Samsung Galaxy S III running Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) gets spied on video

Well, well, look what we have here. A video has surfaced on a Mexican site showing the Samsung Galaxy S III running some buttery smooth Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) goodness (check out our review of the Verizon versionhere). In the video you get an idea of what Jelly Bean would officially look like on the GS3. You can expect to see Android 4.1 with TouchWiz customizations running on top of it. The video tips off the presence of newly released Jelly Bean features like Google Now and the redesigned notification area present on the handset.

The device looks pretty speedy with Jelly Bean, but it’s nothing new, as we’ve already become accustomed to the speed boost that Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) brought to the OS. That said, we’re sure Jelly Bean will bring even more smoothness to the handset. If you live overseas and own the international version, start hoping and praying that these rumors of a September roll out of the JB update is true. It’s been amazing to see Samsung continue to roll even with all this legal crap going on with Apple.

Who out there is excited about getting Jelly Bean soon on their Galaxy S III?

Check out the video below!

[AndroidMX; via MoDaCo]

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CyanogenMod 10 Alpha is Now avaliable for Sony xperia devices

CyanogenMod 10 Alpha which is based on Androids latest version Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available for Sony Experia Devices. It looks like some of Sony’s Xperia Android handsets are the latest devices to get an Alpha build of CyanogenMod 10, and there are a total of seven Xperia devices supported.

The list include the Sony Xperia Ray, Xperia Pro, Xperia Neo and Neo V, Xperia Arc and Arc S, plus the Sony Xperia S, you can find out more details over at the XDA Developers.

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Android in August : Gingerbread still king, ICS grows, Jelly Bean makes a first appearance

The Android numbers are in, and as you’d expect, not much has changed. The updated chart still shows Android 2.3 Gingerbread with more than 60%, Ice Cream Sandwich nearing the 20% mark, and Jelly Bean finally making its appearance with less than 1%.
Android 2.3 won’t be overtaken anytime soon, as it’s currently holding onto 60.3% of the pie, leaving a 44.7% gap between the next largest version of the OS. Ice Cream Sandwich saw a bump to nearly 16% of all devices, and Jelly Bean finally joined the party with a whopping 0.8% share. Given that Android 4.1 is officially available on about three devices in the world right now, the >1% mark isn’t much of a surprise and hopefully we’ll see a much bigger bump in the coming months.

Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, and Froyo still manage to take up more than 20% of the chart, all of which have been languishing for quite a while but don’t look like they will be departing anytime soon.
There have been quite a few handsets that recently received the Android 4.0 update, so we can imagine that the next chart will show Ice Cream Sandwich getting a increase a fair amount next month. Jelly Bean will likely take some time to get a nice chunk of the chart, but maybe a family of Nexus devices will help catch it up to speed?
[Via: AndroidDevelopers]

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Acer confirms Android 4.1 Jelly Bean for select Iconia tablets

You can say that the race is definitely on – with different tablet manufacturers working hard to release the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for their respective pieces of hardware. We do know that Acer did roll out a quartet of new tablets this year – including the Iconia Tab A200 that we see above, the Iconia Tab 110, the Iconia Tab 510, and the Iconia Tab 700 that sports a Full HD display. The thing is, they all do not come with the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update, but rather, run on the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. Needless to say, some of the customers do expect some Android 4.1 Jelly Bean goodness to come their way, and Dutch website Tablet Guide reported that Acer has already confirmed that the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update is coming. No exact model names were given, and neither was there any timeframe revealed either. Hopefully something official will be released from the horse’s mouth in due time, and we just cannot wait.

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Motorola Xoom WiFi soon Will be Updated to Android Jelly Bean

Just in case you needed any other sort of confirmation that the soak test happening for the Motorola Xoom WiFi in the U.S. was indeed Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean, we managed to score the full and complete change log for you all:

Android 4.1.1, Jelly Bean Software Update for the Motorola XOOM™ WIFI in the U.S.

