Here
the rings are not the boxing platform but the arena of apps, games and other
digital contents and the title is to become Smart, Smatter and the Smartest,
omg!!!….and now the battle is on to own the crown of the smartest.
The
scenario of smart phone OS technology during the past few years witnessed a
tech race to win the supremacy of the smartest icon. Android and the Apple iOS the
twin Ace of the lot is entangled in a never ending battle to claim the chair.
When google launched the latest version of Antroid operating system code Jelly bean to power the hundreds of millions of end users, Apple countered it
with the latest iOS 6 to neutralize the hype of Jelly Bean. The dependence of
Apple on Google applications like google Maps and others has been defied in new
release of iOS 6 by integrating self
sustaining features like Apple maps etc.
When punches and counterpunches
dominate the rings it feels essential for a tech lover to watch out who hit a Bolo
punch and who knocks out of the bout. Here for a better appreciation and
evaluation of the strengths and weakness of the two tech giants an interrogation
into their features are designed
Smart Widgets a straight punch
Android 4.1 introduces improved
App Widgets that can automatically resize, based on where the user drops them
on the home screen, the size to which the user expands them, and the amount of
room available on the home screen. This new feature of responsive widget helps
the user to manage the home screen space by dragging and dropping widgets where
all the other icons and widgets will make space for them,
.
Apple has not embraced widgets in iOS, and while Microsoft has created
customizable "live tiles" for Windows Phone, they are still static
boxes tied to a single home screen. Android's widgets are now smarter and will
be easier to integrate on an Android's variety of home screens.
Additions to Google Beam a Jab punch
In Android 4.1, Android Beam
makes it easier to share images, videos, or other payloads by leveraging
Bluetooth for the data transfer. When the user triggers a transfer, Android
Beam hands over from NFC to Bluetooth, making it really easy to manage the
transfer of a file from one device to another.
Google
continues to lead on NFC smartphone integration. With two new Beam features,
Android Jelly Bean is way ahead of the competition when it comes to NFC. For
instance, this is the first time we have seen NFC connect devices over a
wireless connection with the ability to tap your phone to a Bluetooth device.
New Google Voice Search a hook punch
Google
voice search… looks like Apple's Siri but could ultimately be more robust.
Apple ties its search results to particular databases and search engines like
Wolfram Alpha or Yelp. Google voice search in Android ties it to the company's
robust search engine. Add responsive voice feedback and the new card-based
interface, and mobile search is taking a step ahead.
New "Platform Developer
Kit" a
straight right hand punch
The
"Platform Developer Kit" is a really smart move by Google considering
its large manufacturer and partner base. You don't often think of hardware as
something that can be "opened," but the ability to institute the very
basic aspects of Android with one simple kit will make it much easier for
hardware companies to start building on new versions of the platform.
Smart App updates an upper cut punch
Smart app updates is a new
feature of Google Play that introduces a better way of delivering app updates
to devices. When developers publish an update, Google Play now delivers only
the bits that have changed to devices, rather than the entire APK. This makes
the updates much lighter-weight in most cases, so they are faster to download,
save the device’s battery, and conserve bandwidth usage on users’ mobile data
plan. On average, a smart app update is about 1/3 the size of a full APK
update.
Rich Push Notifications a rabbit punch
Android 4.1 brings a major update
to the Android notifications framework. Apps can now display larger, richer
notifications to users that can be expanded and collapsed with a pinch.
Notifications support new types of content, including photos, have configurable
priority, and can even include multiple actions.
Google
has long been ahead in push notifications with Android. Even Apple has had to
catch up, with the prime example being how Apple created
a drop-down menu for notifications in iOS 5 last year. Google has now
taken that a step further by not just making notifications easy to develop
for, but also integrating rich media into the drop-down menu. There
are some things that iOS, BlackBerry or Windows Phone do better than Android.
When it comes to notifications, Android will continue to lead the way.
Google Maps vs Apple Maps a combination
punch
Google’s
turn-by-turn navigation is better even though Jelly Bean pushes it to a
separate app, Google just recently revamped their Maps to include 3D mapping
and offline maps. The offline maps are a killer feature, they are useful when
you have no service, Offline Maps, transit, and walking directions give Google
a point in this category, Apple has a long way to go if it wants Maps to be on
par with Google, When we first found out Apple was developing its own Maps app,
we were excited, Then we actually saw the maps, and we were completely
underwhelmed, Apple’s Maps don’t include walking directions or transit
directions and that’s a big let down for a lot of users…
As the ring continues to be active
As
of now Jelly Bean and iOS 6 are both great mobile operating systems and they’re
both improvable, It is wise not to expect the outcome to end up like it did,
Overall Google’s Android OS is much more robust and feature packed than
Apple’s, Apple has polished its operating system and added a lot of nifty
features.
So
Let the ring continue to be active as, what we have seen is nothing when
compared to what we ought to see and let us keep enjoying all great features
that suits us the best…
Content
courtesy: Ambily P.S, Technical Consultant, ipsr solutions
