Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Android 4.2: A new flavor of Jelly Bean.


Android 4.2: A new flavor of Jelly Bean.

Android 4.2 takes the speed and simplicity of Jelly Bean to a different level – a completely new camera experience that’s beyond smart, a new form of typing that helps you power through your messages, and much more.

Simple, Beautiful and Beyond Smart

Amazing Photo Sphere camera

Up, down and all around you, it’s like no camera you’ve ever seen. With Android 4.2, snap pictures in every direction that come together into incredible, immersive photo spheres that put you right inside the scene. View your photo spheres right on your phone, share them on Google+ with your friends and family, or even add them to Google Maps for the world to see.
Explore incredible photo spheres from photographers around the world.
photo spheres
gesture typing keyboard

A smarter keyboard, now with Gesture Typing

Writing messages on the go is easier than ever with Gesture Typing – just glide your finger over the letters you want to type, and lift after each word. You don’t have to worry about spaces because they’re added automatically for you.
The keyboard can anticipate and predict the next word, so you can finish entire sentences just by selecting suggested words. Power through your messages like never before.
Android's dictionaries are now more accurate and relevant. With improved text-to-speech capabilities, voice typing on Android is even better. It works even when you don't have a data connection, so you can type with your voice everywhere you go.

One tablet, many users.

It’s your fully customized tablet. And theirs, too. With support for multiple users, you can give each person their own space. Everyone can have their own homescreen, background, widgets, apps and games – even individual high scores and levels! And since Android is built with multitasking at its core, it’s a snap to switch between users – no need to log in and out. Available only on tablets.
one tablet, many users
share phone on tv

Share what’s on your phone on the big screen.

Android 4.2 allows devices to enable wireless display. You can share movies, YouTube videos, and anything that’s on your screen on an HDTV. Just connect a wireless display adapter to any HDMI-enabled TV to mirror what’s on your screen quickly and easily.
Introducing Daydream

Daydream.

Daydream lets your Android device display useful and delightful information when idle or docked. Show off your photo albums, get the latest news from Google Currents, and more.
expandable notifications

Expandable, actionable notifications.

Android has always put you in control when it comes to staying notified and connected. Just swipe down from the top of the screen to see all your notifications in one place. Late for a meeting or missed a call? Take action in an instant directly from the notifications shade.

Live in the Now.

Google Now brings you the information you need, when and where you need it, before you even ask. Google Now tells you today's weather before you start your day, or when the next train will arrive as you’re standing on the platform. With the latest version, you can see popular photo spots nearby, track packages easily, get information about upcoming movies, and much more.
See what’s new in Google Now.


A new look for Google Search.

It's easier than ever to quickly get answers, explore, and browse search results. Android also lets you search the web with your voice, and it's convenient for getting quick answers on the fly. It speaks back to you and is powered by the Knowledge Graph, bringing you a precise answer if it knows it, and precisely ranked search results, so you can always find out more.

Fast and smooth.

We put Android under a microscope, making everything feel fast, fluid, and smooth. With buttery graphics and silky transitions, moving between home screens and switching between apps is effortless, like turning pages in a book.
More reactive and uniform touch responses mean you can almost feel the pixels beneath as your finger moves across the screen. Jelly Bean makes your Android device even more responsive by boosting your device's CPU instantly when you touch the screen, and turns it down when you don't need it to improve battery life.
 
beam

Beam photos and videos.

With Android Beam on Jelly Bean you can now easily share your photos and videos with just a simple tap, in addition to sharing contacts, web pages, YouTube videos, directions, and apps. Just touch two NFC-enabled Android devices back-to-back, then tap to beam whatever's on the screen to your friend.
widgets

Widgets work like magic.

With Jelly Bean it's now even easier to personalize your home screen. As you place widgets on the screen, everything else automatically moves to make room. When they're too big, widgets resize on their own. Interacting with your favorite apps and customizing your home screen has never been easier.

Accessibility.

Enable screen magnification to easily zoom or pan the entire screen to get a closer look. Visually impaired users can now enter full-screen magnification with a triple-tap on the screen, and even type and interact with the device while zoomed in. Blind users can use Gesture Mode to reliably navigate the UI using touch and swipe gestures in combination with speech output.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Microsoft launches Smartglass for the Android platform

Microsoft launches Smartglass for the Android platformRemember all that SmartGlass hoopla at E3 earlier this year? It appears that Microsoft is moving rather quickly on this initiative as the company has published the app on Google’s Android store.
SmartGlass is Microsoft’s take on the whole tablet and game console tie-in everyone seems to be trying to do. Nintendo has its Wii U which will come with a tablet controller, and Sony has the whole PS Vita cross-play initiative with the PS3.

However, SmartGlass is still in its infancy as Microsoft did make some grandiose promises of being able to interact directly with the Xbox 360 for some cross-play action with the Xbox 360. Examples given were features such as the ability to look at an interactive map of a game while playing real-time on the Xbox 360.
While SmartGlass really doesn’t do much in the gaming front yet, it does appear to do pretty much what the existing My Xbox Live app does plus a little more. The previous Xbox app did allow you to modify features and interact with your Xbox Live account. However, SmartGlass takes things one step further by allowing you to  customize your avatar and track friends more closely.
SmartGlass_1SmartGlass_2
If we can now just get Sony to roll out its PlayStation Mobile app for the rest of the Android devices.