn’t the default mode, game mode reduces the functional range of the earbuds and drains the battery quicker. I played around with the modes and personally, I didn’t experience any perceivable differences in latency with it on. I’m sure results will vary for people with other devices (I tested the earbuds with my laptop, a Pocophone F1 and an iPhone 12), but it didn’t make a difference to me, so I left it off.

PC Pairing Woes

Purely anecdotal but I’ve had wildly different results trying to connect the earbuds to different devices while testing them. Connecting them to my phones was effortless, I had no issues. Turn the earbuds on, select them in my phone’s menu and I was all set – straightforward and fast.

When pairing them with my laptop or desktop it was a whole different story. I had to turn the earbuds on and off and attempt to connect them via the Windows 10 Bluetooth menu many times before I could make a successful connection. Once they were connected they functioned expectedly, even when walking in and out of range causing the connection to drop and pick up again. The problem only came during the setup stage. If you have no plans to use them with a computer, this won’t be of any concern.

Battery Life

No complaints here. Both earbuds were good enough to last at least half a day of constant usage before I had to charge them (in their nice and handy cases). The Hornet-1 is said to have 15 hours battery life (5 on the headset and the case able to provide 10 hours) and the Hornet-3, 32 hours (8 + 24). The cases also make use of USB-C which is appreciated in this day and age.

Conclusion

The Hornet-1 and Hornet-3 are a fair debut from Armaggeddon but are a bit tricky for me to recommend. Like their Starship VI gaming chair, these earbuds are considered pricier than what we’ve come to expect but these come with compromises.

If voice communications and battery life is a priority for you, these earbuds will get the job done. With voices, you won’t have to worry about the distortion that’s present when listening to songs. However, if you’re after a good musical experience, there are much more affordable alternatives out there.

With their first product out of the way, I look forward to seeing Armaggeddon improve future iterations of their wireless earbuds.

The Hornet-1 and Hornet-3 wireless earbuds are available now for RM129 and RM179 respectively, on the official Armaggeddon Shopee store. They’re having a promotion on March 16th where you’ll get a power bank as a free gift when purchasing the earbuds.

Armaggeddon Wasp-7 3D Pro Gaming Earphones Review

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Originally Published: 6th August 2020 on eGG Network

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Disclaimer: We received a review unit and two to give away, courtesy of Armaggeddon Malaysia in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are the author’s own and not influenced by Armaggeddon Malaysia, and/or its affiliates, in any way.

First things first, let’s get any misconceptions out of the way – if you’re looking for earphones to mix and master audio or to listen to high-quality FLAC tunes, these aren’t what you’re looking for. Armaggeddon has created a product that’s targeted at a very specific audience – gamers on a budget who want something better than the default headset that comes with their phones. 

It’s not that you can’t listen to music with these WASP-7 – it’s just that when you put them on, you’ll want to hop into a lobby so you can command your teammates to push or gank without dealing with clunky chat wheel UI; not bop out to the latest Taylor Swift release. On that front, Armaggeddon has delivered.

Packaging

Here’s what you get in the box: wired earphones, a detachable microphone, extra tips, and a Y splitter. Nothing fancy, everything you expect comes packaged neatly in the box.

Comfort and Design

While I know it will vary from person to person, the in-ears fit into my ear canals perfectly out of the box. I was able to wear them for a few hours straight with no sign of discomfort. Though there’s no active cancellation, the silicon ear tips did a good job blocking out external noise while it was in use. It also comes with 2 pairs of additional tips in case the default ones are too large or small for you.

The earphones aren’t too flashy, in fact, the most eye-catching part (the golden drivers behind the transparent housing) aren’t visible when they’re plugged into your ears. From the outside, all you see is Armaggeddon’s signature logo and shiny gold inserts peeking through. Subtle, yet recognizable enough for anyone familiar with the brand – something I appreciate since I’m not a fan of over-the-top gamer aesthetics.

Performance

While the WASP-7 features a triple neodymium setup – more than its sibling, the WASP-5 which only has dual neodymium drivers – it doesn’t shine when it comes to music listening. Based on the sound tests I ran, the bass was surprisingly strong, but mids were slightly muddied and highs very muted. Though not a terrible experience, it was only satisfactory. I’ve had better experiences with other similarly priced earphones (wired and wireless) on this front.

However, when it comes to voice communications, the WASP-7 is on a league of its own. Taking cues from more expensive gaming headsets, the WASP-7 has a detachable microphone that plugs into the left earpiece and hangs right next to your mouth, allowing it to pick up your voice loud and clear. I was surprised by how effective the microphone was at picking up my voice during heated gaming sessions.

