Google is showcasing Jelly Bean, the latest iteration (4.1) of its Android operating system for tablets and smartphones at I/O 2012 in San Francisco, California.
As expected, Jelly Bean includes a number of sweet new features including a slick redesigned keyboard, offline voice dictation, 18 new input languages, audio cues for blind users, support for Braille and optimized search integration.
Version 4.1 of Android also boasts critical NFC updates, along with a new tap-to-air feature for Bluetooth speakers and the ability to transmit photos by tapping. Plus, the revamped OS is now capable of automatically arranging onscreen icons around new widgets and apps.
And what about all those unwanted apps and widgets? Well, with Jelly Bean, they can be deleted with a single, easy swipe.
In addition to the above-mentioned features, Mountain View also confirmed the existence of Project Butter, an initiative to significantly improve Android’s performance. Under the auspices of Butter, CPU and GPU run smartly in parallel, achieving speeds of 60FPS with triple-buffered graphics.
Fortunately, we don’t have long to wait for Jelly Bean. An SDK for devs is available today, while an OTA update is slated to roll out for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S and Motorola Xoom in mid-July.
