Is Your Android Tablet on Jelly Bean?
If you have been looking at getting an android tablet or phone you may have noticed talk about Jelly Bean and wondered what this is. It is important that you know what Jelly Bean is and what it adds to your android tablet or phone. You should also find out who is able to get Jelly Bean so you know if you are getting the benefit of this.
What is Android Tablet Jelly Bean?
Jelly Bean is the name of the latest android version also known as Android 4.1. All of the android operating system releases have had dessert or sweet themed names from android 1.5 which was named Cupcake. From Cupcake there has been Donut (1.6), Éclair (2.0), Froyo (2.2), Gingerbread (2.3), Honeycomb (3) and Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0). The next version of android is set to be Key Lime Pie. Knowing what Jelly Bean is should be a good start, but it is important that you know about the features of this version of android as well.
The Project Butter
Project Butter sounds like it should be a new app or something of that kind. However, Project Butter is actually the way Google is going to be ironing out all the problems that were identified with Ice Cream Sandwich. One of the problems that android tablet uses found with Ice Cream Sandwich is that some of the graphics would be slow to load and become unresponsive after a while.
Project Butter is looking into this and will apparently have the graphic looking as smooth as butter. This is being done by making small changes to the way that graphics are displayed.
The opening and closing of an app will be done through a zoom action instead of the pinch action that was seen with Ice Cream Sandwich. Of course, the average user is not going to care about the way the app is opening only that it is happening faster. One of the reasons why this is being done is to prioritise the processing power when you are touching the screen and lowering the processor power when you are not touching the screen. One drawback of this could be that games will drain battery power at a much faster rate than before.
Keyboard Prediction
When you type on the on screen keyboard of any android tablet or phone there is word prediction. Of course, a lot of the time the word being predicted is nowhere close to what you actually want to say and this leads to the sending of very strange texts. Jelly Bean is has much better word prediction than earlier android versions which makes sending a quick text a lot easier and less scary.
The Notification System
Most android tablet and phone users do not have a problem with the current notification system. Most people are happy to simply know that they have a notification and then go open the app. Jelly Bean will take the necessity of opening the app away. This version of android has a shade system to the notifications. This means that you would be able to respond to a notification through the system and never have to open an app if you dont need to. You will also be able to expand the notification system to see if the message is important or not. This is particularly handy when you get an email notification because the notification could simply be that you have an email.
Of course, the first apps that will be able to link to this enhanced notification system are the Google apps. However, there is a very strong possibility that Google will allow other app creators to link into this new notification system.
Photo Improvement
With Ice Cream Sandwich when you want to sort through your photos you have to launch the gallery app and wait for it to load. This is not longer the case with Jelly Bean as this version of android offers easier sorting and editing capabilities. With Jelly Bean you will be able to take a photo and then easily switch to a filmstrip view to sort through all your pictures.
Widget Sizes
Being able to install widgets has long been a benefit of android. However, there has been the problem of the default widget size being too big. This will no longer be a problem with Jelly Bean because all widgets are shrunk so the default size that fits the space you have. If the widget is able to shrink down you can then drag it to the place you want it to be. All the other widgets will move around the one you are placing like text in a word processor moves around a picture.
Improvements in Accessibility Features
One of the ways that android phones often lost out to Apple was the accessibility features. Many visually impaired users look to the Apple product instead of the android because of the better audio feedback and gesture controls. This is something which has been addressed with Jelly Bean. This version of android has better audio feedback on what the device is.
The Inclusion of Google Now
Google Now is a new feature on android which comes with Jelly Bean devices. This is a good and bad app because it can become a little creepy when you think about it for too long. Google now is able to tell you what the weather is when you leave the house, it can also tell you the train schedule as you wait on the platform and the traffic condition on your way home from work. While this is all very helpful information it can seem a little too close to Big Brother for some people.
Who Is Going to Get Jelly Bean?
Now that you know more about what Jelly Bean is and what it offers you may wonder who is going to get this. Any future android tablets and phones will come with Jelly Bean. However, if you already have an android device you may not be able to upgrade to Jelly Bean. It is most likely that only the more recent and popular android phones and tablets will be upgraded.
Sam Jones‘s son was considering an Android tablet for help with work. He checked them out on uSwitch and similar sites first to be sure that he would be getting a good deal.
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