Introduction - We are pleased to announce a new software update for the Motorola XOOM™ WIFI in the US. This Android 4.1.1 (JRO03H) software update includes numerous enhancements. Upgrade today for peak performance.
Who Can Use This Release - ALL Motorola XOOM U.S. WIFI users.
After downloading and installing the software release, you will notice:

• Improved User Interface and Response - Android 4.1.1, Jelly Bean, is the fastest and smoothest version of Android yet. Moving between home screens and switching between apps is effortless, like turning pages in a book. 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.
• Expandable, Actionable Notifications - Now you can take action directly from the notifications shade. And because the notifications are expandable, you can get an even deeper look into the things that matter most, like multiple emails or photos on Google+.
• 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. Seamlessly view and share photos - Just swipe over from camera to filmstrip view to instantly view the photos you just took, and quickly swipe away the ones you don’t like. Now sharing--and bragging--are a breeze.
• A Smarter Keyboard - Android’s dictionaries are now more accurate, more relevant. The language model in Jelly Bean adapts over time, and the keyboard even guesses what the next word will be before you’ve started typing it. search results, so you can always find out more.

• A new look for Search - Android has search at its core. With Jelly Bean, a redesigned experience uses the power of the Knowledge Graph to show you search results in a richer way. It’s easier to quickly get answers and explore and browse search results.

Nothing in there is unexpected really, but it sure is nice to see it all laid out. Now we'll go back to waiting for it to fully appear on some devices considering this release is just for those involved in the soak test, if you happen to see it land on your Xoom, we wouldn't mind you dropping by the forums and saying so.

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Galaxy Note Vs Google Nexus 7[Comparisons]

We see how the Samsung Galaxy Note ‘phablet’ compares to Google’s brand new Nexus 7 slate.
Form
Google Nexus 7 - 198.5x120x10.5mm, 340g
Samsung Galaxy Note - 146.9x83x9.7mm, 178g
At first it might seem a bit daft that we’re comparing a tablet to a smartphone, but when you consider the size difference between the two is only a couple of inches the line between phone and tablet really is beginning to blur here.
Google’s Nexus 7 is built by Asus, a manufacturer we’ve come to expect excellent build quality from and with this flagship Android Jelly Bean device the company doesn’t disappoint. It’s as robust as any of Asus’ own Transformer tablet devices with the same high-level of fit and finish.
The back panel has been rubberised and textured to ensure it won’t slip out of your hand during use and round the edge of the device is a sturdy metal bezel.
The front looks much like any other 7-inch slate but the proportions are decent-looking – Asus has made the screen bezel narrower on the longer sides while still keeping it a fairly standard thickness along the sorter edges.
This does give it more of a smartphone-like style and could mean it’s easier to grip in landscape view than portrait mode, though we doubt the portrait orientation would give you much trouble really.
The Nexus 7 measures 10.5mm thick so it’s a fairly svelte device and at only 340g it’s one of the lighter tablets out there.
The Samsung Galaxy Note takes many style cues from its smaller Galaxy S2 cousin and considering that particular device looks as contemporary as ever (despite being usurped by the Galaxy S3) this can only be a good thing.
The proportions are much the same, although scaled up, meaning it has a thin bezel along the edges and wider sections at the top and bottom of the front panel. In fact, there’s more than a passing similarity to the Nexus 7’s shape albeit in a slightly smaller package.
Overall the handset has a very solid feel to it and seems well-built, although the back panel is very thin, springy and plasticky when you remove it, but when it’s actually seated on the device it doesn’t detract from the otherwise ‘premium’ finish.
The back panel also has a textured surface making it both attractive and easier to hold. Naturally being a smaller device the Note is also thinner and much, much lighter device than the Nexus 7 at 9.7mm and 178g respectively.
Both form factors are very solid and well put together as well as being highly portable while having flattering proportions and styling.
It has to be said, however, that the Galaxy Note is certainly the more portable of the two being smaller, thinner and lighter and yet still boasting a sizeable 5.3-inch screen.
Of course, that is still a compromise as you lose a few inches from the Nexus 7’s larger display, as well as other factors such as the difference in processing power, which we’ll come to in more detail later.
In the end, these are equally viable on form factor due to the quality of build and design.
Winner – Draw


