O2 has released the Android 4 (ICS) update for Samsung Galaxy S II giving delight to thousands of its users. “Never too early for an Ice Cream Sandwich – O2 customers with Samsung Galaxy S2s can now get Android 4.0 through KIES. Enjoy,” O2 via Twitter account.”
“After ICS upgrade, important user data (like phone book, message, and picture) will be maintained. But due to the changes in the software, few user data or setting value will be initialized,” Below are the new highlights of the rolled update;
- More smooth performance giving more desired stability to the handset. Hardware acceleration of the User Interface
- Introduction of Virtual buttons on the User Interface.
- Widgets will be listed separately
- Easier-to-create folders, with a drag-and-drop style
- Improved visual voicemail
- Pinch-to-zoom functionality in native calendar app.
- Offline search, a two-line preview, and new action bar at the bottom of the Gmail app, also swype between conversations.
- Integrated screenshot capture app.
- Improved error correction on the keyboard
- Access apps directly from lockscreen (Camera or any)
- Improvement in copy and paste functionality
- Better voice integration and continuous, real-time speech to text dictation
- Face Unlock, a feature that allows users to unlock handsets using facial recognition software
- New tabbed web browser, allowing up to 16 tabs
- Automatic syncing of browser with users’ Chrome bookmarks
- New Font
- Data Usage section in settings that lets users set warnings when they approach a certain usage limit, and disable data use when the limit is exceeded
- Ability to shut down apps that are using data in the background
- Improved camera app with zero shutter lag, time lapse settings, panorama mode, and the ability to zoom while recording
- Built-in photo editor
- New gallery layout, organized by location and person
- Refreshed “People” app with social network integration, status updates and hi-res images
The above is new in Android 4 and should naturally make it to the handset apart from few UI customization’s which is taken care by the manufacturer itself.
You will automatically receive an update notification about the availability of the update, the only required thing is presence of Internet connectivity on your handset. If you aren’t getting the notification, you can check manually by going to Menu > settings > about phone > check for updates.
Before going for this update, we always recommend two things :
- Look to completely charge-up your device battery as you won’t like your device switching off in-between the update process.
- Also, try to back-up your messages, contacts, application settings and whatever you can. If something goes wrong, this little step can save you from a lot of headache.
