I was glancing at some screenshots of the Galaxy Nexus/GNex/Gex/Whatever, and noticed an issue/feature which is not unique to the Nexus.
The quote RAM figures for the device and the RAM total in the "Running" section of applications never match (in the massive sample of Android handsets I've seen - 3).
HTC Desire: Quoted RAM - 576MB. RAM total in "Running" section - 374MB. 65%
Galaxy S II: 1GB (1024MB). 693MB. 68%.
Galaxy Nexus: 1GB. 631MB (in screenshot I saw). 62%
I'm not actually calling this a problem, I'm just wondering what is the reason for this difference. Is the "Running" apps section simply RAM allocated for apps and the rest of the RAM is for the OS? Are the OEMs lying to us while smoking fat cigars by their swimming pools?
I'm sure there's a very simple reason for this. I just don't know it.
Just like the devices total memory is 16 gb and 13.xx is actually to be played with. These things often get 'rounded up' quite often in the world of cars the manufactor claim a certain horse power and its rounded to nearest 50 or 100. Such is life in this modern age I'm afraid and unless some kind of consume4 rights group tries to do anything about this the current trend of manufactoers and ceo 's bull sh*tting to us is likely to continue.
Of course I'd like to be wrong and say that the other 300+MB are dedicated to the 'system' but I can't promice I'm afraid.
Sent from my X10i using xda premium
I dont think it's that easy in this example though.. when talking about storage size one actual GB is 1024 MB but when it says 16GB on the box the manufacturers and retailers actually mean 16000MB devide this 16000 by 1024 and you get the real useable storage size, 15.625GB in this case. Talking about RAM on the other hand they tend to go by the full size GB when typing it out for you, 1GB is 1024MB of RAM, so.. where does that lost RAM go? I dont know! Someone with deeper knowledge want to explain further?
Sent from my X10i using xda premium
Maybe the 'system' really does use that much then although bear in mind sence and touchwiz are bound to use more. Hopefully on the actual retail release software will be more optimized and we get some ram back.
Sent from my X10i using xda premium
The GPU shares memory and reserves a huge chunk of the ram for itself.
The rest I can't explain correctly (if it's correct at all) but it's reserved for the os and can't be addressed by apps.
These reports only show the part that's addressable by apps.
gokpog said:
The GPU shares memory and reserves a huge chunk of the ram for itself.
The rest I can't explain correctly (if it's correct at all) but it's reserved for the os and can't be addressed by apps.
These reports only show the part that's addressable by apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So this is to ensure the OS has enough ram and flows nicely and keeping everything lag free and super quick. Good news
Sent from my X10i using xda premium
gokpog said:
The GPU shares memory and reserves a huge chunk of the ram for itself.
The rest I can't explain correctly (if it's correct at all) but it's reserved for the os and can't be addressed by apps.
These reports only show the part that's addressable by apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice one.
As Tjotte said, I know that when it comes to storage, manufacturers normally quote gigabytes as multiples of 1000MB (I call this lying but what the heck). Then you add another small percentage for BIOS and you have a storage device with about 90%+ of what you thought it was going to be.
But around a third off the quoted figure??? That's more likely system allocation rather than a blatant lie.
Which now leads me to think... PC GPUs have their own RAM completely separate to system RAM. Apart from cache, I'm guess the mobile SoC's don't have specific RAM. Hmmmmm..... A quick peak at AnandTech at the Kal-El write-up tells me they don't. Bummer.
I think some of its used for caching as well. If you open task manager in Windows, you'll often see how the available RAM is far less than what would be expected if you take total RAM and subtract the RAM used by currently open apps (both system and user). It could be that some of RAM is essentially pre-fetching or caching apps, both user apps as well as system apps (such as Dialler, Framework components, GoogleSync etc) which notably make launching everything faster. And some of it is definitely used by the GPU as well similar to the integrated graphics on pc's, and this is probably dynamic as well, which can explain why available RAM does fluctuate within the same phone in similar conditions.
Internal storage is the Gb vs GB bit vs byte issue plus partitioning, a free hundred MB as /system, maybe other partitions for other things such as user data etc.
As far as the ram, some for the gpu, the os will use some, some will be used as cache which can be dropped if needed, but in the end the device still has more free ram than some phones have in total.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Disk storage manufacturers calculate in base-10 and memory manufacturers in base-2. If they say a device has 1GB of RAM, it is 1024MB, not 1000MB. Same goes for flash memory. The Nexus has 16GB of flash, 2.5GB appear to be reserved for system.
