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New Android Features That Make Your Phone a Joy to Use
1. A complete and harmonious combination of two substances can create a complete and beautiful
result. In like manner, the natural sweetness of Android 3.0 Honeycomb and the crispy layers of
Android 2.3 Gingerbread have resulted in a new, tastier treat for Android smartphones and
Android tablets--Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Google has been aiming to unite the multiple Android versions into just one version so that one
and only one Android runs on whatever device--be it an Android smartphone, Android tablet,
Android portable media player, Android TV, Android watch, or wherever else the little green robot
can make waves.
What glad tidings does Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) bring to its users? What better
experiences can we expect from it? Read on to know more about how Android 4.0 Ice Cream
Sandwich is being true to Google's description of it: "the best Android we've ever made yet."
Multi-tasking Button
Android 4.0 includes a virtual button that allows you to browse and instantly switch to apps you
recently used. The list displays thumbnail images of apps--instead of just icons--so you can see
which part of the apps are currently working in the background.
And, if you want to throw away or discard an item on the list, simply flick the thumbnail in order to
remove it from the list.
Instant Screenshots with Button Press
There are many instances in which you'd like to share to others what is currently displayed on your
screen. There are also times when you just need to save a screenshot for later use. In previous
versions of Android, you could take screenshots by installing apps for that purpose. In Android 4.0,
it's a built-in feature.
By holding the Power and Volume Down buttons together, your Android smartphone lets you
capture screen images instantly.
Improved Notification Bar
There are several improvements that Google has done to the Notification Bar in Android 4.0. For
instance, it can now be pulled down from the Lock Screen. Another is that you can discard items
from the list of notifications by simply flicking an item to the right. This means that you can remove
items on the Notification Bar one by one.
In previous versions of Android, it's either you clear all notifications with one tap or you leave all of
them untouched.
The Notification Bar no longer shows a grid layout of recently used apps. Instead, in Ice Cream
Sandwich, those apps are shown as a vertical-scrolling strip of app thumbnails. You can also
directly control music playback right on the Notification Bar.
2. Improved Text and Voice Input
The stock keyboard in Android 4.0 has been given more love. It is now faster and more responsive
compared to previous versions of Android. The suggestion strip is more accurate now and also
includes an in-line spell checker. With one tap, you can select suggested words or add new words
to the dictionary.
Copy-and-paste functionality has also been made easier. Just tap and hold down on the selected
word, and drag the handles to highlight the selected words. Then you can select "Copy and Paste"
from the popup menu, or simply drag the highlighted chunk of text to wherever you wish to insert
it.
Google has also incorporated voice-to-text input in Ice Cream Sandwich. Just speak, and the
phone converts your spoken words into text. It's a great way to easily and effortlessly "type" text.
With Ice Cream Sandwich, voice input is more accurate and can also translate expressions into
symbols.
It also accounts for pauses, so you don't have to press anything while thinking of an appropriate
response.
Face Unlock
Say goodbye to passwords, PIN codes, and patterns. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has
personalized phone unlocking much further. With the new Face Unlock feature, an Android
smartphone or Android tablet can now recognize the face of its owner.
Just by focusing your face clearly on the secondary front-facing camera of your device, you can
unlock your phone instantly. No typing needed. No need to remember passwords. Just look into
the camera and let the device recognize you.
Data Usage Monitoring
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich also includes a new graphical display of the data your Android
phone is using. You can set warnings for exceeding data usage limits, as well as set how much
background data each app can use. Users can have more control over their Android device with
this neat option in ICS.
Android 4.0 also comes with improved apps, which can be categorized into three: the core apps
(i.e., Google mobile apps such as Android Browser, Gmail, and Calendar), Photos, and People.
Android Beam
Support for Near Field Communication (NFC) is baked into Android 4.0, and Google has made
sure that Ice Cream Sandwich has a ready app to leverage the technology.
Called Android Beam, the app revolutionizes the way that people share files and data among one
another. With NFC and Android Beam, one can send a file to another user simply by bringing two
3. Android phones close to each other and tapping the phones against each other. Any file can be
shared in this manner--photos, documents, maps, apps, bookmarks, and so on.
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich surely packs a fresh new look and exciting new features that will
truly make your device perform better as a smartphone. With Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
soon replacing the older versions of Android on recent Android smartphones, these new features
will eventually start a new wave of more convenient and more efficient use of Android
smartphones and Android tablets.
Eager to know more about Android smartphones and Android tablets? Or, perhaps, you already
own one and want to know what else that intelligent device can do to make your life just a little bit
short of paradise? Learn more about Android smartphones and read Android news at
AndroidTidBits.com.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Erich_Boyd
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