Tech Update Radar

iPhone 5 launched in India

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 18:59:00 +0000

The world’s most-anticipated smartphone, the iPhone 5, was launched in India on Friday to grand customer reception, with its prohibitive price-tag hardly deterring die hard Apple fans. The iPhone5 is available in three memory sizes — 16 GB, 32 GB and 64GB — priced in inida at rs 45,500, 52,500 and Rs. 59,500, respectively.

Prebooked 150,000 Apple iphones units over the past one month across India speaks volumes about the enthusiasm for its latest product.

The iPhone 5 has a 4-inch retina display and is around 20% lighter than the previous version.

“We had ordered 20,000 units of iPhone5 and all these will go to customers who have prebooked,” an Apple store manager said. He added that from Sunday onwards, the iPhone5 would be available off the shelf.

This time, the Apple phone is not being bundled with a telecom service offer and is available across retail stores.

Microsoft makes its move with Surface challenging Apple iPad(4th gen), Android tabs

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 20:16:00 +0000

These days a new tablet is released almost every other day. The tablet market is showing no slow downs.

So in this post we'll see new Windows RT and Windows 8 tablets from Microsoft and its partners.

The manufacturers are flooding the market with too many options but the quality does remains high (and in some cases gets higher).

With the release of the Surface, it would be interesting to compare the current full-size flagship tablets running Windows, iOS, and Android.

Let's take a look at the specs of each tablet:

	Microsoft Surface	Apple iPad (fourth gen)	Asus Transformer Infinity
Operating system	Windows RT	iOS 6	Android 4.1
Price	$499 (32GB), $599 (32GB with Touch Cover), $699 (64GB with Touch Cover)	Wi-Fi: $499 (16GB), $599 (32GB), $699 (64GB) Cellular: $629 (16GB), $729 (32GB), $829 (64GB)	$499 (32GB), $599 (64GB)
Release date	October 26, 2012	November 2, 2012	June 2012
Display	10.6-inch IPS, 1,366x768 pixels (148 ppi)	9.7-inch IPS, 2,048x1,536 pixels (264 ppi)	10.1-inch IPS, 1,920x1200 pixels (224 ppi)
Size	10.8 x 6.8 x 0.37 inches	9.5 x 7.3 x 0.37 inches	10.3 x 7.1 x 0.33 inches
Weight	1.5 pounds	1.44 pounds (1.46 for cellular)	1.31 pounds
Processor	1.3GHz Tegra 3	A6X	1.7GHz Tegra 3
Storage	32GB or 64GB	16GB, 32GB, or 64GB	32GB or 64GB
Camera	720p HD rear-facing, 720p HD front-facing camera	5-megapixel rear-facing, 1080p HD video; 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera, 720 HD video	8-megapixel rear-facing with LED flash, 1080p HD video; 2-megapixel front-facing camera, 720 HD video
Battery	"31.5-watt-hour"; 10 hours battery life (rated)	"42.5-watt-hour"; 10 hours battery life (rated)	"25-watt-hour"; 8.5 hours video battery life (tested)
Full USB	Yes	No	No
Extras	Built-in kickstand and Office 2013	4G LTE versions available	Tegra 3 games
Other ports	Micro-HDMI, microSD	Lightning connector	Micro-HDMI, microSD
Color	Black	Black, white	Purple, silver

So which is best?

The final verdict can't be given as the 4th gen ipad is yet to be released, so lets do some quick pros and cons of each tablet, relative to each other..

If you're looking for a tablet you can actually work on, the Surface RT should be your choice. Paired with either its Touch or, preferably, its Type Cover keyboard and with the inclusion of Office 2013, the Surface is the best productivity tablet yet. Its keyboard is much more comfortable than the Infinity's or any iPad keyboard accessory I've ever tried. The Surface also includes a full USB port that supports game controllers and flash and optical drives.

It's not a PC replacement, but the Surface comes closer than any other tablet before it to that title.

Not into work? The iPad is still the best overall entertainment tablet, and the fourth generation should continue to thrive thanks to its robust media ecosystem, fast performance, and incredible app support. The Transformer doesn't receive the same kind of app support, nor is its performance as impressive, but in terms of ecosystem, Android is beginning to nip at iOS' heels.

The Surface can't compete on the app front, and aside from movies, TV shows, and music, its media ecosystem leaves a lot to be desired. There's no real support for books or magazines (the current Windows Kindle app is slow and clunky), and very few quality games or useful utility apps are available.