Anyone who wants to understand the difference between base-10 decimal SI units, JEDEC units for RAM sizes, base-2 binary IEC units, and the confusion 1000 vs. 1024 creates should check out Wikipedia's article on the topic, as it pretty much covers everything... including things like how storage device sizes and network speeds are measured, consumer confusion, and even lawsuits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_prefix
phazerorg said:
Anyone who wants to understand the difference between base-10 decimal SI units, JEDEC units for RAM sizes, base-2 binary IEC units, and the confusion 1000 vs. 1024 creates should check out Wikipedia's article on the topic, as it pretty much covers everything... including things like how storage device sizes and network speeds are measured, consumer confusion, and even lawsuits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_prefix
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Click to collapse
That's all well and good but it's totally irrelevant when it comes to the 1 GB ram in this phone. It has 1024 MB ram, as stated. However, some of it is reserved for parts of the hardware like the GPU, the radio, video encoding/decoding etc. This is the same for all Android phones. Anyone that wants to see it can check that allocation in the source. Brian Swetland from Google has already described the motivation for this and the specific sizes used for different components for the Nexus One.
blunden said:
That's all well and good but it's totally irrelevant when it comes to the 1 GB ram in this phone. It has 1024 MB ram, as stated. However, some of it is reserved for parts of the hardware like the GPU, the radio, video encoding/decoding etc. This is the same for all Android phones. Anyone that wants to see it can check that allocation in the source. Brian Swetland from Google has already described the motivation for this and the specific sizes used for different components for the Nexus One.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed that it is irrelevant and the device definitely has 1024 MB of RAM. I was going a bit off-topic in an attempt to defer any further off-topic comments on that subject by directing people to an alternative source for that information rather than discussing it in this thread, which is about the Galaxy Nexus's RAM.
Your post is probably the most useful and informative so far in this thread. It does have 1024 MB, used for various purposes as needed, and there's really not much else to say.
It is hardware accelerated and to my knowledge the sgx540 doesnt have discrete ram so that factors into the equation. I wouldnt be sjrprised if the os allocated 64-128mb ram for the gpu.
I invented cyberspace. You're trespassing.
RAM Division
1.HW Drivers(screen, gpu, audio, etc)
2.OS Services & Shared Memory
3.Cached Services/processes
4.Active Apps
phazerorg said:
Agreed that it is irrelevant and the device definitely has 1024 MB of RAM. I was going a bit off-topic in an attempt to defer any further off-topic comments on that subject by directing people to an alternative source for that information rather than discussing it in this thread, which is about the Galaxy Nexus's RAM.
Your post is probably the most useful and informative so far in this thread. It does have 1024 MB, used for various purposes as needed, and there's really not much else to say.
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Oh, I see. Fair enough. Actually I wrote my post based on the assumption that your post was the first post. I later realized that was not the case so I just quoted your post to make it clear which post I was referring to.
-Most of the times a part is reserved for the gpu.
-Android will reserve more ram when there is more ram to optimize performence.
-Abdroid get more and more features wich use more ram.
-Active apps wil be kept in ram when possible.
-Applications get also more complexed.
-Android gets build differently when there are higher hardware standards. Compare for example windows 7 with windows xp. Windows 7 uses a lot more ram because of several cahcing optimizations for example.
Could be buffers too.
e.g if you check free memory on a linux system a large amount is used by buffers but is actually useable if needed.
It's definately not "rounding up" as 30%+ is a long way from the kind of rounding up manufacturers of storage do.
phazerorg said:
Anyone who wants to understand the difference between base-10 decimal SI units, JEDEC units for RAM sizes, base-2 binary IEC units, and the confusion 1000 vs. 1024 creates should check out Wikipedia's article on the topic, as it pretty much covers everything... including things like how storage device sizes and network speeds are measured, consumer confusion, and even lawsuits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_prefix
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is actually very useful for people that don't understand the differences. And there are many that don't.
They had to cut back on the RAM because they paid too much for Matias, since the boxes were already printed with 1GEEBEE noted, they're now trying to pass it off and hope nobody notices.
Related
So I'm sitting here with a Samsung Cetus running Windows Phone 7 and beside the about menu in system settings, is there anyway to check for more specs.