Display
As we mentioned, the Galaxy Note features a 5.3-inch display using Super AMOLED technology. It is, as might be expected, of the capacitive multi-touch variety and is reinforced with Corning Gorilla Glass.
The screen resolution clocks in at 1280x800 pixels and gives a pixel density of 285 pixels-per-inch (ppi), which is well up there with some of the clearest and sharpest displays on the market.
Not only that, but the Super AMOLED means it has excellent contrast together with deep blacks, rich colour reproduction and decent brightness.
It wasn’t long ago that most tablets had very lacklustre displays, but Apple’s iPad 3 really broke away from the pack with its 264ppi Retina display. Now, however, the Nexus 7 appears to be joining this new standard of high-quality tablet touchscreens thanks to the use of a 7-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD number.
It boasts a 1280x800 pixel resolution, the same as the Galaxy Note, but at this larger size the pixel density comes in considerably lower than its opponent at 216ppi. Even so, by tablet standards this is impressively sharp and the use of IPS technology means there’s plenty of brightness to be had along with colours that pop.
You’re going to get a crisp visual experience with either device as both have large, high-quality screens. The real question is whether you want to sacrifice some screen space for a bit of extra sharpness or not. If so, the Note cranks out more pixels-per-inch and should be a good deal clearer.
That said, the Nexus 7’s larger expanse of glass might bring its own rewards depending on your preferences.
Winner – Draw

Storage
Google’s Nexus 7 has two storage variant with either 8GB or 16GB depending on whether you want to spend £159 or £199 respectively, either option will also land you with 1GB of RAM for the processor to chew on. Unfortunately, there’s no micro SD slot so you’re not going to be able to beef up your storage space with cards.
The Galaxy Note has no such issue with its micro SD capability supporting cards up to 32GB. This is on top of a pair of internal storage options for 32GB or 64GB, again depending on price. Like the Nexus 7, the Galaxy Note also has 1GB of RAM onboard.
For sheer quantity of storage you get much more on the Galaxy Note and it has greater flexibility through micro SD, which the Nexus 7 lacks.
Winner – Samsung Galaxy Note

Processor
This is a real dividing factor between these two devices. On the one side you have the Google Nexus 7 with its quad core ARM Cortex-A9 processor clocked at 1.3GHz on Nvidia’s powerful Tegra 3 chip, with a ULP GeForce graphics processing unit (GPU) bundled in.
While benchmark tests might show other premium chips to be a little quicker on paper, there’s no arguing with the Tegra 3’s fearsome capabilities and it will run Android as fast as you’ll ever need, along with all the multi-tasking and high-end gaming you could possibly want.
Samsung’s Galaxy Note is a dual core device, also based on ARM’s Cortex-A9 processing architecture. It’s clocked at 1.4GHz and uses Samsung’s excellent Exynos chipset together with a Mali-400MP GPU.
Let’s be perfectly clear, dual core can be as good as or even better than quad and this is a perfectly competent setup, the same hardware runs very well indeed even by contemporary standards on the Galaxy S2 clocked at 200MHz slower.
However, while that spec line-up is ticking all the right boxes, when it comes to actually using the device it’s a very different story. The Galaxy Note isn’t slow by any means – it’ll run high end games with no problem, but for general use, navigation and multi-tasking it is lacking. We’ve seen the potential of this hardware before and the Note doesn’t live up to it.
There is some noticeable lag and juttering with normal operation, even when updating to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) which, on most other devices, actually delivers a performance increase. The problem here is: we know the stuttering shouldn’t be there, the Note should, by all accounts, perform better.
It’s worth pointing out that whether the Note is on Gingerbread or ICS you can see a considerable performance improvement by using a third party launcher program and you’ll still keep all the S-Pen stylus functionality. The sad part is this really shouldn’t be necessary to unlock the handset’s true power.
This doesn’t make the Galaxy Note a write-off at all, but it does mean that before you consider getting one you’ll have to take into account that in order to get the most out of it you’ll need to get into the Android spirit and do a bit of minor tweaking before it’s up to scratch.
If that isn’t an issue for you, you should be fine.
All that said, the Nexus 7 is looking like a much better prospect straight out of the box.
Winner – Google Nexus 7

