The Google I/O conference has
transpired unto what all we are all expecting it to be. The next version of
Android took the spotlight with it being named as Jelly Bean (Android 4.1), a
not-so major bump from ICS. And when I say “no-so” I mean considerable tweak in
speed that could make the current version eat an ample amount of dust.
Project Butter
This major enhancement in speed for
Jelly Bean was conceptualized by a Google Project codenamed Butter which is
comparable to its dessert/candy nomenclature. With this, the UI is expected to
have the smoothness and responsiveness of a heated butter due to the
liquification process on its surfaces. Technically, Google has made the vsync of the
screen in a constant 60 frames per second.
Keyboard and Voice Commands
I can always say that Android has
an edge over Apple with its keyboard software due to smart predictive input and
dictionary. With Jelly Bean, the feature has never been this good. But the most
important enhancement is that you can do Voice Typing even when you’re offline. This
means that no data connection is required, with its performance independent of
its speed. Google also taps Knowledge Graph and built-in voice recognizer for this feature.
Camera and Notifications
Jelly Bean brings new interface
and gestures in the new camera environment. You can now swipe sideways to
access gallery just like what you have in your WP smartphones, swipe left to jump to the picture
that you just took and delete pictures by swiping away them off-screen.
A revamped notification bar has been conceptualized with a more prominent looking
clock. It also allows you to fetch notifications from various apps like Music,
Gmail, etc. to be expanded without even opening the app. You can even do
actions like +1 in the notification panel.
Google Search and Google now
This new improved search app poses a
significant threat to Siri. The native Google search app now has a natural
language commands. Google Now, another part of Google Search can show your
public transport listings, flight information and sports results just the way you wanted it to be.
Android 4.1 codename Jelly Bean
will be out in mid-July but the SDK preview is available right now for
developers. Google also announced that the OS will be coming to Samsung Galaxy
Nexus, Nexus S, Motorola Xoom and the recently announced Nexus 7 tablet.
