Android Ice Cream Sandwich - New Features and Improvements
Android 4.0, Android Ice Cream Sandwich, Google Android, Samsung Galaxy Nexus
Google unveiled Android Ice Cream Sandwich which is the latest version of Android earlier today in Hong Kong, alongside the Samsung Galaxy Nexus which is the first mobile to run on the new OS.
Any new release of Android is important, but Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) is even more important than normal because it aims to provide a unified operating system for both tablets and smartphones. As well as working across multiple-devices Android Ice Cream Sandwich has many other innovations and improvements on previous versions of Android.
Google have come up with a slogan that states the aims it has for Android 4.0 which are to ""Enchant me. Simplify my life. Make me awesome."
One new innovation of Ice Cream Sandwich is "Face Unlocking" which enables you to unlock your home-screen using Face Recognition. The obvious benefit from such a system is that no-one else, unless your an identical twin, can unlock your mobile.
Google is taking a bold step to debut this new feature and is putting a lot of faith into the reliability of its face recognition technology. Furthermore, from the lock-screen you can also go straight into the camera application, which is a useful feature.
Google have also added new "Voice Input" features including the ability to read out text for your mobile to input. This is a similar, if less advanced, version of Siri but its good to see its inclusion nonetheless.
A couple of new call features have also been added with a new "Visual Voicemail" service that translates your voicemails into text log so you don't need to listen to them to get the message. Another neat idea featured is the auto-text response for when you are busy and can't answer a call.
NFC is supported in the Galaxy Nexus and we'd expect many more new mobiles to come with the technology. Google has acknowledged this fact and added "Beam" which is a new NFC service that enables you to share websites, Youtube videos and people cards by tapping two mobiles together.
Photo editing is being included in more operating systems now, including iOS 5, and Google has also jumped on-board by including a new editing suite in Ice Cream Sandwich. Additionally, camera speed has been improved and the ability to shoot panoramic photos has been improved.
Mobile data tracking has also been added which enables you to stop exactly what is using your mobile data and even limit the data use of individual applications. The information is provided using easily understood graphs.
The GMail application has also been updated and enables horizontal email flicking and instant 30 day archive searching without the need for a WiFi or 3G connection. Furthermore, the web-browser has been improved and now supports vertical tabs and a button to request the full desktop version of any website.
The home-screen now includes widgets similar to those on Honeycomb, which can also be re-sized to ensure you make use of the full home-screen. You can also drag your icons into folders which makes it much easier to group applications.
Android 4.0 also supports WiFi direct which enables you to connect directly to peer WiFi devices without the need for tethering. Other improvements include the ability to remove notifications merely by swiping across them, an improved on-screen keyboard and the ability to easily share screenshots.
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