Google's showing no signs of slowing its pace of Android development, with Android 4.0 appearing on the Galaxy Nexus late in 2011, followed in July of 2012 by the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean release that arrived powering the super Nexus 7.

But, forward-looking, update-obsessed people that we are, we can't help but imagine how Google's going to maintain the pace of innovation in its next version of its mobile OS, which, if it follows the patterns of previous years, ought to arrive on a new Nexus-brand mobile at the end of 2012.

All we know thus far is that Google's working away on the K release of Android, which it's developing under the dessert-related codename of Key Lime Pie.

UPDATE: Rumours of a new Nexus handset are tricking in now, as we reported on 1 October 2012. There's been speculation that this phone will be sporting Key Lime Pie, but sources who spoke to Talk Android claim it'll be running Android Jelly Bean.

So what should those Google engineers be putting into Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie? Hopefully some of these things.

1. Performance Profiles

It's bit of a fuss managing your mobile before bed time. Switching off the sound, turning off data, activating airplane mode and so on, so what Android 5.0 really needs is a simple way of managing performance, and therefore power use, automatically.

Something like a Gaming mode for max power delivery, an Overnight low-power state for slumbering on minimal power and maybe a Reading mode for no bothersome data connections and a super-low backlight.

Some hardware makers put their own little automated tools in, such as the excellent Smart Actions found within Motorola's RAZR interface, but it'd be great to see Google give us a simple way to manage states.

Another little power strip style widget for phone performance profiles would be an easy way to do it.

2. Better multiple device support

Google already does quite a good job of supporting serious Android nerds who own several phones and tablets, but there are some holes in its coverage that are rather frustrating.

Take the Videos app which manages your film downloads through the Play Store. Start watching a film on one Android device and you're limited to resuming your film session on that same unit, making it impossible to switch from phone to tablet mid-film.

You can switch between phone and web site players to resume watching, but surely Google ought to understand its fans often have a couple of phones and tabs on the go and fix this for Android Key Lime Pie?

3. Enhanced social network support

Android doesn't really do much for social network users out of the box, with most of the fancy social widgets and features coming from the hardware makers through their own custom skins.

Sony integrates Facebook brilliantly in its phones, and even LG makes a great social network aggregator widget that incorporates Facebook and Twitter - so why are there no cool aggregator apps as part of the standard Android setup?

Yes, Google does a great job of pushing Google+, but, no offence, there are many other more widely used networks that ought to be a little better "baked in" to Android.

4. Line-drawing keyboard options

Another area where the manufacturers have taken a big leap ahead of Google is in integrating clever alternate text entry options in their keyboards. HTC and Sony both offer their own takes on the Swype style of line-drawing text input, which is a nice option to have for getting your words onto a telephone. Get it into Android 5.0 and give us the choice.

5. A video chat app

How odd is it that Google's put a front-facing camera on the Nexus 7 and most hardware manufacturers do the same on their phones and tablets, yet most ship without any form of common video chat app?

You have to download Skype and hope it works, or find some other downloadable app solution. Why isn't there a Google Live See My Face Chat app of some sort as part of Android? Is it because we're too ugly? Is that what you're saying, Google?

6. Multi-select in the contacts

The Android contacts section is pretty useful, but it could be managed a little better. What if you have the idea of emailing or texting a handful of your friends? The way that's currently done is by emailing one, then adding the rest individually. Some sort of checkbox system that let users scroll through names and create a mailing list on the fly through the contacts listing in Android Key Lime Pie would make this much easier.

7. Cross-device SMS sync

If you're a constant SIM swapper with more than one phone on the go, chances are you've lost track of your text messages at some point. Google stores these on the phone rather than the SIM card, so it'd be nice if our texts could be either backed up to the SIM, the SD card, or beamed up to the magical invisible cloud of data, for easy and consistent access across multiple devices.

8. A "Never Update" option

This would annoy developers so is unlikely to happen, but it'd be nice if we could refuse app updates permanently in Android 5.0, just in case we'd rather stick with a current version of a tool than be forced to upgrade.

Sure, you can set apps to manual update and then just ignore the update prompt forever, but it'd be nice to know we can keep a favoured version of an app without accidentally updating it. Some of us are still using the beta Times app, for example, which has given free access for a year.

9. App preview/freebie codes

Something Apple's been doing for ages and ages is using a promo code system to distribute free or review versions of apps. It even makes doing little competitions to drum up publicity for apps much easier, so why's there no similar scheme for Android?

It might encourage developers to stop going down the ad-covered/freemium route if they could charge for an app but still give it away to friends and fans through a promo code system.

10. Final whinges and requests...

It's be nice to be able to sort the Settings screen by alphabetical order, too, or by most commonly used or personal preference, as Android's so packed with a huge list of options these days it's a big old list to scroll through and pick out what you need.

Plus could we have a percentage count for the battery in the Notifications bar for Android 5.0? Just so we know a bit more info than the vague emptying battery icon.

Source : techradar[dot]com

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Rumour has it that Google will release a new flagship Nexus phone at some point in October.

We've been hearing inklings of our own, bolstered by AndroidAndMe's "three different industry sources" who say that the new device has "already leaked" online.