To quickly sum up: If you're looking for a productivity tablet, the Surface is it. The iPad will likely remain the best entertainment tablet in the world, and for those who want a powerful Android tablet, the Transformer Infinity is still tops.

iPhone 5 of Verizon boasts 650K sales

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 22:24:00 +0000

Verizon's iPhone sales are reportedly up thanks to growing iPhone 5 sales and cheaper iPhone 4S and 4 which are still able to attract decent customers.

Verizon, the second major wireless carriers to offer the iPhone in United States, is on the verge of beating AT&T’s. As reported by All Things D, sales of iPhone under the banner of Verizon is blooming with growing numbers compared to its 2011 posting.

For the third quarter of this year, Verizon reportedly sold 3.1 million iPhones and 650,000 were iPhone 5 with unlocked SIM slot out of the box. Unconfirmed reports from other sites say the Verizon iPhone 5′s unlocked SIM slot helped a lot because some customers who purchased the device are from other wireless carriers or loyal to other prepaid or postpaid carrier (T-Mobile USA customers are worth noting).

Apart from the new iPhone 5, customers of Verizon Wireless also purchased phones from older iPhone lineup. ATD estimates that the remaining 2.5 million iPhones activated by the largest LTE carrier in America were older models like dual-core processor-equipped iPhone 4S and the years-old iPhone 4.

Verizon and the two other partner carriers of Apple, Sprint and AT&T, are set to add more iPhone customers before the end of this year courtesy of the Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping rush and the growing demand for touchscreen smartphones.

The iPhone 5 is the first Apple smartphone with LTE or Long Term Evolution and also the first to include a 4-inch Retina touchscreen display. Apple’s iPhone 5 is also the thinnest and the lightest so far. The device is also equipped with an improved 8-megapixel camera, front-facing HD Facetime camera and the first to ship with iOS 6 mobile operating system out of the box.

Apple compares the iPad mini to Google’s Nexus 7(Ipad mini vs Nexus 7)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 20:37:00 +0000

During the announcement of all new Apple iPad Mini they also took out time to take a few shots at Google’s extremely popular Nexus 7. As we already know, the iPad mini is thinner, lighter, and comes with a 7.9-inch display. Few talking points about Apple’s ipad mini vs Nexus 7 are written below.

While we can’t actually go and compare everything until we get our own hands-on them. Apple’s already quickly jumping at the heels of Google by flaunting ipad mini's larger display, smaller bezels, thinner and more durable aluminum design and more. While the resolution is only the same as the iPad 2, being 1024 x 768, we still get a display that looks gorgeous.

As you see above, they were quick to mention the bezel. Showing the iPad mini has a much smaller bezel while still having a larger display and staying thinner. Pretty impressive right? The image above shows Google’s Nexus 7 without the on-screen keys, without the browser tabs up top, and as an end result you get a much smaller display for actually viewing and enjoying HD content. From browsing the web, enjoying movies, playing games and more the iPad mini and its 7.9-inch display just does more — according to Apple.

Apple’s new iPad mini comes with an A5 dual-core processor, an HD display, iOS 6, and of course 4G LTE as well. For full details you’ll want to check out our iPad mini announcement post. Starting at just $329 for the 16GB WiFi model, it still costs more than Google’s Nexus 7. Stay tuned for more details and hands-on coming soon!

iPad mini debuts with a surprise 4th gen iPad

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 20:39:00 +0000

The big reveal is here: Apple has introduced an iPad Mini. The new pencil-thin (7.2mm) iPad mini comes a mere half-year after the third generation iPad was introduced. Apple says it's as light as a pad of paper.

It will be priced at $329.

Is it different? Apple says it is not merely a shrunken down iPad. It has a 7.9-inch screen, measured diagonally (vs. 9.7-inches for the larger iPad). That's larger than the 7-inch screens on the Kindle or Nexus 7. The new screen has resolution of 1024 by 768, so all software created for previous iPads will work.

The iPad mini is made of aluminum, as opposed to the plastic that Google's Nexus 7 is made of. Though they had to expect it, I imagine there's an uncomfortable feeling circulating through the executive offices at Amazon and Google.

The new iPad has a dual-core A5 chip. It has FaceTime HD and a 5MP iSight camera. It has LTE wireless as fast as the bigger iPads, and faster Wi-Fi, too. And it has the inevitable Lightning connector (bad news for those of you with lots of iPad accessories based on the prior dock connector).

