The new Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is coming next month
Google has just released information about their new operating system Android 4.1 Jelly Bean which is to be released soon but there are currently many Android phones that haven’t got the Ice Cream Sandwich update yet.
Nevertheless, in the I/O event Google showcased some of the features that can be expected in the operating system but here’s what we know.
Google Now
Google Now is a service that basically tries to make life easy for you, it takes everything about the user and what they previously wanted to know and combines it to keep everything on track, automatically. By swiping the home screen you’ll get a list of different cards that knows what your day looks like. It knows what sports team you like, your calendar, travel plans, usual route to work and nearby places that you might want to eat.
For example, you like to go for a jog everyday at 1pm but you have a flight at 2pm. Google Now, recognises this and tells you that it’ll take only 20 minutes to get to the airport, and that the flight has been delayed to 3:30pm, letting you know that you can still go for a jog.
Google Now, figures you out based on search history, it’s gives you what you want from device but this time it does it automatically.
Camera
In the camera app you will now be able to swipe to bring up a quick preview of the last photo taken and within the gallery you can pinch to shrink the gallery into a film strip where you can swipe at a picture to delete it, but if it was an accident, you can always hit the undo to get the image back.
Android Beam
Google has neatly added some features to the Android Beam which allows you to instantly share photos and videos and pair any NFC-capable Bluetooth device with your phone by simple tapping the phone against the device.
The Keyboard
Keyboard is an important feature on touch screen smartphones but what’s the difference in Jelly Bean? Similar to SwiftKey, the new Jelly Bean keyboard make educated guesses on what your next words will be and shows options before you’ve even started typing the next few words.
Voice text has also seen an improvement. Google has shrunk down the transcription software to fit in the device itself which means you wouldn’t need a network connection. So you can access voice text whether you have the service or not.
Notifications
Now from the drop down menu you can perform actions depending on what’s there. For example, if you’ve missed a call, you can text back or call back that contact from the notifications tab. You can also have immediate access to the Gmail messages within the notifications tab, so you don’t have to switch back and forth between apps.
Probably the best part is that you can perform a downward two-finger swipe that expands a notification.
So here are the rest of the features of the new Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system unfortunately there has been no information regarding the design but we’ll expect to see the new operating system in July this year.