While I appreciate its sensitivity, it does pick up slightly too much ambient noise when you’re not speaking – try not to use it next to a fan, or make sure you enable noise removal on your communication apps when possible (i.e. Discord Noise Suppression).

The WASP-7 also include a traditional controller on its cable which has a nifty slider that allows you to easily adjust the volume of what you’re listening to instead of buttons that incrementally increase or decrease it. This makes controlling the audio coming through the speakers much faster and efficient. You also get a mute button to toggle the microphone and a button for pause/play operations.

Impressed with the range of sounds that the microphone was able to pick up, I decided to see how it would fare with music – since I noticed it’s something other cheap mics and built-in mics on phones struggled with. While it’s nowhere near the quality of studio-quality condenser mics, it was definitely good enough for home music demos. Again, make sure you’re in a quiet location so it doesn’t pick up too much ambient noise.

If you happen to misplace the detachable microphone or don’t have it with you, you can still use the regular microphone on the control piece. Great for those times when you want a more discreet look, but you’ll have to speak louder due to the mic’s position.

Lastly, if you’re planning to use this with a desktop PC, the WASP-7 also come with a Y splitter so you can plug the device into separate mic and headphone ports. This will also allow you to use it as a dedicated mic or earphone if you want to pair it up with another device. The removable microphone also makes this task a breeze – when you’re not gaming, just remove the microphone and you’ve got yourself a pair of regular earphones. 

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a very capable microphone + headset combo for mobile gaming, you can’t go wrong with the WASP-7. It checks all the bells and whistles when it comes to performance with voice communications and a reasonable price tag to boot. That being said, if you’re in the market for a headset to mainly listen to music, you’re better off looking elsewhere. 

The WASP-7 Pro 3D earphones are available on Armaggedon’s official Shopee store for RM89.90.

Interested in checking out these earphones for free? We’ve got two units of the WASP-7 3D Pro to be given away. Stay tuned to eGG Network’s Facebook and Instagram page for details on how to win them!

Why people should try online dating

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Originally published: 15th March 2016 on goodnewsgeorge.com

Online dating – the social club of today. In case you were wondering, online dating is the practice of searching for a romantic or sexual partner on the internet, typically via a dedicated website. Most online dating services follow the same model: you setup a profile of yourself, browse for matches, send them messages, and hope for a reply.

The topic of online dating has come up every now and then, but only in recent years has it really been accepted as the norm. Heck, even I didn’t believe in it back then. I have a post on Facebook with a screenshot of me saying something along the lines of ‘online dating is for desperate people who can’t get anyone in real life’. It’s been years since I wrote that and my perception on the whole subject has changed.

If you’ve ever thought to yourself, who would do such a thing? The answer is – a lot of people. I don’t have the numbers, but chances are (if you live in a decently populated city), there are plenty of people out there using these matchmaking services in hopes of finding a suitable partner.

I’m rarely one to say ‘no’ to a challenge, so when the idea of joining a dating site to get me out of my single slump formed, I decided to do it. It’s been many years since I started online dating, and while I don’t use it anymore (I’m currently in a happy relationship), I’ve met plenty of girls and it has been a very positive experience.

Now some of you might be asking – why not just meet people regularly (or ‘offline’)? Well, I can tell you there are quite a number of benefits to online dating. Firstly, it’s very convenient. The fact that you can meet people from the comfort of your own home or during your lunch break at the office is huge. If you treat the online conversation as a screener, you can also save yourself the hassle of driving for miles to spend an evening with someone you don’t click with. It really doesn’t take a lot of time.

Secondly, it enabled me to meet plenty of people I wouldn’t otherwise meet. I’m not exactly young and my social circle hasn’t really grown in a while. I had no way to meet new people bar talking to strangers in public places (not great when those people aren’t out to meet strangers, especially when I wasn’t very good at talking to them). Online dating allowed me to overcome those obstacles. It also introduced me to people from all walks of life – people I wouldn’t have crossed paths with under other circumstances. I’ve had dates with girls that I had nothing in common with, in terms of education, lifestyle; yet we still connected because we were both looking for partners on the internet.

Thirdly, it’s a great way for people like me, who struggle to think of things to say when put on the spot, to meet people. When meeting complete strangers, I usually freeze up and have no idea what to say. Online dating eliminates this problem. You get time to think of what to say and reply. When face to face, the other person isn’t going to wait ten minutes or an hour for you to respond to a question. Whenever I got a match, I used this opportunity to build up confidence and rapport with her, so when we met in person, it was much easier to talk to them. If you can chat with someone online – you should be able to chat offline too.