I'm looking for CPU, RAM and so on.
There's a "more info" button on that page that shows the memory, etc. Don't think CPU or other chipset info is exposed anywhere.
And pics?
Woha, that's the only phone I think will have something else than Qualcrap, Cetus is the one I will buy.
Disassemble it now!! I want to know the specs
Sadly the more info button only shows model, Windows Phone 7 and storage. Total Storage: 7.39gb -- Ava. Storage: 6.88gb
And then revision of firmware, hardware, radio, bootloader and chip SOC.
Not sure I can share pics of it. It's not Cetus btw, my bad, had them mistaken. (CORRECTION: IT IS CETUS) It's the Samsung GT-i8700, not sure it has a name, unless they decide to call Samsung GT-i8700 Cetus.
Giz has pictures of it: http://gizmodo.com/5634058/leaked-shots-of-windows-phone-7+running-samsung-gt+i8700 The version I have is identical in looks, though a newer build in software.
Would probably require you to sketch up a quick application. Not sure if there's any APIs that allow you to read out any significant information.
Yeah you are properly right, but I'm not even sure if I can install an app, if it's not on the market
Erroneus said:
Yeah you are properly right, but I'm not even sure if I can install an app, if it's not on the market
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should be able to hook it up to a pc and deploy one (might require you to be a dev in the marketplace though). That doesn't change the fact that we don't have an app to do the checking hah.
Hmm, using the GraphicsAdapter stuff from XNA you might be able to glean some information to close in on the stuff. For instance, would it say something like "Adreno 205" (assuming there's such detailed information there and that the WP7 XNA API supports it), you'll know that it's the second generation chipset.
Good idea, installing XNA 4.0 now.
Ideally the whole Visual Studio Express for WP7 shebang, or whatever it is called.
http://www.storageserver.be/images/xnagraphics.jpg
The Vendor ID in there is the one from NVidia and the Device ID the one of the 8800GT. Coincidentally, there's a NVidia 8800GT in my system.
I figure that the ARM SoC's or the internal graphics devices have similar IDs registered.
--edit:
http://www.storageserver.be/gatest.zip
That silly project. It's possible that you need to register the device as developer device on the WM marketplace to deploy stuff. No idea.
--edit2:
http://www.pcidatabase.com/
Vendor ID's here.
Tom Servo said:
http://www.storageserver.be/images/xnagraphics.jpg
The Vendor ID in there is the one from NVidia and the Device ID the one of the 8800GT. Coincidentally, there's a NVidia 8800GT in my system.
I figure that the ARM SoC's or the internal graphics devices have similar IDs registered.
--edit:
http://www.storageserver.be/gatest.zip
That silly project. It's possible that you need to register the device as developer device on the WM marketplace to deploy stuff. No idea.
--edit2:
http://www.pcidatabase.com/
Vendor ID's here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it have a 4 inch screen?
Doesn't look like this is going to be easy. Windows can't see the phone, because of missing drivers
It's a 4 inch screen.
Erroneus said:
Doesn't look like this is going to be easy. Windows can't see the phone, because of missing drivers
It's a 4 inch screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, you need the Zune 4.7 that's posted on the private Microsoft Connect site.
Is that a late developer phone, or did you get your hands early on a different way?
Tom Servo said:
Is that a late developer phone, or did you get your hands early on a different way?
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Click to collapse
Hands early on a different way for a couple of days, giving back some feedback to one who lend me it.
I also had Desire HD for some days, I'm more impressed with this one though, but that's properly because everything is so new and fresh
OMG you lucky b*stard lol! Other than the 4in screen, and 8gb storage which you've mentioned. Things I (we) need to know:
CPU, GPU (if possible), RAM, overall device dimensions, and last but not least, Battery size. Hope you get back to us soon, I really like this device, cus its probably the only one that might not have a Qualcomm/Adreno200 chip.
The battery is at 1500 mAH, but I have no way to check for CPU, GPU and RAM sadly. But it's really fast, even in this beta version of Windows Phone 7.
Dimensions:
Length: 122 mm (4.8 inches)
Width: 64 mm (2.52 inches)
Height: 11 mm (0.43 inches)
Thanks Erroneus.
Wow, battery and dimensions looks to be the same as the Galaxy S (tho about 1mm thicker). The 4in (super?) amoled screen and 1500mah battery has put this to the top of my wish list.
