Google Announces Android 4.1 Jelly Bean

As well as introducing its brand new Nexus 7 tablet and the Nexus Q, an Apple TV competitor, Google also announced the new version of Android, 4.1 Jelly Bean at its I/O conference, Tech Crunch reports.

The new version of the mobile operating system features Project Butter, making the user experience ‘buttery smooth’, as well as improved voice typing, with an internet connection no longer a necessity to make it work. Notifications and the Camera app have also been updated, while Google Now “gets to the right information at the right time… automatically”.

It’s not a significant update by any means, but it’s something to compete against the upcoming release of iOS 6 in the fall, with the Nexus 7 also at the core of Android 4.1. We’ll have to see if it takes off and which manufacturers start using it, but regardless, it’s uphill battle for Google and it will be hoping that sales of its next tablet make up the lost ground on the iPad.

J. Glenn Künzler

Glenn is Managing Editor at MacTrast, and has been using a Mac since he bought his first MacBook Pro in 2006. He lives in a small town in Utah, enjoys bacon more than you can possibly imagine, and is severely addicted to pie.