Apple says the new smaller iPad has 10-hour battery life, and it retains what is arguably the biggest advantage that Apple claims — the 275,000 tablet apps in the App Store.

"You knew there would be something mini in this presentation," Schiller joked.

— iPad Mini, Wi-Fi only,16 GB , $329

— iPad Mini, Wi-Fi only, 32 GB, $429

— iPad Mini, Wi-Fi only, 64 GB, $529

— iPad Mini, Wi-Fi + Cellular, 16 GB, $459

— iPad Mini, Wi-Fi + Cellular, 32 GB, $559

— iPad Mini, Wi-Fi + Cellular, 64 GB, $659

I think this is going to be a humongous seller — and I suspect the executives at Google, Amazon and Microsoft may be quaking in their boots, especially at the $329 starting price for a Wi-Fi only model with 16 gigabytes or $459 starting prices for 16 GB with Wi-Fi plus cellular.

The fourth-generation iPad boasts the sharper, Retina display with 2048-by-1536 pixel resolution and a 9.7-inch screen measured diagonally. It has a dual-core A6X chip with quad-core graphics. Apple says that doubles the computing power of the previous-generation iPad. It also has front and back cameras and 10 hours of battery life. It is 9.4 millimeters (0.37 inch) thick and weighs 1.44 pounds. It also comes with the Lightning connector.

— Fourth-generation iPad, Wi-Fi only, 16 GB, $499

— Fourth-generation iPad, Wi-Fi only, 32 GB, $599

— Fourth-generation iPad, Wi-Fi only, 64 GB, $699

— Fourth-generation iPad, Wi-Fi + Cellular, 16 GB, $629

— Fourth-generation iPad, Wi-Fi + Cellular, 32 GB, $729

— Fourth-generation iPad, Wi-Fi + Cellular, 64 GB, $829

Apple's website will start taking advanced orders for the iPad Mini and the fourth-generation iPad on Friday. They will first start shipping and go on sale in stores on Nov. 2.

They will be available in the U.S., Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K.

Yash Chopra dies at 80

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 13:35:00 +0000

Legendary film director, screenwriter and film producer Yash Chopra is dead.

Chopra, 80, had been admitted to Lilavati hospital in suburban Bandra on October 13 after being diagnosed with an attack of dengue.

He had fallen ill on 10th of October after returning from Bachchan's party.
Born in 1932 in Lahore, now in Pakistan, the film-maker was favoured by leading Indian actors with his movies seen as a sure-fire way to become a hit with audiences.

Chopra has made some of Indian cinema's most memorable films such as Deewar, Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila and Chandni. His flamboyant style of film-making, movies filmed in exotic locales and mellifluous music became a hallmark, endearing him to film goers.

Riding on his success, Chopra established Yash Raj Films, one of Bollywood's biggest production houses, churning out at least three movies a year. In November, the film studio announced its foray into Hollywood, signing on actors such as Nicole Kidman and Jason Bateman for its overseas productions.

Chopra also produced Indian cinema's longest-running blockbuster, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), which marked the debut of his son Aditya as director.

"I have never made romantic films. I have made films on human relations, and humans are complicated people," Chopra said in a recent interview.

Google Android 4.1 Jelly Bean vs Apple iOS6

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 18:53:00 +0000

Both are great and both are loved by their fans. Here's the comparison between Apple iOS 6 and Android Jelly Bean features-

On all the tech forums everybody's boasting about their favourite Operating systems, which makes it a little bit difficult to differentiate between them.

A phone's OS is built to use nifty things like an accelerometer, proximity sensor, touch screen, and so on which sometimes seem magical. I still remember blowing on one end of an iPhone and watching with disbelief as the image of a balloon on the screen inflate, as if I had actually pushed air into it. And that was the first generation of the iPhone. The OSes that you get today are greatly more powerful, more polished and much faster.

Here is a side by side comparison of two of the best OS available in the market - Android Jelly Bean and iOS 6.

Let’s begin with Maps, as that has been in the news already.

Jelly Bean wins this hands down. Flyover feature in iOS 6 looks cute, but is really not very useful and Google Maps Street View beats this by a big margin. The turn by turn navigation in Google Maps is much more accurate, and the Google Maps is more filled out.