The LG phone supposedly has a speech-to-text feature. Would you know if this sammy device has that feature also?
Also does it have a front facing camera?
The screen is very good, it looks like super amoled, because the colors are very vibrant comparing to iPhone 4 and Desire.
It has voice to command features, like "open internet explorer", I don't see any "speech-to-text feature", but the software is still beta and without special customizations from Samsung.
There seems to be a front facing camera, I just can't find anywhere to enable it.
,im sure i read that there will be multi tasking in the future, now the problem i have is im still looking to get a phone i.e. dvp., but its only got 256mb ram, now is this going to play a big part in which phone to get because of multi tasking.
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/Dell-Venue-Pro_id4595
no it doesn't, 512 of ram.
nrfitchett4 said:
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/Dell-Venue-Pro_id4595
no it doesn't, 512 of ram.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was posted in October, more recent news actually show on the device as having 256MB
Personally, I would get a different device due to this - it may not actually make a difference in terms of multitasking, but we just don't know until multitasking is available to developers.
Thing is, developers are allowed to us 90MB for any single app (or game), but this only applies to devices with 256MB RAM. That means that multitasking has not been taken into consideration at all when writing the marketplace specs as I doubt you'll be able to fit 2 x 90MB apps in memory at once (on a 256MB device the total available amount is something like 220MB - as parts are reserved for GPU etc). That said, there is no rule saying that if a device has 512MB the app can or cannot us 256+90 (ie. 346MB) so...
Of course, most apps do not use 90MB so it's not a huge problem. But given the choice between a Dell or Samsung I'd go for a Samsung any day of the week (which is also what I did).
depending on what you want to do/use cases, if you want multitasking ability, take a look at the nokia n900
cheers
http://www.mobiletechworld.com/2011...e-cpu-and-gpu-chipsets-coming-later-this-year
Does wp7 really want to be only single-core really old hardware? This new hardware in the end 2011 with Android even if unoptimised will kick ass to wp7 in current specs chassis even with Mango enhacments... MS needs to work harder...
Much better games performance, faster loading apps... etc...
75% lower power... I think MS needs to step back on power restrictions... this chips will be 75% less power... they are restricting too much the OS against the Android when the new chips will have a much better battery and performance rate than the actual ones...
Well, the benefit of multiple cores isn't as obvious as one may think because software has to be written in a special way in order to benefit from more than one core. So basically buying a phone with two cores running current versions of Android or WP7 or whatever is most probably just a waste.
That being said, newer processors are built using 45nm technology and consume less power, so using those more modern cores would probably be more noticeable.
And of course it's all going the way of megapixels. Since most people will automatically assume that if you have twice as many cores the thing will run twice as fast, you sort of must use those multiple cores, no matter if it benefits the end user or not.
So yeah, I guess MS have to update hardware support...
actually 28nm...
and this new hardware, have 2.5Ghz... even if they are multi-core they should go faster then current 1ghz... with less power... and games would benefit a whole lot...
besides even if current software isn't optimized, as soon as this harware would be released people would start to optimize it. Android already start it. Does MS wants to be on the back of mobile competion, again?
Whether games will be rewritten or not depends on how widespread those multicore devices will be and when. So far games aren't exactly utilizing modern hardware - how many of them take advantage of Samsung's awesome GPUs built into Galaxy S phones? When 90% of devices in the market don't have this type of tech, what's the point of rewriting everything just to accomodate for the 10%?
Now, I'm not saying that multiple cores aren't awesome, I'm just saying that it's highly unlikely that you'll see real benefit from them this year.
tfouto said:
actually 28nm...
and this new hardware, have 2.5Ghz... even if they are multi-core they should go faster then current 1ghz... with less power... and games would benefit a whole lot...
besides even if current software isn't optimized, as soon as this harware would be released people would start to optimize it. Android already start it. Does MS wants to be on the back of mobile competion, again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First: no flame intended.
You're making a lot of assumptions. Faster, less power. Don't look into the neighbor's garden to fix your own garden. Think what is necessary for WP7 to advance and be better.
Then, Android is so fragmented and has sooooo many models I wouldn't know where to start if I would want to try one. There is no real stability in term of standards. Every 6 months there's a better phone (like a new generation) and you end up with an older model after that period. So basically the cycle is much shorter than on every other platform. Even iPhone has a 1 year cycle. And I don't even want to think about privacy issues there, you basically upload all your data and behavior somewhere else and agree it can be used by others...
