Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS: A Review

Rather than being a new OS, Jelly Bean is like upgraded ICS. But it does the work well

Google is back with a bang along with its new Android OS, the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, an amazing operating system announced on the conference of the Google I/O 2012. Android 4.1 can be called as an incremental update to ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich). Jelly Bean includes innumerable UI (User Interface) changes like enhanced onscreen keyboard and notifications, widget control, the native camera app and voice typing. Overall it is smoother, faster and more fluid.

Features:

Project Butter is one of the best features in Jelly Bean. It uses triple buffering and vsync timing to make the touch responsiveness smoother. With expandable and actionable notifications, you can stay connected to it all time. Personalize your home screen with magical widgets, which automatically re-size and allow customizing your favorite apps easily. Jelly Bean offers a smarter keyboard with enhanced text-to-speech capabilities and voice typing that can work without a data connection. Google Now provides accurate information before you ask. It updates about everything from weather to your favorite team’s score. With voice search, you can ask a question and it answers you back by the power of the Knowledge Card. Android 4.1 includes Gesture Mode for visually challenged users. Jelly Bean has made photographing super fast. Android Beam allows sharing your videos and photos with a simple tab. Other features include HDMI multichannel audio output, USB audio output, additional language support and Bi-Directional text.

Pros:

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS has faster and smoother user interface. It offers a new Google search experience. Voice search is very useful as you don’t have to type anything every time. Expandable notifications allow one stay connected with professional and personal matters. Gesture Mode for visually challenged people allow easy navigation to the user interface by touch and swipe. Google Now offers right information whenever you require. Jelly Bean is capable of offline voice dictation and typing. Android 4.1 has smarter keyboard, which presumes everything before you start typing. It is more fluid than Ice Cream Sandwich in daily use. Jelly Bean has improved photo gallery application. It can be said that the Jelly Bean is just like an old wine in a new bottle with many minor upgrades which makes the wine taste that much better.

Cons:

Jelly Bean is not very fast in comparison to Samsung’s S Beam. It has some browser issues along with page formatting. Google Now is useful, but it is a bit crumby. It’s not handy as other Android phones. You can’t do many things with lock screen and notifications.

Conclusion:

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS is good for upcoming tablets and phones as it can make your task much easier. It is voice-friendly as well as easy to use. Jelly Bean features everything that you might be looking for. It has redefined the meaning of Google search by saving on user time. Google’s new operating system stands ahead of all. Overall, don’t expect anything huge from the Jelly Bean as it is more like an upgraded ICS rather than a completely new OS. But it definitely delivers on what it promises. More about this OS will be known once the Nexus & comes out in the market. But we are hoping that users will like the experience of Jelly Bean.