Googles out with Android 4.0, a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich. Sounds delicious, but what exactly is it?

Its a mobile platform...

Ice Cream Sandwich continues Googles tradition of alphabetical dessert naming. Froyo begat Gingerbread, Gingerbread begat Honeycomb, and together, Gingerbread and Honeycomb begat Ice Cream Sandwich. If you bought a high-end phone recently you will almost certainly be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich, and upcoming high-end devices will have it preloaded.

...with a very different look...

For anyone who has used an Android phone, this is a pretty different look. It still has that famously customizable desktop, but it doesnt move in the same way. Open the app drawer and you scroll from side to side, not up and down as on Android 2.x. You have four customizable icons on your homescreen dock, and everything is just much smoother.

...and no hardware buttons.

Anything you want to do, you do with dynamic buttons on the screen; they reorient themselves depending on how your phone is tilted. Users can access each applications contextual options in the Action Bar (borrowed from Honeycomb) which is usually displayed at the top of the screen. This replaces Androids Menu and Search buttons entirely, but theres now a Recent Apps button for multitasking.

It has a fancy new Typeface...

Androids new and better-looking native font is called Roboto. Its designed for a very-pixel dense screen but doesnt try to look like something youd find in an old book. Its pretty slick.
  

...and is better at keeping you connected...

All of the core Android apps have been revamped. The Contacts app is now called People, and its much more fluid and intelligent, pulling information from more sources and integrating photos and social media. Its similar to the look of Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango), which is a good thing. Gmail has been vastly improved with off-line reading/search, swiping gestures to make scrolling through easier, and more intuitive addressing. The calendar lets you pinch-to-zoom—so you to start in a pulled-out view of your whole week and then fluidly zoom in on a particular appointment.

...and has a desktop class browser.

You can have up to 16 tabs open at once. One of the annoyances of previous versions of Android was that they forced you view the mobile version of some sites even when you didnt want to (especially if you were on a tablet). In Ice Cream Sandwich you can flip to desktop mode with a single button-press and view the full page. At long last bookmarks can be synced with your Chrome web browser, and you can now save a page for offline reading, which is a great feature for travelers. They also promise greatly improved browser speeds over Android 2.3.

It has improved notifications and multitasking...

You know what I hate about Gingerbread and Honeycomb? Theres no simple way to close apps. They just keep running in the background and slowing down your system. With Ice Cream Sandwich, you can just open the visually-improved multi-tasking interface and simply swipe away apps you dont want to use. You can do the same to dismiss notifications, which now display more information and are vastly more customizable. You can even get them to display right on the lock screen. iOS borrowed notifications from Android and improved on them, now Android has borrowed those improvements. Ah, the circle of life.

... and gives you more control over your system ...

Beginning with Android 4.0, users can uninstall any application they want, even if they are native to Android. (If you love Opera Mini and hate Androids web browser, you can banish it.) Hopefully that includes the F#$%ing bloatware from carriers and manufacturers. We love this move. It also gives you improved monitoring of and control over your data usage. There is a built-in app that lets you analyze your data usage and even impose limitations on apps (such as how much data they can pull down in the background). You can also have it set an alarm if youre nearing your monthly data cap. This is a big plus as unlimited plans go the way of the dodo.

...and has NFC radio goodness.

Ice Cream Sandwich has a built-in support for near field communication (NFC) radios. This will play a large role in the burgeoning mobile payments space (like Google Wallet), but it can also be used for more commonplace jobs. The new Android Beam feature allows users to share information by touching their phones together, but its not limited to contact info. If you have a map open on your phone, you can tap it on your friends phone and the map will automatically open for him/her as well. It works with games and other things, too. The APIs are out there, so developers will likely make a lot of magic with it.

It also looks beautiful ...

Even the most die-hard of Android users will probably admit that Android has never been beautiful. Maaaybe if you really loved Tron you thought Honeycomb was, but you were a small minority. Something is different here. They have actually given a ton of thought to design, and it really shows. Applications are not only more consistent in their look (so far), but they are way easier on the eyes. Also 1280x720 pixels (which is a 16:9 radio) is the native resolution of Ice Cream Sandwich, which means this OS was made for HD. Not an approximation of HD, but real HD.

...and it merges the phone and tablet operating systems.

They didnt say this at the official announcement in Hong Kong, but Ice Cream Sandwich was designed to merge Androids phone OS (2.x, Gingerbread, Froyo, etc.) with Androids tablet OS (Android 3.x, Honeycomb). It looks much more like an improved Honeycomb than anything else, so while there was no announcement tonight that said it would be coming soon to tablets, we know that thats why Ice Cream Sandwich was created. Its a sandwich, which by definition brings things together to make something new and better. Were 99.99-percent sure well be seeing a manufacturer (likely Motorola with its rumored Xoom 2) announce ICS on a tablet in the very, very near future. Update: The Android developer page has a ton of info about Android 4.0 and there is repeated mention of tablets, devices with difference screen sizes, and "more" (which Im hoping means Google TV).

Other tidbits...

There are more bells and whistles than we could possibly get to, but highlights include built-in screen capturing throughout the OS. The notification panel has built-in music player controls. They keyboard has improved accuracy, better predictive text, and an inline spell-checker. Improved voice recognition, too, which Id like to see in a head-to-head contest with iOSs Siri. Oh, and you can supposedly unlock your phone with your face. Yep, your face, using facial recognition on the front-facing camera (though we have yet to see that actually work). You can also warp your face in realtime while video chatting.