But that is not the real issue. People expect a platform to mature over night. It won't happen, we all need to be a bit patient. If you're looking for future features now, then you've already made a mistake, regardless of what platform you're on.
People should understand what they want from a phone first. We all know it's easier to spot problems with the things you're familiar with and you see the others as better. But once you try the others you realize it's the same story again, it looked better before when you didn't know it.
To conclude: my WP7 phone does exactly what's supposed to do, with the current hardware specs. Can it do more? Sure, but we have to be a bit patient. Then, if it doesn't deliver, try something else. Until then, I don't want to be a technology nomad, I'll always be unhappy as in a few months there will always be a better phone. I'd rather stick with something until it matures a bit and enjoy the ride/phone.
You do realise that the Chasis is minimum specs right? Manufaturers can use what they want as long as it's above those specs.
^ not for chips.
brummiesteven said:
You do realise that the Chasis is minimum specs right? Manufaturers can use what they want as long as it's above those specs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not really... you are wrong... they can for components... camera, etc... not chips...
tfouto said:
not really... you are wrong... they can for components... camera, etc... not chips...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair enough, my bad.
The good thing about how MS is handling hardware is also the bad thing. They are making the drivers so we don't have to worry about putting up with crappy drivers from OEM's like HTC. The bad thing is in order to see newer hardware, MS has to release an update for said hardware's drivers. Mango will include drivers for a newer chipset, just not this Quad Core. Than again, the Quad isn't due out till the end of 2012, so why add support now or even write drivers for unfinished hardware.
I dont see the need for multiple cores, am i the only person?
moneysaver05 said:
I dont see the need for multiple cores, am i the only person?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
I want to use my phone primary as a "information device", I use it to check my mails, send messages, update facebook, look things up on Wikipedia, search translations and browse the web. In order to do these things my old HTC Touch with 200 MHz was enough (it was slow but it has done the job well :-D ). But new devices like the WP7s add further possibilities. Entertaining has become more important. Entertaining has becom more important. But in order to use the handset as media player i don't think a Dual-Core Processor is necessary. And honestly, if I want to play a game with high graphics, i use my PC.
I don't want to complain but i totally agree with you moneysaver... Using Dual-Core processors would on one hand increase the gaming experience but on the other increase the price and drain more power. In my opinion "better" processor would bring to many downsides ATM. Another thing is, that you can outsource all heavy calculations to the cloud...
In short: If someone would offer me a phone with a efficient Dual-Core Processor, I would't say no. But i wouldn't say a Dual-Core Processor is a must-have...
Regards
Chris
Most important is low power with fast processor.
Sent from my 7 Trophy using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
well low power it fast processor is exactly what this new chips are...
twitter takes 7 seconds to fully open... with a 2.5ghz would take 3 seconds and with a dual core much less... and which less consuptiom i cant see what how bad could it be...
ov2rey said:
Most important is low power with fast processor.
Sent from my 7 Trophy using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The newer chips consumes less power
tfouto said:
well low power it fast processor is exactly what this new chips are...
twitter takes 7 seconds to fully open... with a 2.5ghz would take 3 seconds and with a dual core much less... and which less consuptiom i cant see what how bad could it be...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I 'd rather have a fully used single core processor with optimized drivers from Microsoft than a 5GHz quad core with no software to use it. Next update will bring lower memory consumption and other optimizations that will be enough to coast us to 2012 were another update will (probably ? ) be released to support the upgraded chassis specs (dual cores maybe?)
iPhones have shown that optimized software makes up for less powered hardware (my wife's 3Gs is a living proof of that)
Android: Non-optmized OS.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/28/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-review/
- Class-leading speed and responsiveness
i sincerely dont believe that wp7 Mango optimized with current Snapdragon can compete with this speed... and the later HTC EVO 3D... and of course
battery life...
Lately there has been a lot of talk about RAM. People coming from CM7 noticed the low free RAM on CM10 and the overall laginess compared to the first complain.
Many have explained in numerous posts how actually RAM works in Android Jelly Bean. Short deal, Used RAM to cache apps is useful for multitasking. Some of us don't multitask that much but some do. On some busy days on the road i use my phone as my main "computer". And i toggle between phone, messaging, email, maps, browser. I admit after a day it gets tired because the Defy is old now but it works (on CM10), not stellar but it works.