Operating System
The Samsung Galaxy Note shipped with Android 2.3 Gingerbread but it can now be updated to version 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Meanwhile, the Nexus 7 is the flagship device for the latest build of Google’s Android platform, version 4.1 Jelly Bean.
Many of the points we raised in criticism of the Galaxy Note’s performance based on its processing power are equally relevant here as the two aspects do go hand-in-hand to quite an extent. Likewise, the point on third party launchers is particularly pertinent – you will get a faster and smoother experience by opting for a launcher program than sticking with Samsung’s TouchWiz interface.
In terms of features, Android Ice Cream Sandwich is packed with enough good ones over Gingerbread that it’s well worth taking the time to upgrade. It’s a more stable build than its predecessors, for one thing, but also has a re-jigged menu layout which is far easier to use.
On top of this there’s the fast-app switcher control which brings Android’s legendary multi-tasking right to the surface – from any point within the interface you can now bring up a carousel of active or recently used apps which you can flick between easily and you can also swipe them away to close with the flick of a finger.
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean has all this and then some. The Google Search interface has been revamped to be more intuitive and now includes a faster voice search tool to boot. You also have the added bonus of the Google Now application which can be setup to feed you alerts based on information important to your daily life, such as weather reports, traffic information and news.
The touch keyboard is now easier to operate and, best of all, Google has incorporated the ‘Butter’ interface which is a series of changes to make touch control, performance and responsiveness smoother than ever, something it achieves with aplomb from what we’ve seen.
The deciding factor here is that the Nexus 7 delivers better operating performance than the Galaxy Note while at the same time incorporating a range useful new features.
Winner – Google Nexus 7

Final Thoughts
This is a tough one. There’s a lot to like about the Galaxy Note as a tablet and a phone. It’s a great little device – solidly built and highly portable with a massive, crystal clear display and plenty of storage space. It does have a few pitfalls though, most notably in the performance stakes. The fact is it can be made to run very well indeed but only with some tweaks, although these are about as minor as you could hope – it’s nothing too complex. But, it shouldn’t need it and that’s the sad part.
The Nexus 7 runs much better straight away and has a wealth of extra features. Although the display isn’t as sharp it is still clearer than average and is larger, which has a value of its own. The only area where it falls behind is storage and even then it’s quite adequate for most purposes. On the whole we feel it is the better product ‘as is’.

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What's New Android 4.1, Jelly Bean

Jelly Bean, is the fastest and smoothest version of Android yet. Jelly Bean improves on the simplicity and beauty of Android 4.0, and introduces a new Google search experience on Android.

• Everything in Jelly Bean feels fast, fluid, and smooth. Moving between home screens and switching between apps is effortless, like turning pages in a book.
• Jelly Bean features improved performance throughout the system, including faster orientation changes, faster responses when switching between recent apps, and smoother and more consistent rendering across the system through vsync and triple buffering.
• Jelly Bean has more reactive and uniform touch responses, and makes your 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.

What's New in Jelly Bean

Accessibility

• With Jelly Bean, blind users can use 'Gesture Mode' to reliably navigate the UI using touch and swipe gestures in combination with speech output.
• With the new accessibility focus feature, you can move a cursor between controls to maintain a target for the next action or a source for the next navigation event. You can double tap anywhere to launch the current item with accessibility focus.
• Text traversal in accessibility now gives you more control – choose to move between pages, paragraphs, lines, words or characters.
• TalkBack, a screenreader for Android, now supports gestures to trigger actions, to navigate applications, and traverse text.

Android Beam

• With Android Beam, you can now easily share your photos and videos.
• Instantly pair your phone or tablet to Bluetooth® devices like headsets or speakers that support the Simple Secure Pairing standard by just tapping them together

Google Now

Google Now brings you just the right information at just the right time. Cards appear throughout the day at the moment you need them, and appear as a notification when they're important.

