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Karthik R

Android Serves Up Its Ice Cream Sandwich

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After Samsung launched its Galaxy Nexus at the flashy Android event across the Pacific in Hong Kong, Google execs took the stage to announce Ice Cream Sandwich, the next version of the mobile operating system.

ics-lg.jpg?w=288

Ice Cream Sandwich brings some of the most dramatic changes to Android we’ve seen since the OS moved from version 1.6 to version 2.0. Everything from core applications to how you unlock the device has been transformed. If you’re one of the lucky people upgrading from an Android 2.x device to Android 4.0, here are a few things you should be aware of -

PcWorld Link.

Here's an almost-complete list of Ice Cream Sandwich features -

  1. Virtual buttons in the user experience free up display space
  2. Create folders by dragging apps on top of each other
  3. A new tab for thumbing through your widgets
  4. Calendar app now supports pinch-to-zoom
  5. Gmail gets offline search (nice), a two-line preview, and gesture support for swiping between conversations
  6. The revamped Gmail user interface has an action bar for composing a message, searching, and accessing labels
  7. Take screenshots by holding power and volume down buttons (finally!)
  8. "Request desktop site" in the Chrome browser opens the full version of a Web site and syncs with your bookmarks
  9. Save Web pages offline and use up to 16 tabs in the browser
  10. More keyboard error correction and an inline spell check
  11. Access apps directly from the lock screen
  12. A recent applications icon
  13. "Roboto" is a new typeface
  14. Delete individual notifications by dragging them off the notifications menu
  15. Improved voice integration and copy and paste
  16. Face Unlock is a facial recognition service that use your face to unlock the phone
  17. New Data Usage options in the Settings menu will notify users when they near a data use limit and disable the feature when the limit is reached
  18. You can kill off apps that are using data in the background
  19. Open the camera quickly from the home screen
  20. Camera has no shutter lag, continuous focus, zoom while recording, panorama photos, time lapse settings, and 1080p recording
  21. Face detection in the camera
  22. Integrated photo editor including focus and exposure and "hipster filters" (we don't want to know)
  23. New gallery layout, organized by location and person
  24. People app brings together high-res photos, social media information, and status updates
  25. Phone app lets you swipe between favorite friends with integrated visual voice mail
  26. New photo gallery layout for organizing by location and person
  27. Speed up and slow down voice mails
  28. Quick message sends canned response text message when you decline a call
  29. Android Beam, an NFC feature for exchanging information between two phones by tapping them

check out the video

!

FAQs

Google's latest version of Android, Android 4.0 dubbed "Ice Cream Sandwich," is officially about to come out. Here are three questions people have been asking.

Will I get it?

The first phone to get Ice Cream Sandwich will be the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which will come with Google’s operating system natively installed.

Google has confirmed that Ice Cream Sandwich will also come to the Nexus S, according to Engadget. Two Google officials told the site that the company is "Currently in the process for releasing Ice Cream Sandwich for Nexus S. Theoretically it should work for any 2.3 device."

HTC has also released a statement regarding its plans to update phones to Ice Cream Sandwich:

“We are excited about the latest update for Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, and are currently reviewing its features and functionality to determine our upgrade plans. Our goal for Android updates is to give every customer an improved user experience, which means balancing each phone's unique hardware, HTC Sense experience and the Android kernel. While our goal is to upgrade as many of our recent devices as possible, we are committed to maintaining every phone's performance and usability first. Please stay tuned for more updates on specific device upgrade plans.”

In other words, it sounds like HTC has no plans, as of yet, to update its devices. It sounds like HTC isn't sure what it's going to do, and that it may be slow in pushing out updates.

When will I get it?

We still don't know when Ice Cream Sandwich will drop, but Google's Eric Schmidt said in September that it would be appearing "sometime in October or November." Since the Galaxy Nexus is the first phone that will have Ice Cream Sandwich, and it's dropping in November, we can only assume this means the first Ice Cream Sandwich updates will start rolling out in November at the earliest.

Google has also released the Android 4.0 Software Development Kit (SDK), which developers can download here.

Is Ice Cream Sandwich radically different?

Yes. Ice Cream Sandwich completely redesigns and refreshes Android.

A big feature update is the addition of nonphysical navigation buttons. Google hasn't yet explained how or if this will work with phones that currently have physical navigation buttons (such as the Droid X), so if your phone has physical navigation buttons you may not want to get too excited.

Check out some tips and shortcuts for Android 2.3 users Google has posted to help you navigate the many changes you'll see on your device.

Thanks Cnet, Pcworld

screenshots @ PcWorld, Engadget

Downlaod ICS source code here

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Find out the devices that have been given the stamp of approval by the manufacturers below -

ASUS

Confirmed :

Padfone

EedPad Transformer

Transformer Prime

HTC

Confirmed :

HTC Rezound

HTC Vivid

HTC Sensation

HTC Sensation XL

HTC Sensation XE

HTC EVO 3D

HTC EVO Design 4G

HTC Amaze 4G

HTC Incredible S

HTC Desire HD

HTC Desire S

LG

Confirmed :

Optimus 2X

Optimus Black

Optimus 3D

Optimus LTE

Prada phone by LG 3.0

Optimus Sol

LG My Touch Q

LG Eclipse

Optimus Big

Optimus Q2

Optimus EX

Motorola

Confirmed :

Droid Razr

Droid Bionic

Xoom tablet series

Samsung

Confirmed :

Galaxy Nexus

Nexus S

Galaxy S2

Galaxy Note

Galaxy R

Sony Ericsson

Confirmed :

2011 Xperia lineup

Edited by Karthik R
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Control over network data

Mobile devices make extensive use of network data for streaming content, synchronizing data, downloading apps, and more. To meet the needs of users with tiered or metered data plans, Android 4.0 adds new controls for managing network data usage.