One problem i see is although apps get cached when a larger one needs to be opened it takes some time before it starts freeing space.
Next year i will buy a new smartphone. It's been 2 years for mine and it's journey will be completed. So i was looking for what options do i have.
In Europe SGS3 has "only" 1GB RAM from which video takes ~250 mb leaving(no?) leaving ~750mb for system&apss,(~400 mb free on stock 4.0.4- I saw on a friend's device) fact i consider not fair compared to it;s US sibling. HTC OneX and Galaxy Nexus both suck in the battery department and there are other specs i consider more important than RAM.
I am "in love" with the Nokia Lumia 920 design and screen (Ohh, that screen.... ) but not the OS, i like the Galaxy note 5'' pen and productivity features.
So today i looked at the LG Optimus G presentation. It has 2GB RAM and top dog Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset with Quad Krait . It's really a sweet device, great screen. The funny part is that the review units after the presentation had a RAM widget on desktop. So how much free RAM on a stock version? (although probably there were some apps opened already) - just 800 Mb.
Pics>http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_optimus_g_launches_in_south_korea_pricing_is_still_unknown-news-4816.php
That means more RAM is used than and old Windows XP Dell i am typing now on ( 650 MB used with Firefox, Skype, Dropbox and a few other processes open). It's clear that they don't handle RAM the same way so you must reconsider this comparison.
Android has come a long way and it will only get better but RAM is not the most important thing to take into consideration. I found that my constant look for keeping RAM free on my phone with different methods only wasted time i could have spent doing something meaningful.
And 1GB of RAM is still enough while 2 GB RAM feels like a maximum we will never see broken for quite a while.
just wondering since lg nexus got 2gb ram and our gnex got 1gb.and most ram remains free..ao wats the point of giving 2gb ram??
Twice the RAM is the point.
future proofing. And as soon as another phone comes out with more ram, you get the crybabies to say "why does our phone only have 1gb of ram if it is newer than phones with 2gb?"
i think 2gb ram is quite unnecessary..it is quite tough to use up 1gb ram as android is very good at multi tasking.
the reason it is good at multitasking is because it is constantly closing apps, this action can be alleviated a bit with extra ram thus creating a more fluid user experience. Also it is a competitive market, this gives google something to brag about. Also remember these are used more as micro-tablets, pushing to 2gb opens doors to better games. It is much better to have unused ram than to have not enough. I personally would rather get a phone and in 6 months when a cool game comes out i know my phone can play it as opposed to struggling.
More RAM also means more internet browser tabs that can be switched around without having to reload them. Overall it results in better user experience.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Exactly for the reasons listed above. More multitasking at every level
Isn't 48K RAM plenty? My Apple ][+ ran fine with that much back in 1982. Sheesh.
i could also play modern combat 3 on my sgs i9000 lag free.. i think 1gb is enough for me
It's the same evolution as was seen in the PC market from the 90's to present. My first computer only had 640kB memory, then came 2 MB, then 4 MB and so on.
It might not be needed today to have that much RAM, but games and applications get more advanced and to be able to keep a good multitasking environment operational in the future you will need more RAM.
I welcome the change in RAM size to make the phone usable in the future as well.
It's like saying we don't need quad core processor... Sure, you don't need it now, but it's good to have and your phone can handle more advanced programs than duel core.
Also I have hard time keeping my apps that I like in memory, even if I have 1GB, so I'm personally looking forward to 2GB
I won't be happy until 8GB of RAM is the norm. That's the point at which I'll be running a Windows 8 virtual machine on top of Android just to be sardonic.
1gb is probably fine for now but I can see it being useful in a year or so. I think I am going to stick with the galaxy nexus until next years nexus but I am eagerly waiting the nexus 4 hands on reviews.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Better multitasking and faster switching between apps. Personally I'd rather have as much RAM as possible without causing too much of an increase on the price of the phone. Getting slowdowns from running out of RAM is annoying and except for the price I don't really see any downsides for having more. One can always buy a lower spec phone if they think that 2Gb is too much.
Also as others have said having more RAM makes the phone a bit more future proof. For example my previous phone (HTC Desire) has only 576Mb RAM which certainly doesn't make the experience any more pleasant when using current Jelly Bean ROMs. And it's still "only" 2 years old phone...