Notifications
While Apple has introduced a bunch of features in iOS 6, it is still mostly catching up with Android. Jelly Bean lets you expand your notification with a two finger gesture, without having to jump into an app. You can also dismiss single notification, and then there is extended mail notification. iOS 6 has added the ability to post to Facebook and Twitter from notification itself, but that still does not beat the more useful Jelly Bean.

Mail and Browsing
iOS 6 updated the mail app. Now you can have an VIP folder, flag emails and attach photos and videos to your mails. But then Jelly Bean has it too. Both Safari and Chrome are great browsers, and it is difficult to pick a winner here.

Speed and Smoothness, Ease of Use
Prior to Jelly Bean, iOS was the smoothest OS around. iOS was fast, smooth, powerful and very easy to use. iOS 6 - it continues to be all those things, but with Jelly Bean Android caught up. Prior to Jelly Bean, Android used to be jaggy, laggy and somewhat slow. Jelly Bean introduced Project Butter as a highlight feature. The aim of Project Butter is to make the Android smoother, faster, and less jaggy which it does by fixing 60 fps as the default frame rate across the OS. And guess what? It works! Every reviewer has praised Jelly Bean for how fast and smooth it is.

When it comes to ease of use, iOS still reigns supreme. While Jelly Bean does not need a rocket scientist, it does require some getting used to. It is widely recognized as the more powerful, and more customizable OS, but this also means you have to dig into settings to enable features. It still remains a nerds wet dream, and iOS the preferred OS for those not inclined to go mucking around the settings menu.

UI and Looks
iOS has always looked great, and with each iteration Apple has changed the looks subtly – very subtly – to look better. With the introduction of Retina Display it looks even better. The same can’t be said for Android. Early versions of the OS, and we are talking about all those versions that came before Ice Cream Sandwich, Android did not look like a unified OS, and it lagged behind in sheer physical beauty. But then around came Ice Cream Sandwich and that problem was fixed (more or less). Google did not change the look in Jelly Bean, possibly because it is already quite good. What the late change with Ice Cream Sandwich means however, is that the latest version still has a fresh look, while iOS has essentially retained the same look since 2007, and therefore now looks a little boring.

Voice Integration
Siri is more fun, and in iOS 6, much more useful. Now you can get sports data, movie listings, and book restaurants by simply telling Siri to do so. She can also launch third party apps, a feature that was much requested when Siri was launched with the last iteration of the iPhone. And yes, she still tells you jokes and talks to you. Google Now on the other hand is faster, provides ambient information (by getting to know you; including your residence, search history, your calendar appointments, etc, it gives you helpful information when it thinks you may require it), a more human like voice, dictation even works offline, and is reportedly faster than Siri (though by a tiny fraction of a second). Which one to like? It depends. If you want your phone to fill up the huge void you find within you, go for Siri, but if you are practical minded, efficiency driven sort, Google Now is best for you.

In the end they are both great systems, though if you have the patience to do some tweaking, Jelly Bean would probably serve you better. After all, it has Google Now, and more importantly Google Maps.

LIVING WITH ANDROID JELLY BEAN: MORE THAN JUST A POINT RELEASE

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 02:37:00 +0000

We all know that Google’s Android mobile operating system has garnered a notorious reputation of being pretty easy to hack and Google not doing enough towards data security. However, according to a security expert’s recent revelation, Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) is the most difficult Android OS to exploit till date, thanks to a proper implementation of a security technique known as ASLR in Jelly Bean, even though it was first introduced in Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0).

What’s the big deal about ASLR, we hear you ask? Here’s Oberheide’s explanation:

“ For the uninitiated, ASLR randomizes where various areas of memory (eg. stack, heap, libs, etc) are mapped in the address space of a process. Combined with complementary mitigation techniques such as non-executable memory protection (NX, XN, DEP, W^X, whatever you want to call it), ASLR makes the exploitation of traditional memory corruption vulnerabilities probabilistically difficult. ”

Although ASLR was introduced in ICS Android 4.0, “things weren’t in great shape,” claims Oberheide. But Jelly Bean’s proper implementation of ASLR is an important step towards securing future Android OS releases, and making it difficult for hackers to exploit vulnerabilities, opined Oberheide. ASLR when paired with another important security step known as data execution prevention or DEP and information leak prevention effectively fortifies Android 4.1 Jelly Bean’s security armour by several degree.

So yes, while we celebrate the increased security efficiency of Android’s Jelly Bean build, let’s not get carried away and think intrusions and hack attacks won’t happen. In Oberheide’s own words, Jelly Bean’s proper implementation of ASLR and DEP will make hackers’ job of exploiting memory corruption bugs more difficult, but not impossible.

