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thelostone
21-05-2011, 11:43 AM
Android Ice Cream Sandwich is the update we?ve all been waiting for ? it?s the one that?ll unify the Android platform. So when Google officially confirmed Android Ice Cream Sandwich at its annual I/O 2011 event in the US, immediately there was a lot of questions.
The main thing about Android Ice Cream Sandwich ? apart from how annoyingly long its name is ? is that it?ll create one unified platform for smartphones and tablets ? something that must be music to the ears of developers.
In essence, Android Ice Cream Sandwich is designed to bring together the all the best aspects of Google?s Gingerbread and Honeycomb versions and compile them all inside one dessert-flavoured operating system.
So, what can we expect from Android Ice Cream Sandwich?
When will it be released?
According to Google, Android Ice Cream Sandwich will be landing in Q4 of 2011. This means that your handset, providing it has sufficient spec, will be rocking Android Ice Cream Sandwich come Christmas.
Are there hardware requirements?
Google didn?t mention any sort of hardware-specific requirements for Android Ice Cream Sandwich at the launch. Apparently, all Google phones will work with Android Ice Cream Sandwich ? although, we?ll believe that when we see it.
Android Ice Cream Sandwich will also presumably have some elements of Android Honeycomb?s holographic 3D user interface present in it as well. This aspect of the tablet-specific op is quite heavy on the GPU, so the idea that a HTC Hero could run a hybrid of it is kind of silly.
Ice Cream Sandwich will intelligently adapt itself to the form factor it's running on and provide developers with APIs to modify other elements of the interface when needed. For example, developers will be able to change the size of the above-mentioned Action Bar, so it takes up more or less room on the screen.?
Having said that, it`s still pretty dubious about the Ice Cream Sandwich running on lower-specced and older devices.
What is Ice Cream Sandwich?
Ice Cream Sandwich, according to Google, builds on the best feature of both Gingerbread and Honeycomb and brings them together in one operating system.
The main point of Ice Cream Sandwich is that it?ll work on both smartphones and tablets. This is the first step Google has taken towards creating a unified platform ? the holy grail of Android?s lifecycle.
Why is it called Ice Cream Sandwich?
Google, it would seem, like desserts a lot.
What?s inside Ice Cream Sandwich?
At present, there?s very little detail on what?s inside Android Ice Cream Sandwich. Google just confirmed the operating system?s existence.
Of course, there were a few hints dropped about what we can expect, which include: improved multitasking, a new holographic Honeycomb-style UI, better application switching and the ability to edit the dimensions of widgets ? basically what?s in Android 3.1.
Google also demoed some rather ?2001-esque? face-recognition technology live on stage. It also confirmed that it will be making APIs available for this feature available to developers too, so expect an absolute plethora of face-recognition apps
Open source?
Google has confirmed that Android Ice Cream Sandwich will be completely open source once it?s released. Hopefully, this means everything ? including the source code ? will be able to developers and OEMs alike.
Applications
One interesting point regarding Android Ice Cream Sandwich is how it will affect applications ? will 2.1 and 2.3 applications work on Ice Cream Sandwich?
Google didn?t really go into too much detail on this.
Update frequency
According to cnet, ?Google is working with members of the Open Handset Alliance and others in an attempt to ensure this unified version of Android is updated quickly across the board. The finer details are still be worked out.?
How will it affect UIs like HTC Sense?
If Ice Cream Sandwich is to feature Honeycomb?s holographic UI and presumably a lot of its source code, we?d expect that OEMs won?t be allowed to skin it with their own UIs, which could be a problem for manufacturers like HTC and Samsung.
At present, nothing regarding this issue has been confirmed. But, Google did say the that the platform would be open source, which kind of sounds like OEMs will have access to its source code, which means they?ll be able to modify and add skins to it.
Why no version number?
Google wants Ice Cream Sandwich to the operating system that unifies its entire Android platform, making it more like Apple?s iOS and Microsoft?s Windows 7 phone . For this reason, Google hasn?t given it a number ? just a cute name instead.
Also, Google has big plans for this new unified platform as well, it wants it running on everything