Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Officially Announced

While Samsung announced its next flagship Android smartphone yesterday at a joint event with Google in Hong Kong, the big G had an announcement to make as well. Google has finally announced Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, its latest and greatest update to the Android mobile operating system since Android 3.0 Honeycomb.

The new Android version won’t be compatible with many old devices because it has been specifically designed to run on devices with better hardware specs. Moreover, Android Ice Cream Sandwich’s native resolution is 1280×760 with a 16:9 aspect ratio. So if you have an old Android device, its time you consider buying a new one!

Google has greatly improved the UI and many of the elements present in it are clearly updates of what we saw on Android 3.0 Honeycomb. While Honeycomb was an Android version optimized for tablet devices, Ice Cream Sandwich is going to be more focused on smartphones. The new typeface for Android Ice Cream Sandwich is called Roboto and it was specifically designed for Android 4.0. Throughout the operating system the use of Gestures has been generously employed. Google has improved the processor of cut, copy and paste text in Ice Cream Sandwich. Another crucial update in Android 4.0 is the ability to take screenshots natively. It was previously a hassle to take screenshots on Android devices however now by just holding down the power and volume button, users will be able to take screenshots of their device.

The native apps have been redone in order to optimize everything. All the native apps including but not limited to GMail, Camera app, Gallery etc have been done all over again and the difference shows. The Gallery is devoid of lag when browsing through pictures and the Camera app is faster allowing you to take pictures in a timely manner. The Maps, Google Music and Google+ apps have also been updated for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich will be released in November next month, no definite date has been given. Apart from that, we’re really impressed by Google’s latest Android platform update and this can really change the way people perceive Android devices.