Compared to Apple’s iOS, Google’s rival in the mobile OS war, Android still doesn't support code signing -- a security step which authenticates the software author and the integrity of the executable code through a digital signature -- something that has been present in iOS since a long time.

Motorola Droid Bionic frustration over ICS update

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 20:34:00 +0000

The owners of Motorola Droid Bionic smartphone are frustrated because of lack of Android 4.0 ICS update so far. Where many android users are already enjoying the delightful Android 4.1 jelly bean there are plenty of people who haven't even been upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich. Droid Bionic phone users are amongst those unlucky ones still waiting for ICS.
There was a lot of excitement amongst people when Droid Bionic was first unveiled in January 2011 at CES. The phone had become one of the highly anticipated smartphones with many potential customers willing to purchase the smartphone. The phone was released 8 months after the announcement date because of which many new phones came in lime light offering the same kind of high end specifications rather better specifications at competitive rates. There was this notion that because of so much time between the announcement and launch date the phone might not click as well as expected, which eventually happened.
Though many people excited to get droid got it but were later unhappy as they never received the best customer service from Motorola. The owners of the phone are still waiting even though Motorola had confirmed in December 2011 that the Droid Bionic was one of its phones that would receive ICS.
Motorola's VP of Product Punit Soni accepted that Bionic owners had a valid reason to be unhappy and said that Motorola was currently working on the issues. Complaints include update to ICS, locked bootloader and 4G issues.
Motorola has released the latest ICS update list which shows that ICS update for the Droid Bionic has been pushed to Q4 instead of Q3.

Acer launches Jelly Bean Iconia Tab A110 for $229.99

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 20:32:00 +0000

After launching the Iconia Tab A110 in UK, Acer on Thursday finally announced the 7-inch tablet for North America priced at $229.99 which will go on sale in US and Canada starting October 30.

The A110 running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, comes with the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 1 Gigabyte of RAM, 8 GB internal storage, micro SD card slot, WI-FI, Bluetooth, Micro USB, HDMI port and a 2 megapixel front facing camera specially for video calling.

As of now Acer will be selling only the 8 GB variant of the tablet in the US.

Even though Acer has tried very hard to compete with Nexus 7, the low display-resolution, less battery life and future Android version support kills the deal a bit for Iconia Tab A110. MicroSD card slot being a positive point thought.

Sony Xperia Jelly Bean updates not before 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 18:41:00 +0000

So its been a while since Xperia owners have been wondering if they'll get the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update or not about which Sony has been keeping quiet.
Good news is that updates will roll out for some phones but the bad news is Jelly Bean won’t be updated until early next year for Sony.

There has been a buzz or we can say that we know that Sony Xperia T and the upcoming Xperia V will be the first Xperia devices to receive Jelly Bean, along with the Xperia TX but these updates are not planned until 2013.

Few phones confirmed to receive the jelly bean update(no confirmed dates) are Xperia S, Xperia acro S, Xperia Ion, Xperia P, Xperia Go and finally Xperia J.

News sourced from Sony Mobile does'nt get any better as the owners of Sony Xperia 2011 phones will not receive Jelly Bean update and will stay on Android ICS only.
Phones that won't be receiving the updates include Xperia Arc, Neo series and Play.

This is very frustrating specially for Xperia 2011 owners as well as for people who recently purchased Xperia T or TX as they won't be receiving any updated before mid of 2013.

We'd welcome your thoughts on this if you are still stuck on ICS and let down by SONY.

Nexus S Jelly Bean KEYBOARD problems

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 22:17:00 +0000

A lot of Nexus S users have been complaining about:

Keyboard freeze,
Lagging behind of keyboard,
Disappearance of keyboard and
Resistance in switching to any other language other than English while typing.

This problem has been noticed with all the applications which use keyboard including G talk, Yahoo messenger, Sms and Whatsapp.

The possible solution to the problem is :

Visit Settings > Languages & input > Android keyboard (settings icon) > Add-on dictionaries
If you've only got one dictionary installed, long-press it's entry and select Delete. If you've got more that one installed, pick one of them.
Tap that dictionary again and select Install -- this will put a fresh copy on your device.
Test your keyboard to see if the problem is resolved.
If you've got more than one dictionary installed and things aren't working correctly after step 4, repeat these steps for your other dictionaries.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for SAMSUNG GALAXY S2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 21:53:00 +0000

Owners of Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100 have a reason to cheer as the company announced that jelly bean update for S2 is in works and will be launched soon.
As of now only handful of Android terminals are running on Jelly bean OS. The list of new features includes a brand new virtual keyboard and improved functionality for NFC connections. Now you will be able to initiate photo sharing sessions by simply touching another NFC-friendly smartphone on your S2.