Before you get too excited assuming that a new flagship Nexus means we're in for a slice of Key Lime Pie, the same sources say that the device will launch with a new version of Jelly Bean rather than a major software upgrade.

Speculate

But the hardware might just be exciting enough to keep us going into the new year; given that it may have already leaked, we're looking at a Samsung-made Galaxy Nexus 2, a cheapo Nexus 7 or perhaps a larger HTC Nexus 5.

Given that Asus has poo-pooed the idea of a bargain-basement Nexus tablet and that we're expecting a flagship smartphone rather than another slate, we'd rule that one out of the running.

So will it be Samsung or LG that's next to step up to the Nexus plate? Or even that leftfield HTC contender? We should know by the end of the month.

Another potential smartphone to add to the Christmas wishlist – we must have been really really good this year.

Source : techradar[dot]com

Apple's new iPhone 5 isn't just a smartphone: it offers spooky glimpses into the future of the iPad from beneath an unconvincing wig.

Okay, not really, but given the very close relationship between iPhone and iPad, we can use Apple's latest invention to predict some of the key features of the iPad 4. What does the iPhone 5 reveal about the next version of the iconic iPad?

You're going to need a different dock

The iPhone 5 said goodbye to the dock connector in favour of the smaller, double-sided, expensive-cable Lightning connector, and while that means easier connections and more internal room for components it also means that existing Dock-connecting accessories will need pricey Lightning-to-Dock adaptors, pricey Lightning-to-USB cables or pricey replacements. If you're buying accessories that you intend to use with future iPads, iPhones or iPod touches, think wireless and buy accordingly.

The iPad 4 will have a better battery

The iPhone 5's battery runs at a slightly higher voltage than the iPhone 4S's: it's a 1,440mAh, 3.8-volt battery compared to the 1,432mAh, 3.7-volt battery in the 4S, delivering 5.5 watts per hour compared to the 5.25 watts per hour of its predecessor. That doesn't sound particularly interesting, but it does mean that in conjunction with improved power management, the battery delivers more power without sacrificing battery life or taking up significantly more room. For the iPad, Apple may decide that thin is very much in.

The iPad 4 will have a better, thinner screen, but probably not a bigger one

The new iPad's screen is a great thing, but the iPhone 5's is better: over at Anandtech, Chris Heinonen explains what he describes as a "quantum leap" over the iPhone 4 display. It's not the number of pixels that matters, but the contrast, light output and "astonishing" colour performance, and while the gap between iPhone 5 and new iPad isn't as big as the one between iPhones 5 and 4, the phone's display is still marginally better.

Such a display wouldn't just make the iPad 4 even nicer to look at. It would help reduce thickness and weight too, because the iPhone 5's display uses in-cell touch technology that uses embedded touch sensors rather than a separate digitiser. That means thinner displays, but it also means a headache for manufacturers: reports indicate that they're currently having problems making four-inch ones, let alone 9.7-inch ones. Adding such panels to the iPad 4, then, could be a big challenge - and by big challenge we mean enormous pain in the arse.

Could a longer iPad be in the works? Despite the rumours, we're not convinced: the current iPad and rumoured iPad mini are 4:3 devices, an aspect ratio that works really well for all kinds of content from ebooks to apps. Apple might change it, but other than watching movies - something Apple would like you to do on an Apple TV - we're struggling to think of any good reasons why they should.

The iPad 4 will have 4G. Proper 4G, not you-can't-get-it 4G

The new iPad also offered a WiFi + 4G version, but Apple was forced to change that to "WiFi + cellular" on the grounds that (a) the UK doesn't have 4G and (b) the frequencies the new iPad expects aren't the ones the UK will end up using. The iPhone 5, however, supports the same 4G LTE that Everything Everywhere is starting to roll out, and we'd expect future models to support the UK's other LTE bands when services launch next year. A UK iPad that's 4G-friendly is inevitable.

The iPad 4 will have a different form factor

Getting shot of the Dock enabled Apple to make a much thinner iPhone, and while we don't expect the iPad mini or imminent Tweaked New iPad to change the form factor when they swap Dock for Lightning, the iPad 4 could bring in a redesign: the current one is rather reminiscent of the iPhone 3GS, and its big-bevelled back is partly to disguise its size. A thinner display, thinner Dock replacement and thinner battery could mean - you've guessed it - a thinner iPad.

The iPad 4's processor will be an A6, ish

The iPhone 5 comes with Apple's own A6 processor, and analysts predict a new one every two years - but the iPad's on a yearly update cycle, so it's not going to be rocking an A7. History's likely to repeat here: where the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 got an A5 processor, the new iPad got the A5X, a faster iteration of the A5 with a quad-core GPU; if an A7 isn't doable in time, expect Apple to beef up the A6's graphics performance and stick an X on the end.

The iPad 4 will be a disaster and Apple is doomed

Cocking up Maps hasn't helped, of course, but with the iPhone 5 Apple's experienced a blizzard of bad publicity: in some cases you'd think Apple had released a phone that was just a piece of cardboard with a screen drawn on it in biro. Apple has gone from underdog to top dog, and that means a lot of people are waiting for it to fail. The original iPad created a whole new market; if the iPad 4 merely turns out to be a better version of what we've already got, expect a chorus of disappointment and disapproval.

Source : techradar[dot]com

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com