Android Ice Cream Sandwich and Samsung Galaxy Nexus

[Lurker]

Next major version of android after Honeycomb will be released, its called Ice Cream Sandwich

Google has finally officially revealed its next OS as Ice Cream Sandwich at the opening keynote speech of Google I/O, describing it as its 'most ambitious release to date' - but stopped short of naming it Android 2.4.

As we predicted back at Mobile World Congress, Google intends Ice Cream Sandwich to unify its mobile OSes, with Google's Mike Claren saying, "We want one OS that runs everywhere."

To this end, Ice Cream Sandwich will incorporate all the best bits of Honeycomb, the Android tablet OS and make them useable on smartphones too.

Not new, still exciting

These juicy new smartphone tools will include the updated app launcher, holographic user interface, interactive homescreen widgets and the snazzy multi-tasker which we so love on Honeycomb.

As well as this, Google hopes to make life easier for developers by releasing a new set of APIs that will help them to scale their apps across the various form-factors of Android devices – obviously an app is going to look different on a 7-inch tablet than on a 3.7-inch smartphone screen.

Gogo Logo

Google also showed off 3D headtracking using the front-mounted camera, which is a clever little device that can figure out who is speaking and focus on them whilst on a video call.

Most importantly, Google debuted the OS's cute new logo, which you can see above.

Ice Cream Sandwich will be launching on Android devices in Q4 this year, although there's no word yet on minimum hardware requirements.

And right now, the Upcoming Samsung galaxy Nexus will use this latest release of Android, see the picture

see the video here :

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F_ke3rxopc

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With a super slim profile, Galaxy Nexus features a 4.65” Contour Display with true high definition (720p) resolution and a lightning-fast dual core 1.2ghz processor combined with 4G LTE or HSPA+ technology. Galaxy Nexus also features the latest in software: Ice Cream Sandwich makes Android simple and beautiful, and takes the smartphone to beyond smart.

Beauty and simplicity

With Ice Cream Sandwich, our mission was to build a mobile OS that works on both phones and tablets, and to make the power of Android enticing and intuitive. We created a new font that’s optimized for HD displays and eliminated all hardware buttons in favor of adaptable software buttons. We also dramatically improved the keyboard, made notifications more interactive and created resizable widgets.

The desktop-class browser is significantly faster, featuring a refined tab manager and the ability to sync your bookmarks with Google Chrome. Ice Cream Sandwich also features the best mobile Gmail experience to date, with a new design that lets you quickly swipe through your inbox and search messages even when you’re offline. Calendar boasts a clean new look and you can zoom into your schedule with a pinch.

Connect and share

People are at the heart of Ice Cream Sandwich. We rethought how you browse your contacts with the new People app, which combines high-resolution photos and updates from Google+ and other social services. It’s also easier to capture and share your life with family and friends. Galaxy Nexus sports a high-end camera with zero shutter lag, automatic focus, top notch low-light performance and a simple way to capture panoramic pictures. Shoot amazing photos or 1080p video, and then edit and share them directly from your phone.

Beyond smart

Galaxy Nexus isn’t just a smartphone—it’s beyond smart. Ice Cream Sandwich gives you complete control over the amount of mobile data you use by helping you better understand and manage it. We’re also introducing Android Beam, which uses near field communication (NFC) to instantly share webpages, YouTube videos, maps, directions and apps by simply tapping two phones together. Face Unlock uses state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to unlock your phone with nothing more than a smile.

This weekend marks the third birthday of the G1, the first-ever Android phone. Nine releases later, more than 550,000 Android devices are activated daily.

Njoy,  :laugh: