Saturday, November 17, 2012

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update on Nexus7.

I got it, via OTA update, early Friday.  Sure enough, now there's support for multiple users, but there's quite a few changes that are noticeable.

One important change, is the inclusion of swipe gestural typing, along the lines of Samsung's Swype keyboard.  Works extremely well, making composing texts a lot easier.  Another seemingly important change, is that the notifications pull-down bar now has certain actionable responses and contains more information (useful on tablets with lots of screen real estate).

Onto the cool changes: the lock screen now has widgets.  If you want info at a glance, this is extremely useful!  I can only imagine that the first dev to pop a weather widget on the lock screen will beat up the competition; next winner would be a live-traffic widget.  For now, there only seems to be official Google widgets: Gmail, Calendar, Clock, Music finder.  Also, you're limited to five widgets, which really isn't an issue.

Four different types of lock screen widgets currently available
Swiping sideways between widgets in the lock screen.

Next cool thing is this Daydream function.  When your device is plugged in to power or docked, you can set up what amounts to a screensaver.  Your options include animated colors, a clock (using your tablet as a giant alarm clock works well), Google Currents, a photo frame, or a photo table.  With either the photo frame or table, you can select gallery folders on your device or from your Picasa Web albums (no selecting individual photos, just the folders).  Google Currents displays random feed from your Currents subscriptions in a pleasing dark background.

The new clock and Daydream clock
Animated colors in Daydream
Currents in your Daydream
Photo table in Daydream - selected from image gallery folders
Photo frame in Daydream - selected from image gallery folders
The clock app has changed quite a bit.  Now you have an easy to use count down timer (see below), the clock with the usual alarms, and a stop watch.

Easily track cooking or take a nap.
The Google Now Cards have been enhanced with additional cards and options, but I'm wondering if these cards are as useful as the lock screen widgets; I'm leaning towards the lock screen widgets becoming the go-to screen.

Also, you can apparently stream videos via WiDi, although I haven't yet figured out how that works (not that it matters, since I don't have a TV with WiDi).

Finally, unfortunately, because the Nexus7 doesn't have a rear camera, there is no camera function in the tablet and therefore there is no Photo Sphere access.  Speaking of Photo Sphere, you should check out what other people have posted.

With 4.0 ICS with Samsung's TouchWiz UI enhancements on my phone and now stock 4.2 JB on my tablet, I can say that there is no comparison: 4.2 is much better.  With the inclusion of Swype-like keyboard, stock 4.2 is definitely worth skipping TouchWiz.

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