That sounds great, so what are the downsides to online dating? Well, here’s a few things I’ve learned from my time spent doing it. Minus the convenience part, online dating pretty much mimics offline dating. There will be rejections. Not everybody will respond to your advances. Sometimes they ignore you, sometimes they read your messages and choose to not reply. But you know what? It’s okay. Chances are, they weren’t very interested in you and you haven’t lost anything besides the time spent crafting your introductory message.

Like offline dating, it is a numbers game. If you’ve seen a girl (especially if she’s physically attractive) using an online dating service, you’ll understand how often they get bombarded with messages. It’s not uncommon for girls to miss a message you send them or think that your message isn’t interesting enough to reply to. Like girls who get hit on in clubs, it’s not very different on the internet. You’ll just have to accept it and move on.

Not every girl you match with will end up becoming a partner – you may meet a lot more girls, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be meeting ‘the one’ right away. There will definitely be matches you don’t click or have any sparks with offline. You can just stay friends or move on. Who knows? Maybe they’ll introduce you to their friends in the future if they think you’re worth it.

The waiting game – remember how I mentioned you can take your time to craft responses? Well, sometimes you end up waiting hours, even days, for a reply to your own message. You never know if they’ve forgotten about you or they’ve been thinking of what to say, or if they’re really busy with other things in their life. Again, it’s not a problem. You can go on with your day, message other people and just respond to them in the future when and if they reply.

Online dating isn’t a replacement for meeting people in person. Personally, I treated it as a vehicle for introducing me to my match and setting up the first date. After that, it was all on me and how I acted or reacted to her when we met. This way, I got to save the more interesting topics for our conversations face to face, which made our dates better. Plus, being able to see them physically helped me steer conversations towards the right direction.

So why do I think people should try online dating? It’s a very exciting and interesting experience – especially if you’re the kind of person who enjoys meeting new people and you’ve never done it before. I’ve yet to have a terrible date though I’ve heard horror stories from the other side of the fence. At worst, your bad date becomes a funny tale you can recount with your friends. At best, you meet someone amazing and magical things happen.

Because I’ve been able to go out with so many different girls through online dating, my confidence in myself increased, along with my social skills – which has improved my life significantly (for both work and leisure). I’m no Casanova, but at least I’m not the most awkward guy at a party anymore.

If you’re someone who doesn’t have a lot of time to meet new people, an expanding social circle or the skills to meet strangers in public, online dating should be an option you should seriously consider. Be sure to stay safe and most importantly, have fun. As for writing a good profile and introductory message, that will have to be an essay for another day!

Android Ice Cream Sandwich, Launched!

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Coverage on the official launch of the Android 4.0 mobile operating system.

Originally Published: 18th October 2011 on Ubergizmo.com

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The day that all Android fans have been waiting for has finally arrived. Google has finally pulled the wrapper off its latest operating system: Android 4.0, better known as Ice Cream Sandwich. This time around, Google has decided to focus on making the operating system “enchanting”, easy to use and appealing to more people. And from what they introduced at the unveiling, I think they’ve managed to hit the spot with Ice Cream Sandwich.

Design

Ice Cream Sandwich will feature a brand new user interface (UI) that will make use of common gestures across the whole operating system. One of the most prominent new gestures is the swipe left/right motion. Users will be swiping the screens to the side when browsing through screens of similar content i.e. different emails, different parts of a user’s profile in the contacts app etc.

Another noticeable feature of Ice Cream Sandwich is the brand new “Roboto” typeface. Since the operating system has been built specifically to take advantage of 720p HD displays, they created a high resolution font that stays sharp no matter if you’re viewing it from a distance or close up.

Ice Cream Sandwich really changes how Android looks and behaves. Since the core Android buttons (back, home, menu) will be on the display itself,  this means that they can rotate depending on the device orientation, light up when pressed, and even disappear when running a fullscreen app i.e. watching a movie.

Features

Widgets are now more powerful, with the ability to support scrolling, stacks and all of them can be resized to any size you like, which brings customization to a whole new level. But one of the best features about Ice Cream Sandwich is that your widgets are now shown in a page, just like how all your apps are displayed when you open your app drawer. This makes it so much easier to see what widgets you’re adding to your homescreen instead of going through the multiple menus like you normally do on Android.

Folders are now easier to create – users can just drag an icon onto another one to make a new folder. Yes, it feels like it’s been lifted off iOS, but it definitely is more intuitive and takes less steps than the previous method of going through the menu.

With Ice Cream Sandwich, Android finally has a built-in app switcher/task killer. With the app switcher, users can easily scroll through all the apps they have open and use the simple left/right swiping gesture to close anything they don’t want open.

