Android 4.3
has been teasing us for the last several months. We originally thought
this build may be the mythical “Key Lime Pie” release, but as we’ve
gotten more information, it looks like it’s just “another flavor of
Jelly Bean”. Finally we’re starting to see leaks, and in those leaks
we’re beginning to get a picture of what’s included in the next version
of Android. A few builds have surfaced for the Nexus 4, and we’ve managed to get our hands on a couple.
1. Auto-complete in the Dialer
These are, after all, smartphones, so it makes sense that some of the
improvements in Android 4.3 include updates to the dialer app.
Specifically, using the stock dialer now saves you time dialing a
contact by enabling auto-complete in the dialer itself.
Auto-complete, at last!
2. New Emoji Keyboard
If you find yourself doing a lot of texting you might be happy to
learn that Google may well be including a new Emoji keyboard in Android
4.3. To get to it from the messaging app, simply long-press on the space
bar and select the Emoji keyboard. From there you’ll see all kinds of
new emoticons so you can spruce up your messages.
Look at all those emoticons!
Whether or not these Emoji will successfully make it to regular SMS
users, rather than fellow Android 4.3 users, is something that you’ll
have to test after the new version hits your device.
3. Bluetooth 4.0 LE
The Nexus 4 has had everything it needs for Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy
since it was released — everything except the software. Stock Android
has been limited to Bluetooth 3 for quite a long time. The new version
of Bluetooth, in addition to being compatible with even more devices,
uses very little power when paired with BT4 compatible devices.
4. Improvements in the Camera App
The Android 4.2 camera wasn’t bad. It included a new way to get to the settings that wasn’t easy to use (your fingers covered the items that you were trying to select, so you didn’t know if you were selecting the right thing or not). The camera in Android 4.3 fine-tunes the way the previous version worked by placing the items in an arc with the selected item clearly called out above your finger.
Also, rotating the device from portrait to landscape and back while in camera mode is now almost instantaneous.
5. Better Performance
The Nexus 4 running Android 4.3 seemed a lot more responsive and
overall more “snappy” when compared to the same device running Android
4.2. Synthetic benchmarks showed a marked improvement as well.
6. Significantly Improved Battery Life
Last, but certainly not least, is a huge improvement in battery life.
On Android 4.2 wecan typically expect 4-6 hours of use before we need to
recharge.!
Disclaimer
This was a leaked version of a ROM that was tweaked to turn it into a flashable .zip. It’s probably not going to be exactly
what we see when Android 4.3 comes out — which we hope will be in the
next few days. That having been said, I certainly hope we get everything
that I covered here (and more) once Android 4.3 starts rolling out OTA.
What about you? Have you played with a leaked version of Android 4.3?
Were your experiences similar to ours? Did w miss anything important?
As always, let us know down in the comments!
Courtesy: Pocketnow..
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