• Weather card: When you start your day, Google Now shows weather for your current location and work.
• Traffic card: Get traffic conditions and alternate routes before you leave home or work.
• Transit card: When you're near a bus stop or a subway station, this card shows you what buses or trains are next.
• Places card: When you're on the go, Google Now will suggest nearby bars, restaurants, and places of interest.
• Flight card: See flight delays and traffic conditions to the airport for flights you've recently searched for.
• Sports card: You can see live scores and upcoming games and also buy game tickets on the fly.
• Currency card: When you're traveling, quickly check the local conversion rate.
• Translation card: When you're in a foreign country, you can quickly translate words into the local language.

Source: Android

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Jelly Bean Vs iOS 6 [Comparison]

June has been a huge month for mobile OSes. The major players, Apple and Google, have both demonstrated and released betas of their latest smartphone/tablet operating systems.
But which OS deserves the King of the Mobile World title? We tossed each new system build into a Thunderdome-style ring to determine which one lives, and which gets tossed into the badlands while Tina Turner sings an epic ballad.
Before we start, a few caveats: Apple’s NDA prohibits Gadget Lab from writing about unannounced features in iOS 6. So, if iOS 6 has a remarkable feature that doesn’t appear in the list, it’s because we respected the developer embargo. Also, neither OS is completely locked down and final, so features can be updated, changed or even removed before the final build. Finally, we’re only comparing new features that directly go head-to-head. For example, Android has much more robust data-management features, but because iOS doesn’t even really try in this area, we didn’t include data management as a mini-battle in this article.
With all that said, release the beta-code hounds!

Siri vs. Google Now Voice Search

Google didn’t give its new challenger to Siri an official name. Instead, the voice-dictation and information-sleuthing tool is wrapped up in Jelly Bean’s Google Now search feature — and it’s just, well, there without a lot of fanfare. Perhaps Google opted out of giving voice search a name because the feature is bereft of personality. The female voice of Android’s search feature is more human-sounding than Apple’s robotic Siri, but there’s nothing very engaging about Google’s new functionality.
Siri is like a friend with a slight hearing impediment. The Google Now voice is a robot that sounds really good.
Voice quality aside, results are hit-and-miss for each system. Siri soars at presenting facts and minutia from Wolfram Alpha, while Google Now hits the more pedestrian Wikipedia for its information. On the surface, both sources are great for quick bites of knowledge, but Wolfram Alpha’s high-precision results and Siri’s presentation make Apple the go-to platform for trivia.
Unfortunately, once you receive your information in Siri, that’s about it. There’s no way to expand upon the information or search the internet unless Siri offers up search in the first place. On the flipside, Google Now presents not only the snippets of information it decided you needed, but also quick access to Google search results with an upward swipe. As for pure voice-recognition prowess, Siri has an easier time understanding natural speech queries, but Google Now was able to decipher the names of our favorite Mexican restaurants. This is something Siri was unable to grasp.

Apple has gone to great pains to ensure that Siri’s sports, weather and movie results are now informative and beautiful in iOS 6. Google calls its equivalent Jelly Bean graphics “Knowledge Graphs” — illustrated cards, more or less, that include photos, maps, and other Googly art conventions. These are informative, but not nearly as pretty as what Apple delivers.
But what really puts Apple over the top is the ability to post Facebook status updates and tweets from within Siri in iOS 6. Try the same thing in Jelly Bean, and Google’s OS informs you, “This device cannot perform the action you requested.” Considering that Android has had Facebook and Twitter integration for a while, this is a disappointment.
The final nail in Google’s coffin is Siri’s ability to open apps with your voice. This is perfect when you have hundreds of apps on your iPhone, but not so perfect if an app has an odd name. For example, when we asked Siri to launch Rdio, she kept informing us that we didn’t have an app call armadillo. Still, the app-search function usually works, and it’s a huge benefit.
Verdict: Both voice-controlled search functions work great if you know the limitations of each service. Siri looks nicer, but its social integration and app launching is what really gives it a leg up over Google Now.

