After months of anticipation and leaked software screen shots, Google finally unveiled Android 4.0, also known as “Ice Cream Sandwich,” the latest update to the search giant’s Android mobile platform.


The new operating system should eventually merge Android’s tablet OS (version 3.0, aka Honeycomb) with the platform’s smartphone OS (version 2.3, aka Gingerbread). Dubbed Ice Cream Sandwich, the unified OS isn’t an incremental update, but rather a complete OS makeover with changes that range from the elimination of physical navigation buttons to the creation of an entirely new font, “Roboto,” for user interface menus.


Android 4.0 introduces many new capabilities and APIs. Here are some highlights:
Unified UI toolkit: A single set of UI components, styles, and capabilities for phones, tablets, and other devices.
Rich communication and sharing: New social and calendar APIs, Android Beam for NFC-based instant sharing, Wi-Fi Direct support, Bluetooth Health Device Profile support.
Deep interactivity and customization: Improved notifications, lockscreen with camera and music controls, and improved app management in the launcher.
New graphics, camera, and media capabilities: Image and video effects, precise camera metering and face detection, new media codecs and containers.
Interface and input: Hardware-accelerated 2D drawing, new grid-based layout, improved soft keyboard, spell-checker API, stylus input support, and better mouse support.
Improved accessibility: New accessibility APIs and text-to-speech APIs for writing new engines.
Enhancements for enterprise: Keychain and VPN APIs for managing credentials and connections, a new administrator policy for disabling the camera.
For a complete overview of what’s new for users and developers, please read the Android 4.0 Platform Highlights.

Google / Samsung introduce Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich - October 19, 2011 Hong Kong