What’s new in Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)?

                        What’s new in Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)?

What’s new in Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)?

 

 

Last month, Google announced the latest iteration of its Android operating system for mobile devices, nicknamed Ice Cream Sandwich. This new version of Android (4.0, to be exact), has too many improvements to fit into one blog post, but we’re going to try. Here’s the basic rundown of the enhancements you will see as Ice Cream Sandwich is rolled out in the coming months.

1. No physical buttons required: Physical buttons are no longer required for Android phones. With Ice Cream Sandwich, navigating between apps, the home screen, the dialer app, and such are all controlled onscreen.
   
   
   


2. Unlock your phone… with your face: The Android team really stepped up phone security with this feature. Instead of a PIN or unlock pattern, your phone’s front-facing camera will use facial recognition to unlock your phone.
   
   
   


3. Near Field Communication (NFC): Another incredibly powerful innovation from Google, NFC-enabled devices will be able to share just about anything with each other through a quick physical tap. You can pay for goods and services this way to with Google Wallet.


4. Upgraded camera: The new camera app is a vast improvement over past versions of Android, with zero shutter lag exposure, stabilized image zoom, face detection for improved focus, a panoramic mode, and more. Needless to say, your phone’s camera may be able to compete against some DSLR cameras in the future.
   
   
   


5. Improvements to Google apps: Gmail, Google Calendar, YouTube, Google Talk – all of these received major face lifts in Android 4.0. Gmail’s buttons have been rearranged and made more accessible. And because there is no menu button, everything is a lot easier to find on screen. One nifty new feature in Google Calendar is the ability to pinch zoom, letting you zoom in on different parts of your agenda for that day.

Ice Cream Sandwich represents a complete overhaul of the Android operating system. We’ve really only touched on a small percentage of the changes in this post. Stay tuned for announcements of new devices on AmazonWireless that will have Ice Cream Sandwich (or the ability to upgrade to it). If you’re wondering whether your device is going to get an ICS update, check with your carrier or the manufacturer!
Which features are you most excited about in Android 4.0? Share with us below.
Images courtesy of Google via Android.com

What’s new in Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)?

 http://blog-amazone.blogspot.com/