Maps vs. Maps

While Apple’s new, home-grown Maps app has a wonderful satellite 3D view that makes Google’s equivalent look like someone smashed in a bunch of buildings, Google’s feature set destroys most of what Apple has to offer.
Apple lacks any sort of street view for address-by-address navigation and location searching. This is a problem, as real-world images of storefronts will always beat dull, gray overhead views of buildings. And while Jelly Bean pushes turn-by-turn navigation to another app, its turn-by-turn features still blow away iOS 6′s. Google’s offering also provides the ability to create routes that avoid tolls and freeways; user-defined mapping layers (like terrain, traffic and transit lines); and the Latitude service, which helps you geo-locate friends who opt-in.
Perhaps most importantly, Google offers offline map viewing — a glaring omission for iOS 6. Simply select an area you want to view while offline, and then download that map data to your Android device. It’s an essential tool for those times when your carrier connection has dropped out, or you’re not able to access Wi-Fi. And it’s as simple as cropping out a localized map with the drag of a finger. The city of San Francisco ate up a modest 1.5MB on our Nexus 7 tablet.
Verdict: Apple’s first attempt at a home-grown mapping app is nice, but it can’t beat years of Google experience in building out a mapping infrastructure. In fact, we’re waiting impatiently for Google Maps to appear on iOS.

Notifications

Android had proper notifications before iOS. But just because you’re first, doesn’t mean you’re best. Apple’s notification scheme does one thing that just kills Android: It pushes notifications to the lock screen (and it’s been doing this since iOS 5). Jelly Bean’s audible alert is nice, but it involves too many steps to see what needs your attention. With iOS, the information is presented right on the screen — no need to unlock the device, or pull down to view notifications.

Jelly Bean’s integration with Google+ is stunning when a photo is shared on your G+ account — the image appears full width in your Android notification’s drawer. But the world needs more than just Google+ integration. Facebook and Twitter status updates in the iOS notification screen are perfect for quick updates.

We’re fans of expanded email notifications in Jelly Bean, but even these are not enough to help Android win the notifications competition.
Verdict: Google may have been first to notifications, but Apple has mastered the game. Google needs to look beyond Google+.

Social Networking

Putting notifications aside, Jelly Bean’s deep integration with social media is stellar, and it all ties into Android’s open APIs. For example, Jelly Bean’s Gallery app is totally exposed, allowing third-party developers direct sharing access. In short, any image in your Android Gallery can be shared with Facebook, Twitter and Google+ as well as apps like GroupMe, Dropbox, Foursquare and surely more to come.
iOS 6 has deep Facebook and Twitter integration, but if you want to share something from the Photos app to another third-party network, you need to launch that service’s app.
Verdict: While Google is keen on pushing Google+ to everyone, everywhere, it still plays more democratically than Apple.

Google Play vs. iTunes Stores

Google and Apple have taken different paths when it comes to selling wares to customers. Google keeps all of its stores in one app, while Apple has split the iTunes store into multiple locations. Want an app? Launch the App Store. Need a songs? Launch iTunes. The iBooks app contains books, and even podcasts have recently been given their own app.
Android’s one-stop shop means you don’t have to open multiple apps to find what you’re looking for. However, it does lead to a cluttered UI on the main splash page where users end up selecting the portion of Google Play they want to purchase media from. Apple’s multiple apps approach cuts down on clutter, but reduces discovery. Searching for a movie won’t also lead to a result that contains that movie’s soundtrack.
In truth, both approaches are flawed. Neither is impressive, nor a horrible mess. They both work moderately well in their own ways.
Verdict: It’s a draw.

Safari vs Chrome

The browser battles are back. But instead of Netscape versus Explorer, it’s Safari (Apple) versus Chrome (Google).
OK, it’s not really like the browser wars of old, but Safari versus Chrome is still a nagging debate. When it introduced Jelly Bean Wednesday, Google announced that Chrome would be the default Android browser. Why it took so long? Google only knows.
Chrome features unlimited tabs, and the ability to sync your Google account with bookmarks and currently open tabs on other devices. But the best Chrome feature is still its unified search and URL field.
Safari also syncs bookmarks and open tabs, but it lacks a unified typing field, which is odd considering Safari for OS X will have a unified field in Mountain Lion. Regardless, Safari makes up for unified URL/search with the ability to post photos from the mobile browser to sites like Craigslist. But Safari’s real kicker is its built-in “read it later” feature called Reading List.