In the Settings app, colorful charts show the total data usage on each network type (mobile or Wi-Fi), as well as amount of data used by each running application. Based on their data plans, users can optionally set warning levels or hard limits on data usage or disable mobile data altogether. Users can also manage the background data used by individual applications as needed.

usage-all-lg.png

Data usage controls let you monitor total usage by network type and application and then set limits if needed.

usage-maps-lg.png

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Samsung !!! I want my ics !! Or I will bomb ur R&D !! :-P

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I liked the peoples app

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minimalistic approach, looks like a windows phone 7 metro rip off..... hmmm....

copied a lot of stuff from iOS(the folder thing etc.) and WP7 :huh:

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Data control feature is awesome. A must for limited data plan users. Android is a data hog.

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Motorola must have felt a little left out yesterday when it launched its slick-looking Droid Razr smartphone because Samsung launched an even bigger phone with the newest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, later the same day. Not unexpectedly, Motorola said it has plans in place to update the Razr to Android 4.0 by early 2012.

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moto should had either done it before or some days after the nexus

I loved the wasy the razer looks, but still no match for the ICS ladden nexus with the beautiful HD display.

bad strategy for a handset with sheer beauty, the M logo at the back and the capacitive buttons SHOULD have the neon blue lighting to be called as razer tough

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minimalistic approach, looks like a windows phone 7 metro rip off..... hmmm....

copied a lot of stuff from iOS(the folder thing etc.) and WP7 :huh:

And WebOS too!

Like this one below:

14. Delete individual notifications by dragging them off the notifications menu

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Ice Cream Sandwich Features That Google Missed To Mention At Launch Event

Source

When Google announced Ice Cream Sandwich, it failed to mention several features of this Android release that many of you will surely like a lot. Android Engineer Dan Morill highlighted some of these features on Google+, other were identified from the SDK.

  • Updated Settings: Settings menu has been revamped and it is now easier than ever to find the setting that you are looking for.
  • Disabling Apps: If you can’t uninstall an app, you can always disable it in ICS. Android 4.0 adds the ability to disable an app and it will never run and its launcher icon is gone until you re-enable it.
  • Improved Download Manager
  • Support for Encryption in Phones: Full device encryption that was a part of Honeycomb is now available in phones.
  • Audio Effects: New effects API.
  • Support for WebM streaming, MKVs: Android 4.0 natively supports the playback of MKV files as well as streaming of Googe’s WebM video format.
  • Hardware Acceleration: Android will finally have Hardware acceleration in ICS. It will allow for a super smooth user experience, better graphic performance, and better responsiveness within apps.
  • Indic fonts (Devanagari, Bengali and Tamil) support in WebView and stock browser. No need to download other browsers just to view Hindi webpages.

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ICS - carefully designed to avoid patents wars !

no sign when they will release source code :(

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^ ^ ^ Since the Galaxy Nexus is the first ICS device, rumored to go on sale sometime in the beginning to mid November, we shouldn't expect the source code to be publicized until about that time either.

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Google confirmed to release the source code at around launch of prime.

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

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hrd nEXUs S will get ICS..... lets c when

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Yes nexus s for sure will get ICS soon as the galaxy nexus is out buy mid nov 11....! Today google just announced it that pretty much all 2.3 gingerbread devices should be getting ICS but nexus s for sure will be getting ICS!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Google is not too keen to release source codes from honeycomb onward,

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk

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The upgrade to ICS for the Nexus S has more or less been confirmed. I cant wait :Sorprendido:

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Wow... Hw acceleration coming to UI in ICS and optimised Dual-Core preformance... I am eagerly waiting for ICS for my Photon-4G...

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Off topic @ Kanaga

Are you using GSM with your Photon?

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Yes kartik he is using gsm only.

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offtopic reply to Karthir ji... Yes, I am using Photon for my GSM number... I selected Photon as my family members will beat me if I again spend 30k for a new phone for me and the recent Google take over of Motorola-Mobility (ICS may reach soon or atleast ICS will reach for sure) and other small things like kick-stand, better camera [means Dual-LED flash + cam button], bigger battery, 3G video-calls, same EPIC key layout [Menu, Home, Back and Search buttons] made me select Photon...

ontopic:

Only thing I am wondering is will there be any way to disable the icon-set at bottom of display to old devices (Back, Home, Menu keys), to save some screen area and to avoid redundant keys...???

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ICS largely improves your phone's security - now you will be able to fully encrypt your ICS device. This means that all your data will be on lockdown, inaccessible even to you until you enter in the passcode or personal identification number.

There are many Photon users in the forum! Lets get active

here!

Edited by Karthik R

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Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich includes native support for smartphones and tablets with a digital stylus Google has confirmed, including pressure recognition, hover tracking and nib-tilt, with differentiation between pen and finger use.

Endless possibilities for devs :)

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Ice Cream Sandwich Can Make Your Android Into a Gaming Console

android4.0gamepads.png

Thanks to Engadget, we're reminded of the perks yet again, as Google framework engineer Romain Guy notes that the Ice Cream Sandwich update (also known as Android 4.0) retains Honeycomb's USB game controller compatibility. That means you can play your Android with a PS3, Xbox 360, or whatever USB controller you have with little more than a USB-to-micro-USB bridge adapter.

But what might be the ultimate game changer is that Android 4.0 also supports HDMI playback, meaning that you can plug your Android device into your TV and have an instant gaming console experience. Although Guy specifically touts the Samsung Galaxy Nexus for the functionality, you can definitely expect people to continue packing gaming controllers with their other Samsung-, Asus-, or Sony-branded tablets and phones. It looks like the battle between Apple and Google in mobile gaming just got a bit more interesting.

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