What’s New in Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0
by Antonio Wells
Oct 18, 2011 11:31 PM –
What’s New in Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0? Well a whole lot! Google brought a beautiful marriage of software and hardware with the unveiling of the Galaxy Nexus. Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) brings beauty, simplicity and power to Android in a harmonious way. All of the core apps are update: Gmail, Maps, Google+, YouTube, etc. Other key improvements are with the keyboard, home screen, notifications, lock screen, Browser, Photos, Gallery, Videos, and Contacts (now called People).
Android 4.0 Updated Core Apps
Google introduced an enchanting new font whereas the simplicity of the new OS takes leadership from. The same familiar action of swiping left/right on the home screen is present throughout all of Android. Other nuances like streamlined notifications, now you can take screenshots by pressing the “Volume Down” + “Power” button, and has zero lag with snapping photos.
Home Screen
Android 4.0 Home Screen
Takes an ode to more cleaner version of precessor, Honeycomb, yet has a bit more than meets the eye. Take the widgets, not only do they introduce the “stacked” feature, content stacked atop and with a swipe you can navigate to the next, but they are resizable (something that was only capable with Motoblur, third party apps or custom ROMs), and they live in the same tray as your Apps; just swipe a tab over.
Android 4.0 Folders
Folders have taken a feature out of Apple’s playbook offering the ability to drag and drop app icons or contacts on top of each other to automatically create a grouped folder, which can be customized and sorted as you please. Futhermore, apps or folders can be dropped down into the lower main dock with ease and convenience.
Keyboard
The keyboard has been redesigned to include an inline spell checker plus improvements to Cut, Copy, and Paste functions; which allow for dragging and dropping words… sweet. Even cooler is that voice to text has been improved to allow for pauses in the conversation (which is a pain currently when a small pause start immediately processing).
Notifications
Android 4.0 Notifications
Notifications are accessible even from the lock screen. The are now more streamlined and individual items can be dismissed by swiping left/right out the way.
Browser
The new Browser has improved tabs, a save for later feature for offline reading, ability to quickly toggle the desktop or mobile version of a website and even stealth browser with Incognito mode like in Chrome.
Face Unlock NEW
Android 4.0 Face Unlock
Android 4.0 introduces a cool new feature, facial recognition, using the front facing camera that acknowledges your face to unlock your phone in addition to the pattern or number lock methods.
Gmail
Gmail has been improved in the display and function. Along the lower row lives the “Action Bar” for one click common action; such as delete or archive, a universal Android 4.0 prevalent feature.
Calendar
A much sought after feature many user of Google Calendar was simple pinch to zoom, it’s now here!
Data Usage NEW
Android 4.0 Data Usage
Google has built in a new data usage chart feature which shows current usage as well as projections based on future history; in case you don’t have unlimited data plan. It offers control to cut off data at a specified thresholds. You can even see and limit data hog apps on a granular level.
Photos, Video & Gallery
Android 4.0 Camera
Photos and Gallery introduce easier ways to share pictures. After snapping a flick, simply tap on the thumbnail and you’re presented with many social and sharing options. Plus, Ice Cream Sandwich includes powerful photo editing tools: touch up filter, angle, crop, remove red eye, etc., and your edits are saved as copies in the case you need to go back to original. Creating panoramic shots are as easy as slowly panning the landscape… a hassle of the past.
Android 4.0 Gallery
The gallery is presented in a larger grid and can be sorted by tags, date or geo data. With Google+, one can instantly snap a pic and upload to the cloud provided ‘instant upload’ feature is enabled. Video can be captured in full 1080p HD, a few goodies are added like; continued zoom while recording and time lapse videography.
People
Android 4.0 People App (Contacts)
Contacts is now called People and I like the new approach to it. Contact avatars are show big and bold, plus “Contact Cards” are automatically linked social information. Your most frequent contacts are automatically near the top.
NFC Sharing
As Google embraces us for NFC technology in the mobile commerce sector, other innovations can be had of this, as demonstrated with “Android Beam”, sharing of information like websites, Maps locations, YouTube videos, People cards, apps and more simply by holding to enabled devices close to each other.
I’m excited to see what developers and hardware manufacturers dream up with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Attention devs, the new SDK is available at developer.android.com now!
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Screenshot Images
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Android 4.0 Home Screen
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Android 4.0 Home Screen with Apps and Widgets
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Android 4.0 Notifications
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Android 4.0 Face Unlock
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Android 4.0 Apps and Widgets Drawer
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Android 4.0 Apps and Widgets Drawer 2
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Android 4.0 Folders
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Android 4.0 Resizing Widgets
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Android 4.0 Recent Apps Management
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Android 4.0 Keyboard
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Android 4.0 People App (Contacts)
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Android 4.0 Calendar
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Android 4.0 Camera
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Android 4.0 Gallery
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Android 4.0 Gallery 2
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Android 4.0 Photo Effects
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Android 4.0 Photo Effects 2
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Android 4.0 Photo Effects 3
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Android 4.0 Google Maps
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Android 4.0 Settings Screen
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Android 4.0 NFC Settings
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Android 4.0 Android Beam
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Android 4.0 Data Usage
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Android 4.0 Internal Storage
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Android 4.0 Internal Memory Storage and Apps Management
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Android 4.0 Battery Usage Screen
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Android 4.0 Force Close Screen
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What’s New in Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0
Images courtesy of Engadget
Tags:
Android,
Android 4.0,
Android 4.0 Apps,
Android Beam,
Galaxy Nexus,
Gingerbread,
Google,
What's New in Ice Cream Sandwich
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