Android 4 SDK Releases, Plethora Of New Features

Along with the release of Android 4 (code-named Ice Cream Sandwich) yesterday at the joint Google and Samsung event, Google is also releasing the full SDK for its latest version of Android. The new SDK comes with a lot of new features which is bound to get the developers rolling. The new operating system isn't a version update but is in itself a paradigm shift to a fresh Operating System. It is to include most of the features from earlier versions of Android, namely Android 2.3 (code-named Gingerbread) and Android's OS for tablets, Android 3.0 (code-named Honeycomb). The full SDK can be downloaded #-Link-Snipped-#.

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Ice Cream Sandwich brings number of advancements to Google’s proprietary applications, including incognito browsing and Chrome bookmark syncing on your mobile phone. A UI toolkit is expected to come with a hardware-accelerated 2D drawing for UI effects on Android 4.0 devices. Notable improvements have been made concerning the stylus and mouse input as well as inclusion of “Explore-by-touch” mode which allows for screen reader support. Text-to-speech input, Support for Wi-Fi direct, Efficient tools for network management and large number of APIs dealing from VPN to device sensors form a strong platform for the Android 4. Browsers are up-to-date with HTML5 support and a faster javascipt V8 compiler.

Regarding the current configuration of Android phones, Andy Rubin, Google Senior VP of Mobile and the man in charge of Android development, announced that updates will start releasing for certain devices like Nexus S, Motorola RAZR within three months. HTC, which has a huge share in the Android market is quoted to have said, "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", creating a rather dubious state as to when the ICS update will hit HTC phones.

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