Comments on: Android 4.2 “A New Flavor of Jelly Bean” – Gesture Typing, Photo Sphere, and More

By: Abgar Musayelyan

Abgar Musayelyan — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 13:05:00 +0000

couldnt agree more. sadly our beloved TF101 will probably never see any version of JB.

By: Lord_Vader1941

Lord_Vader1941 — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 16:19:00 +0000

http://www.droid-life.com/2012/09/14/when-is-my-android-phone-getting-jelly-bean-verizon/

By: djbkbb4

djbkbb4 — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 15:38:00 +0000

Will the Droid Razr ever get Jelly Bean?

By: Robo

Robo — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 20:23:00 +0000

Yes

By: dangolds

dangolds — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 18:01:00 +0000

I think we’re both in agreement that Apple has been stagnating lately on its products and software – no huge debate there. I also agree that in general, Google has taken more of a “throw it at the wall and see what sticks” mentality to drive innovation, and in a lot of recent cases they’ve been successful. All I’m pointing out is that in my opinion, this particular iteration of Andrdoid OS is no more innovative compared to 4.1/4.0 than iOS 6 was to iOS 5.
The original poster commented that this software release is what Apple should look to as an example of innovation. Lately, it seems like every time Google announces something, no matter how minor, I see several posts immediately pop up echoing the same message as what the original poster said. I disagree with that train of thought – I think Apple should instead look to something much more significant than the 4.2 upgrade as a good example of innovation. And not necessarily something that’s limited to their existing mobile OS. Perhaps something broader, like the next evolution of devices beyond the smartphone and tablet (e.g. Google Glass project).
What made Apple such a popular brand in the first place was its ability to create new commercial markets out of thin air for various electronic devices. Why was the iPhone huge? It wasn’t because of iOS being better or worse than Android. It was because before the iPhone, the average person either wasn’t aware of a smart phone or didn’t think he/she needed one. Same thing with the iPod and the iPad for mp3 players and tablets, respectively. Apple created a combination hardware/software platform that was well built and easy to use, and then discovered a way to effectively market the platform to every day customers with 500 other things to do in life besides reading tech blogs.
If Apple uses what was incrementally done in 4.2 as a marker of innovation, then many folks (including Android proponents) will continue to criticize them for resting on their laurels and not taking chances. And for those who support Google, I would not point to 4.2 as a shining beacon of innovation either. Google has introduced far better examples of innovation in its recent past than Jelly Bean and Jelly Bean: The Sequel.

By: Morghan

Morghan — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 15:05:00 +0000

Try using a monospace font, I do fairly regularly, the programs still try to correct double spaces.

By: Morghan

Morghan — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 14:59:00 +0000

Why the down-votes?

Apple has dumb users, Android has dumb users.

Probably several orders of magnitude less than Apple, but we do still have them.

By: michael arazan

michael arazan — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 07:55:00 +0000

If i was swype right now, I would ask Google if they’d want to buy me out and make myself look as appealing as possible.

By: master94

master94 — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 01:33:00 +0000

No worry they aren’t Apple

By: Jason Tsujimura

Jason Tsujimura — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 00:03:00 +0000

This is great news! Looking forward to running 4.2 on my G-Nex. Can’t wait to send Photo Sphere pics to all of my iFriends.

By: Jason Tsujimura

Jason Tsujimura — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Yes, 2 spaces after a period were the rule during the days of typewriters and their monospaced fonts however, with the advent of proportional computer fonts, 1 space after a period is now the correct rule.

In fact some professors these days mark off points for 2 spaces after a period.

By: Kevin Olson

Kevin Olson — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 23:23:00 +0000

I noticed that the Nexus 7 info page says the Nexus 7 comes with Android 4.2. Since we can buy the Nexus 7 now, I bet we’ll see 4.2 any time now!

By: CapnShiner

CapnShiner — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 23:08:00 +0000

I wonder how the developers of Swype, Swiftkey Flow, and other such keyboards feel about the new gesture typing in Android 4.2. I know it’s an open platform and there is no rule against competition (unlike Apple’s app store) but it just seems like Google is screwing over those developers and I assume that there may be legal action if anyone had patented the idea.

By: Nathan Coulombe

Nathan Coulombe — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 23:06:00 +0000

He said “When”. . . But to answer his question, I would imagine very soon – likely one of the first devices to get the upgrade.

By: CapnShiner

CapnShiner — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 22:54:00 +0000

I hope you’re trying to be satirical.