Verdict:
This one’s tough. We could call it a draw, but even soccer has done away with ties. While a unified field is great, the Reading List gives iOS 6 the edge.
According to our count, the iPhone wins. But just barely.
Before you Apple fans start hectoring your Android-owning friends, remember that both platforms contain other features that are just as compelling as the ones above. iOS’s over-the-air Facetime, photo streaming, VIP email and Passbook are great features. Jelly Bean’s Location-aware Google Now is your new personal assistant, and Data usage is perfect for users on a data diet.
The biggest mark against Android — and something that wasn’t mentioned in the smackdown above — is that Android users are usually stuck with the OS version that came with their handsets. So, while Jelly Bean might be the bees knees, unless you buy a new Nexus device in July, you’re saddled with whatever OS your handset maker feels like supporting. At least iPhone owners get the latest-greatest.

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Google Now at newly launched landing page

What do we want? Google Now. When do we want it? Google…now. Easily one of the coolest features shown off as part of Android’s Jelly Bean update, the system of smart cards is designed to learn about the location and search habits of users in order to create automatically updated tiles of information that are available at the touch of a finger. The idea is that Google will answer your question before you even have it.

What’s the score to the game? Google Now knows your favorite team and keeps you updated. How long will the commute to work take? Again, Google Now predicts where you are headed and when you will be going to offer route advice. Those are just a couple examples of what the service can do, and if it is half as cool as it sounds on paper it is sure to become a mainstay of the Android OS. In case you need a refresher on just what Now is all about, Google has launched a landing page to provide a few more details. And then ask yourself the question: Google Now or Google Big Brother?
[via Google]

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Google I/O 2012 Google launched its Nexus Tablet with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at just $199

Today at Google I/O 2012 Google launched its Nexus Tablet with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at just $199. It has a 7 inch 1280×800 display, Tegra 3 chipset, a front-facing camera, 9 hours of HD video (talk time in tablet speak) and 300 hours of standby time, WiFi, Bluetooth, and NFC. It’s only 340 grams light so it’s very easy to hold.

It also have 1.2-megapixel front camera IPS-based LCD are traits we’d normally look for in a pricier tablet. Google Priced it for just $199 for a dainty 8GB model and $249 for a 16GB version. There’s no SD card slot.
You can read a book or magazine on your phone, and pick up where you left off on the tablet. They’ll give you movie and TV show recommendations based on what you watch. Google also takes Maps indoors, with interior schematics and even photos, but the Nexus 7 tablet brings a new twist to that familiar nav experience with 360-degree venue photos.

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Google Unveiled The Android 4.1 Jelly bean

At Google I/O 2012 Google announce the new version of android Jelly Bean Android 4.1. The Devices Samsung Galaxy Nexus ,Motorola Xoom and Nexus S will get Android 4.1 Jelly Bean by this july.
Lots of small refinements are present across the board in Jelly Bean and the most notable one is performance. Project Butter aims to make your device run as smooth as, well, butter. Google put up a video comparing two Android handsets, one running Ice Cream Sandwich and the other running Jelly Bean. There’s a clear difference in favor of Jelly Bean in animation frame rates.Triple buffering also boosts the graphics rendering and vsync timing ensures no frames get ahead or behind. Touch responsiveness is improved in Jelly Bean as well.

Jelly Bean also has little features that improve the overall experience like the ability to send a quick message to a caller after rejecting the call or swipe up in a set of photos (similar to HP’s webOS) to remove one or comment and like a Foursquare check-in directly from the notification without having to switch to the app itself — though for the latter, developers will have to implement the functionality first before users can take advantage of it. When you move widgets around on the home screen, they will automatically resize around apps or move apps around so it fits better. Again, all these little things add up.

Check out live stream. All coverage here.

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