android 4.0 - 11/12 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Oct

Confirmed: Ice Cream Sandwich Looks Great On Tablets - Here's The Evidence

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Google, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Tablets

One of the first things that crossed our minds when Google wrapped up its Ice Cream Sandwich press conference was "what about tablets"? Well now, thanks to This is my Next, we can finally lay those fears to rest: Android 4.0 looks absolutely fantastic on a larger display.

As you can see, it doesn't look all that different from Honeycomb, which makes sense given ICS' promise of unifying Android on phones (currently Gingerbread) with Android on tablets (Hcomb). Still, it has been brushed up here and there - and we like it!

So, how'd they do it? The TIMN team decided to take the Android 4.0 SDK for a spin, and in the process of doing so they discovered an option that allows devs to change the emulator's screen size.

Oct

Get The New ICS Font Roboto On Your Android Device Right Now

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Applications, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Tips & Tutorials

Today's Ice Cream Sandwich announcement yielded a number of exciting enhancements, but not quite as distinctive as the new font Roboto. Indeed during the keynote, the presenter spent an inordinate amount of time expounding the virtues of this font. Roboto is a sans-serif font with characters that have a pleasing roundness, and are spaced evenly, making e-mails, clocks, and menus easy on the eyes, and, in the words of one presenter, "a pleasure to read".

Unfortunately, as the font comes with the new OS, the majority of Android users will not be able to experience Roboto until their devices are upgraded to Android 4.0.

Oct

CyanogenMod Team: There Will Be No Official SDK Port Of Ice Cream Sandwich By The CM Team - CM9 Will Arrive When The ICS Source Does

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

At the end of today's Ice Cream Sandwich unveiling, we found out that the ICS SDK (API 14) was available immediately, but a much more important bit - the source code - was not mentioned at all. It didn't really come as a surprise - historically the source was released about a month after the SDK (with the exception of Honeycomb), but I'd like to clarify something right away for those confused between the SDK and the source code.

The SDK (software development kit), which includes the Android emulator, does not contain any source code whatsoever, which means any ROMs built from source, like CyanogenMod, will be waiting for said source to be released before we see any ICS releases.

Oct

[Updated] Re-Watch The Ice Cream Sandwich / Galaxy Nexus Event [1 Hour Recording]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Galaxy Nexus, Google, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Samsung, Videos

While I was tapping away on my laptop trying to keep up with the Ice Cream Sandwich event earlier today, the desktop machine was happily recording it for future reference. This should hold us over until Google posts the official HD version - the video is about 1 hours long, but almost every minute of it is totally worth it (at least once you get to the juicy ICS bits):

Update: The official HD video has now been posted:

Oct

Ice Cream Sandwich Coming To Nexus S And Possibly All Gingerbread Devices

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju)

Engadget managed to get some face time with Google's Gabe Cohen and he has confirmed that Ice Cream Sandwich will definitely be coming to the Nexus S. According to Engadget, both he and Matias Duarte are of the opinion that most Gingerbread devices (e.g. the Samsung Galaxy SII) will receive the upgrade.

They said that Google is "currently in the process for releasing Ice Cream Sandwich for Nexus S" and that in theory it "should work for any 2.3 device."

Unfortunately, there is no word yet on when ICS would be coming to the Android 2.3 devices and there is also no clear plan on whether ICS will ever come to older devices such as the Nexus One.

Oct

ICS Has Completely Revamped Your Contacts Into The "People" app

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Applications, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Last Updated: August 1st, 2012

In an age where a "contact" is more than a mere phone number and email address, contact management has become a tedious process. So, I was pleased to see Google taking a step in the right direction with ICS and updating the contact manager into the new and improved "People" app. During the ICS live blog Hugo Barra, Product Management Director for Android at Google, demoed the new People app by showing off how it seamlessly integrated all the contact's basic information together with the person's different social profiles.

The user interface has also been completely revamped and viewing contacts has now become a much more visual experience.

Oct

[Updated] Galaxy Nexus And Ice Cream Sandwich Launch Live Blog

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Galaxy Nexus, Google, News, Samsung

Welcome to the home of the Ice Cream Sandwich launch live coverage. Come back to this page about 30 minutes before Google and Samsung start the event in Hong Kong and join us in the chat. The official start times in various time zones are below:

Oct 18 4PM HAST
Oct 18 7PM PDT
Oct 18 8PM MDT
Oct 18 9PM CDT
Oct 18 10PM EDT
Oct 19 2AM GMT
Oct 19 3AM BST
Oct 19 4AM CEST/IST
Oct 19 5AM EEST
Oct 19 6AM MSK
Oct 19 10AM HKT
Oct 19 11AM JST

Remember, the whole event will be broadcast live at youtube.com/android - don't forget to tune in.

Oct

[Exclusive] Ice Cream Sandwich Will Finally Bring Native Screenshot Capabilities To Android

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Exclusives, Galaxy Nexus, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

In what will probably be the last melting drop of the Ice Cream Sandwich leaks (oh the puns), we wanted to highlight one highly desired little feature ICS is finally going to bring to Android after all these years - native screenshot capabilities. If you thought 2 years was a long time for Apple to implement copy/paste... let's just say Google definitely has that record beat.

Update 10/18/11: Confirmed during the ICS unveiling:

Users of some Samsung, HTC, and other devices have already been enjoying this feature for some time thanks to manufacturer additions, but based on what we've seen so far (and we've seen quite a few things), the Galaxy Nexus will be able to take screenshots without the need for any external apps, root, carrier mods, or other nonsense - support for it is now baked into the core of ICS (I wonder if it tastes like caramel).

Oct

[Exclusive Download] Google+ 2.0 From ICS - Offers New, More Polished Interface

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, Exclusives, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

Earlier today we gave you a quick look at Chords from the new Google Plus 2.0 app that should be included in ICS. Now, let's take a closer look and compare the updated Google+ app to the current release, shall we?

What's New

^{Left: Old, Right: New}

First off, the notification bar has been moved from the bottom to the top. Other than that, nothing really to see here (aside form Chord, but we've already talked about that).

Much like the Music 4.0.1 app, this update seems to be all about polish. Everything looks cleaner and more intuitive. The overall organization and layout has been improved.

Oct

[Exclusive Download] Google Music 4.0.1 Built For ICS - All New Interface, Better Controls, And More

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, Exclusives, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

Oh, do we have a story for you. It's a story of mystery, intrigue, and a lost prototype Nexus Prime. Yes, a lost Nexus Prime. Or Galaxy Nexus - whatever it'll end up being called.

Our story begins like any other -- with a person. Not just any person, though -- this person is special. They go by the name of Geek Vundotra, and they work for Verizon. Geek is a Verizon engineer who happens to be carrying a very special phone. A phone he happens to leave in a bar... or something like that. Now, thanks to Geek's screw-up, we have some goodies for all of you that are sure to get you excited for what's to come.