Android Jelly Bean (4.1) has enjoyed a much warmer welcome into mobile space than its predecessor Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0), which took an age to trickle through to many Android devices, leaving quite a few consumers feeling somewhat disillusioned with the update process in general. Google has clearly regrouped and revaluated its battle plan this time around though, and as well as being arguably the best release of Android to date, the Big G isn't hanging around with its OTA updates.
Apple and Samsung have been through the courts numerous times, and although proceedings do often descend into farce with playground-like slander aimed in both directions, a UK judge has really sent Apple back to school. With the Cupertino company having dragged Samsung's name through the mud with claims the Korean company copied the iPad design for its tablets, the British Judge has ruled Apple must publicly state that Samsung did not plagiarize the design.
CyanogenMod is the most popular aftermarket custom firmware (AKA custom ROM) on Android for one very important reason: it receives constant support from the community, enabling owners of old smartphones to try out the latest versions of Android and allowing owners of the latest smartphones to ditch their smartphone manufacturer’s custom skin for a more vanilla Android experience.
Although Android certainly trumps Apple's iOS when it comes to reach, versatility, and number of devices available, one area in which Google's mobile operating system has always struggled is security. Malware on the platform has been steadily increasing over the past year, and with security one of the main concerns of consumers, it's essential the Web company does its level best to combat the problem.
The Android app ecosystem is getting stronger and stronger as more and more developers realize that, despite its fragmentation issues, Android is a platform that is worth developing for because of ever increasing market share. We’ve seen big name iOS apps like Instagram and Instapaper release on Android; a trend that was initiated by games when titles Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds made the jump.
The smartphone sales war is definitely heating up. While Apple set the tone of the modern smartphone market when they released the iPhone - which was essentially the first "modern" smartphone - back in 2007, Google were quick to release Android, which would eventually overtake the iPhone in market share. Speaking of overtaking, should a Reuters poll prove to be accurate, it would appear that premier Android OEM Samsung may have overtaken Apple in smartphone sales in Q2 of this year.
Announced at Google I/O last month alongside Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and the Nexus 7 tablet, the Nexus Q is the sort of gadgetry that has, so far, left most of us wondering, “Why, Google?” It has the innards of an Android smartphone, and strictly requires an Android device to work. All it does is stream TV shows, movies and music from the Google Play Store and videos from YouTube. It doesn’t even work on its own as you need an Android smartphone / tablet to control it. To top it off, it costs $299 which is simply unreasonable for a device with such a limited feature set.
As well as acquainting herself with many an iPhone 4S user over the past nine months, Siri has yielded much additional airtime as the stare of many a parody video. Whether it's been in solving a domestic argument or testing the sensibilities of a rather irate Scotsman, Siri has starred in all manner of viral clips.
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean was announced late last month at the Google I/O 2012 keynote to much fanfare. It introduced some long-wanted features like a significantly faster and smoother user interface and a Siri-like* voice assistant, and natural evolutionary features like more powerful notifications, offline voice typing, improved keyboard. Jelly Bean also made plenty of smaller changes to pre-existing features. One such tweak was made in the how the lock screen looks.
Have I told you about the sheer variety of launchers available on Android? If you’ve read previous posts by yours truly, I’m sure you’ve already hear me this. There are all sorts of launchers that cater to different user needs. You’ve got ones that promise the best performance, ones that offer the best set of features and ones that claim to offer the best of both. Other launchers are usually ports of customized launchers from OEMs like Samsung, HTC, LG and Motorola.
