Whenever something new is announced by Apple or Google, we always secretly hope that the launch switch will be flipped immediately at the end of their keynote presentations, allowing us to get our hands on the new hardware or software soon after. The opening keynote of the Google I/O presentation really got tongues talking yesterday as they went through a number of announcements relating to new devices and the first official unveiling of Jelly Bean, the latest version of Android.
It is always a nice and welcome change whenever one of the big players in the mobile smartphone world takes to the stage to announce the release of something new. Familiarity often breeds contempt, and considering the mobile sector is an ever-changing landscape, the release of new hardware or software really helps to keep things fresh and keep end-users and developers alike engaged.
If the revelation by Google is anything to go by, then the official Jelly Bean update would be hitting our Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S devices in July. But luckily, and at this very moment, you can download a image of the Android 4.1 update for your Galaxy Nexus, and guess what? You can flash it right now!
Owners and lovers of devices running the Android operating system will regularly tell you that one of the shortcomings of iOS is the fact that the visuals of the software can't really be customized in any way. While this may be true for stock installations of Apple's mobile operating system, performing a jailbreak on the device leaves the whole system open to intense customization.
If you happen to be one of the 900+ million registered Facebook members and are also a keen user of the iPhone, then the chances are high that you are aware of Facebook’s miserable mobile app experience. The official Facebook app has been around for quite some time on the iPhone and iPod touch, undergoing a few design changes along the way, but is not getting any better when we talk about the overall performance.
Apart from all the hardware-based announcements, Google is also updating their Maps app for Android with offline maps support, and a big update to Google Earth, which takes it to version 7.0 and features highly detailed 3D maps of cities around the globe. More details after the jump!
Google I/O 2012 has been simply phenomenal. We’ve seen major new Android announcements, a Nexus 7 tablet, new Google services and apps and updates regarding Google’s ambitious “Google Glass” project. We’ve covered everything else except for the very last part, which is what this post is for. We discuss Google Glass’s new features and availability after the jump.
Google I/O 2012 has so far exceeded all expectations I had from the event. The number and variety of announcements is enough to rival Apple’s at WWDC. So far, we’ve seen an updated version of Android (4.1 Jelly Bean), a Nexus tablet, a show-stopping Google Glasses demo and, the news we will be discussing in this post, new Google+ apps and features. Check it out after the jump.
Google has finally announce the long-rumored Nexus tablet at Google I/O. It looks pretty neat, has reasonably good specs and an excellent starting price. We’ve got everything you need to know right after the jump!
While Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is still on less than 10% of all Android smartphones and tablets, Google has announced the next version of Android: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. As you can tell by the .1 increase in version number, it’s more of an incremental update than the revolutionary update that Ice Cream Sandwich was. We’ve got the details right after the jump!