The company will also be releasing Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for the first generation and second generation of Galaxy Note.

So all the lucky and impatient owners of Galaxy S2 will be able to update their smartphones to Android 4.1 within few weeks. The update would be available over the air or through KIES(Software used by Samsung to sync updates to its mobile devices).

Jelly Bean ASUS TAB update problems, issues

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 21:37:00 +0000

A lot of people have reported that after the Jelly Bean update their devices got a lot of problems. some of them are:
1. Constant Reboot and lockup problems
2. Tab not able to connect to wi-fi.
3. Problem of less frame rate.
4. Batter life reduces by 1-2 hours.
5. THE TAB GOES CRAZY after the update.

The one and only easy solution is to do a factory reset, but it resets your device and all the data is wiped off.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Release Date For Galaxy S3 to arrive soon

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 16:58:00 +0000

For months, people have been wondering when Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will be released for Samsung’s Galaxy S3. On Wednesday, however, Samsung said that consumers can expect the software update to hit the device “in the coming months.”

The specific time and method of update will be announced by specific careers - AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and U.S. Cellular,” Samsung said.

This statement has left S3 owners with no hint of roll out of jelly bean for their phones. S3 owners could get the Jelly Bean update either over the air or through KIES(Software used by Samsung to sync updates to its mobile devices).
The update includes new features for Samsung’s TouchWiz interface and also few improvements to the camera. Users can now also apply different filters to photos and videos.
“Galaxy S III owners will receive the Jelly Bean update as well as a host of new and enhanced TouchWiz features, making it a faster, richer and more responsive device experience,” the company said in a statement.
Jelly Bean has already begun rolling out in other countries whereas Galaxy S3 users in the U.S. are still waiting for the update. European users received Android 4.1 at the end of September, with Poland being the first country to receive the upgrade. Jelly Bean is expected to spread to other countries later this month.
Google officially had unveiled Jelly Bean at its I/O developers conference in the month of June. The software update’s features include Project Butter, Google Now, etc. Check the below post for more details.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean launched

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 16:32:00 +0000

Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, is the fastest version of Android until now. Jelly Bean compliments the simplicity and beauty of Android 4.0, it also introduces a new Google search experience on Android. Few best features of the newly launched OS are :
1. Speedier interface,
2. New Camera app,
3. Offline voice typing,
4. Significantly improved notifications,
5. Siri-like voice search,
6. Google Now
and much more.

Few features i've enjoyed using the most so far.

PROJECT BUTTER

Google used a variety of methods to accomplish this feat, ranging from "sync timing" (ensuring a consistent frame rate across all screen drawing and animation) to triple buffering and touch prediction come together to make everything run just a little bit more nicely, resulting in an overall smoother feel across the user interface.

Jelly Bean runs more smoothly than prior Android versions.

OFFLINE VOICE TYPING

I know its really annoying when you can't dictate anything to your phone without internet or WI-FI connection.

Jelly Bean has made it a thing of the past. Now even if you have a poor internet connection or no connection, voice-to-text tasks are completed locally instead of in the cloud.

As per my experience, offline voice-to-text is slightly less accurate than the cloud-based version.

GOOGLE NOW

I am pretty sure that we'll be talking about "Google Now" a lot in the future. Google has made this amazing thing that predicts what you'll need and gets it to you even before you realize that you need it. If we go by theory then it means that your device learns your habits, interests and so on, and then tries to offer up relevant traffic, weather and point of interest info.

I would label it as one of Jelly Bean's best attributes.

NOTIFICATIONS

Now the notification bar can do more than ever. It can even expand to show you your inbox, than just emails. Google Now also appears in the notifications tray, which means that you can view relevant info just by opening the notifications.

VOICE SEARCH(S-Voice)

S-Voice, the Siri's competitor included on the Samsung Galaxy S III, wasn't a thumbs up.

Anyhow now Google's voice search is powered by Knowledge Graph, which means that you will now receive what Google deems to be the best answer to your query, followed by some relevant web results. Google's voice search definitely made Siri look a bit terrible.