More? Okay. Even the blind can use it! It has a new "Explore-by-touch" mode that lets users navigate without having to see the screen. ICS will gives those users audible feedback and even reads webpages to them. Thats pretty impressive. It also has some beefy lock-screen controls that will let you manage notifications, control music, or shortcut you right into the app of your choice. A new visual voicemail app integrates messages and voice transcriptions and can integrate with third-party applications (coughGoogleVoice?cough). And you can snap a photo while shooting video.

Theres simply a ton in here, and its almost certainly Androids most significant upgrade to date.

Youre caught up on Ice Cream Sandwich!. Now you can check out whats going on with the first phone that has it, Samsungs Galaxy Nexus.

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5. Fat Storage

Myth: Cannabis’ active ingredient THC gets stored in body fat and its effects can last days or even weeks

Fact: It is true that cannabis (like many other drugs) enters the body’s fat stores, and it is for this reason that it can be detected long after use, but that is the only part of this myth which is true. The fact is, the psychoactive aspects of the stored cannabis are used up quickly and while the residue of the drug remains, it no longer has any effect on the person. Furthermore, the presence of THC in body fat is not harmful to the fat, the brain, or any other part of the body.

4. Memory Loss

Myth: Cannabis use causes memory loss and a general reduction in logic and intelligence

Fact: This is another myth which has elements of truth to it – no doubt the reason it is believed by so many. Laboratory tests have shown that cannabis diminishes the short term memory – but only when a person is intoxicated with it. A person who has taken cannabis will be able to remember things learned before they took it but may have trouble learning new information during intoxication. There is no scientific evidence whatsoever to suggest that this can become a long-term or permanent problem when sober.

3. Scientific Proof

Myth: Cannabis has been scientifically proven to be harmful

Fact: Let us start with a quote: “the smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health.” This quote comes from the peer-reviewed British medical journal The Lancet (founded in 1823). There is certainly no scientific consensus on cannabis use, and certainly no scientific proof that casual use is dangerous to health.

2. Loss of Motivation

Myth: Cannabis use causes apathy and a lack of motivation

Fact: In fact, studies done on test subjects in which they were given a high dose of cannabis regularly over a period of days or weeks found that there was no loss in motivation or ability to perform. Of course, abuse of any intoxicating substance over long periods will reduce a person’s ability to function normally, but cannabis is no better or worse. Furthermore, studies indicate that cannabis users tend to have higher paid jobs than non-users.

1. Crime Statistics

Myth: Cannabis causes crime

Fact: Some people believe that cannabis use leads to violence and aggression, and that this, in turn, leads to crime. But the facts just don’t stack up. Serious research into this area has found that cannabis users are often less likely to commit crimes because of its effect in reducing aggression. Having said that, because of the number of nations that have outlawed cannabis, most users in the world are technically classified as criminals merely for possessing the drug.

 

This post sponsored by:
Dr Mobiles Limited
1 Huron Street, Takapuna, North Shore 0622
Tel: (09) 551-5344 and Mob: (021) 264-0000
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I was watching the marketing video about the Lenovo IdeaPad U1 and got a little excited. I do however take a lot f what manufacturers say with a grain of salt as its their inention is to entice and excite. What concerned me right away was this video onYouTube by Notebooks.

Here are my thoughts.


In the first video Kevin Gao makes a compelling case for a two-computers-in-one device. He touts one as being a dual core device, and the other a standalone screen with standalone processor and operating system. While this is a great in theory in practice it is clumsy and potentially missing the mark.

In the second video Kevin’s hype is put into practice but with a major stumble, i.e. when the device is undocked (leaving behind a perfectly good Dual Core Processor embedded in a standalone keyboard!!?!?!!) the screen reverts to the ARM processor and unquestionably struggles to perform the “synchronisation” Kevin highlights in his speech. The reason I am being brutal on this point is that the user experience ultimately suffers and the device itself will be criticised for it. Given there are still so many months before this device hits the streets I hope Lenovo will heed some of this and make the “sync” story and better one. Hopefully these are nothing but pre-production jitters and everything will be sorted soon.

On a bright note, this has heaps of sex appeal (as a device) and conceptually stunningly presented. The Lenovo Operating System (more than likely a Linux flavour of sorts) looks gracious, addictive and sticky enough to perhaps keep users in slate mode and perhaps win the hearts of traditional notebook users. It’s nice to see Manufacturers paying attention to successful UI (User Interface) like Apple iPhone, Nintendo Wii and DSi.

Just some thoughts! :-)

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Windows phone apps, The connoisseurs of technology or gadget user would have heard about Windows Phone apps. An operating system is fronted by two technology giants know that we have the same reputation. One is ever so Nokia mobile phone market leader , and one more , Microsoft is its software products are de facto used by many people .

Windows phone apps, Two leading technology vendors to work together to make the smartphone products . Certainly we can expect to be the boom . But we look at the reality of public adoption of the operating system is still very little . News may be said that reports sales figures up , but in practice we can see still quite rarely encountered people who use it .

Windows phone apps, One of the interesting things that came up in that regard is the importance of creating an ecosystem for the operating system . The word ecosystem itself has become an indication that it is now a communications device such as a mobile phone can not be self -sufficient . That is, we can not imagine we have a phone a few years ago , where once we have a device then we should be quite satisfied with the features innate to him .

Windows phone apps, Now its called a smartphone / smart phone , which basically has the qualities like computers . Variety usefulness is determined not only by the hardware , but also requires a software . Especially with the Internet which can be accessed via smartphones , which from time to time of delivery and the application of new services , like it or not , todays smartphones have the bar is not enough . What software to run the hardware that will make a difference .



To be continued

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