New features and improvements of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean

Along with the Nexus 7 tablet and the Nexus Q, the newest Android operating system was revealed today at the 2012 Google I/O conference. And similar to earlier iterations, it comes with a mouth-watering name: Jelly Bean. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean brings with it a number of new features and improvements over 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Transitions and animations are now noticeably smoother and faster compared to previous Android versions, including Ice Cream Sandwich. But aside from being tons slicker than before, Jelly Bean has a number of other notable features.

Let's take a look at some of them in this post.

1. Automagically resizable widgets If you're a bona fide tinkerer who redesigns your home screen often, you'll love Jelly Bean's widgets. They get resized while you're moving them around; icons also magically move and position themselves around a widget, depending on the widget's size.

2. Offline voice typing Android has long supported voice typing, but it's always needed internet connection to work. On Jelly Bean, Google introduced an offline version of the feature, so you can dictate notes even in areas without coverage.

3. Camera app film strip view On Ice Cream Sandwich, Google tweaked the camera app so it takes pictures with negligible shutter lag. Google ported that to Jelly Bean and also added a new feature that gives you the power to preview several photos you take in quick succession within a film strip view. mm-300-android-jelly-bean

4. Expanded and customizable notifications Google vastly improved notifications for Android 4.1 — you can customize them and see more info than you previously could. While you can only see a small tidbit of what your notification is about on older Android versions, you can press the snooze button of your alarm or even send emails (using short canned responses, if you wish) from within the notifications window on Jelly Beam. If you have a Google+ account, you can +1 photos without opening the app. You can now also expand or dismiss notifications with a two-finger gesture.

5. Natural-sounding Google Voice Siri may have found its strongest competitor in the new Google Voice. The feature can recognize spoken words and can speak back like Siri does in a natural-sounding, human-like voice. During the demo at I/O, Google Voice delivered near-instantaneous results when asked to search for particular terms like pygmy marmoset images.

6. Google Now This new feature will make you feel as if your phone or tablet was made just for you. Google Now brings up card-like widgets that display things relevant to your interest, but only if you choose to give it access to your search history and calendar. It can automatically show you alternate routes to take if it determines the usual route you take to go to work is clogged with heavy traffic jam. It will keep you updated and remind you of your favorite sports teams' upcoming games. You can also buy game tickets, book flights, and reserve restaurants from within Google Now cards.