Taking another page out of the iOS book, Android now has an inbuilt screenshot function (yay – no more rooting necessary). Users can just hit the power + volume down key to take a screenshot of what’s happening on screen.

The notifications bar in Ice Cream Sandwich is now accessible from the lockscreen – great for people with complicated unlock patterns who just want to check their latest notifications.

The Android keyboard has also been improved, with more accurate prediction, better correction, and improved editing (users can now drag and drop text). Voice to text has also been upgraded. Speech is translated into text as soon as users start speaking. Users can also hesitate or pause without being cut off by the system.

Ice Cream Sandwich also has a new way of unlocking the phone: using advanced facial recognition technology, users can unlock their phones by just looking into the front facing camera. While it seems like a good idea, I foresee some problems: unless users have an external light source or a front facing flash – it’s basically useless in the dark. And is the software smart enough to differentiate a person’s face from a photograph? I guess we’ll find out when it’s released.

Core Apps

Besides the new features of the operating system, Google has also revamped all the core apps for Android Ice Cream Sandwich:

Android Browser
The default web browser has been given a facelift, and the addition of some useful new features. Tabbed browsing has been introduced (up to 16 tabs supported), and they can be easily switched to in the same manner the app switcher works (tap to select, swipe to close). The browser can also request for desktop sites (when mobile sites don’t give you what you want), automatically sync your bookmarks with Google Chrome on your desktop/laptop, save pages for offline reading, check your most viewed pages and launch an incognito mode.

Gmail
The Gmail app has also been revamped, this time it features two line previews (great for skimming through your emails), and the same swiping gesture for moving forward/back through your messages. Contacts are now displayed as chips – little boxes with names and a display picture, and offline search is finally available on the app. Gmail now has an action bar that displays your most frequently used actions.

Calendar
The default calendar app has also been updated, this time around it features a less cluttered, more readable interface, pinch to zoom for expanding event details on the calendar itself (no more having to jump in and out of the events screen).

Data usage monitor
Ice Cream Sandwich now has a built-in feature that lets users monitor their data usage. It can record usage history, and based on the past it can project what your data usage will be like for the remainder of the month. Users can set warnings, automatically cut data, see how much data an app users over a selected time period, and even cut off background data for specific apps. A real handy tool for people who have trouble controlling their data intake.

Photos, Video and Gallery
While more of a feature of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus instead of the camera app, users will be able to take photographs with zero shutter delay. Multiple shots can be taken in a very short time, and the camera can also be accessed from the default lockscreen. The app now has a slider for zooming and a tap to focus mode. Sharing has also been streamlined, making it an almost instantaneous process. A nifty panoramic shot feature is also present.

Videos can be recorded in 1080p HD resolution, continuous focus, and zooming while recording are all present. Users can also shoot time lapse videos, and they can also take high quality snapshots while video recording simultaneously.

The stock gallery app looks gorgeous, with its magazine-inspired layout for all the thumbnails, categorizing options (choose by location, people, date etc), and new built-in editing tools (apply “hipster filters, crop images, rotate, resize etc all from the gallery app).

People
The contacts app has evolved into what Google calls People. It features a bright new look (no more black screen), the same swiping motion to browse through different pages, and a person’s contact details all aggregated in one location. In addition to showing a person’s contact details, People can also display their latest social network activities.

People has also been integrated into other app such as Gmail in the form of contact cards that show a person’s details in a condensed format. This makes getting in touch with people through different means a very simple process.

Phone
Visual voice mail has been integrated directly into the call lists, and users can now speed up or slowdown any voicemail they have on their phones. From the incoming call screen, users can also perform a simple swipe up gesture to reject a call and send a canned text message to the caller at the same time so users can decline calls politely.

Android Beam
Using the power of NFC technology, Google has really kicked it up a notch with Google Beam. Instead of just turning your phone into a digital wallet, Google Beam lets users easily share content with each other. From websites, maps, and even a game that you’re playing on the phone – sharing with Google Beam is literally just a tap away. In the future it can even be used to start multiplayer games, and to share photos.

Conclusion

Ice Cream Sandwich definitely is a huge upgrade from Gingerbread and Honeycomb but it looks like Google is trying to make the complete Android experience as good as it can get without the use of third party apps, custom ROMs and launchers. Definitely something that unadventurous Android users (i.e. most consumers) will welcome though it looks like it’s going to leave the hardcore users wanting more. After all, Google did mention that this update was mostly about “beautifying” Android at the beginning of the presentation. We’ll just have to see what the future updates to the operating system will bring.

The Ice Cream Sandwich SDK is available now, so if you want to tinker around with the tools or find out more about the operating system, you can head over to the official Android developers blog for more details.