Apart
from these hotly anticipated launches, the Android creator is also in
spotlight for the launch of the new operating system. Report are rife
that the Mountain View Valley company will announce the next version of
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS – Android 4.2.
Analysts are anticipating that Google will unveil the next Android version to compete directly with the likes of Windows Phone 8 OS, which is also confirmed by Microsoft to be officially launched on the same day, however, in a different event.
While, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
came with many new features, however, the Project Butter for a faster,
smoother and more responsive performance is a notable one, similarly,
Android 4.2 is also rumored to have many new features as listed below.
Though,
it is not confirmed if Google will announce an incremental update to
the existing Android 4.1 Jelly Bean or the next version rumored as Key
Lime Pie, several reports have come up with numerous reports suggesting
expected features of the new OS. Let’s take a look at them.
Project Roadrunner
Project
Roadrunner is the most rumored and expected feature of Android 4.2.
Project Butter in Jelly Bean made the UI transitions smoother and
improved battery lifeup to a certain level, while the main objective of Project Roadrunner is to make Android platform energy efficient.
Most
of the Android based handsets are bigger and employ powerful battery of
over 2,000 mAh capacity, hence, making the handsets heavier and
bulkier. With the Project Roadrunner feature, the manufacturers can come
up with lighter handsets with smaller battery that can offer a decent
backup of one day.
Quick Settings
When
it comes to Android OS, the pull down notification bar is an exclusive
feature that is being adopted by other platforms as well. With the
smarter quick settings feature, there will be two pull downs – one for
notification bar and one for quick settings panel.
Quick
settings menu will overlap your main notifications menu, giving you
access to toggles for WiFi, Bluetooth, Airplane mode and more.
Extended Security
Security is a major issue in when it comes to any device and Android developers are highly concerned on the same as the platform is quite often prone to vulnerabilities.
In terms of security, Android 4.2 will come with three main features including SELinux, VPN Lockdown and Premium SMS conformation. According to an Android Police
report, subtitled “The Super-Serious Security Edition”, a teardown of
Android 4.2 has confirmed the presence of the above mentioned security
features.
The
kernel add-ons makes it so that apps don’t have access to all files.
You can pick from three options from SELinux: Disabled, Permissive and
Enforcing to enable difference app settings for added security.
Secondly,
the code mentions VPN lockdown, which is a change from the current
model that allows data to be sent over regular connection when users
sign out of a VPN network.
Finally, Android gets rid of SMS scam schemes effectively. Some apps work
undercover sending paid text messages to select numbers without letting
usrs know about it. However, users will have to pay hefty sums for
those texts. Now, Google will simply detect whenever an app sends such a
message and send a SMS confirmation to warn users.
Multiple User Accounts
The
ability to add multiple user accounts will let consumers create
multiple accounts for each person who is using the device. This way,
every user will have a name, photo, access to all the features including
Google Play Store. However, the Play Store will have a customized app
list based on the corresponding user’s list of chosen apps. Users can
also create or delete user accounts as per requirement.
Also,
parental controls can be set according to specific accounts like
locking Play Store purchases, downloading content based on rating and
more. However, for this feature to come on Android 4.2 devices, there
must be some kind of lockscreen interface and it would be nice to have
features like face unlock.
New Gmail
Gmail
app for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is good, but, it lacks pinch to zoom
gesture. Hence, when there is a huge image or HTML attachment along with
the mail, scrolling over will be a painful task. Android 4.2 seems to
have a solution for this as it is rumored to come with a native Gmail
app with pinch to zoom, swipe
on a conversation to either delete or archive and more to make inbox
management easier. Users can also report a message as phishing, which
helps Google improve security.
Gallery
Gallery
app is being redesigned to more closely resemble the photostream of
Google+, bringing a more unified look to Google’s various software
products.
There
will be white strip down the album where it can display album name and
some more information. Other than the UI alterations, entire operations
would be same as before.
Google Play Store
Google Play Store could also be updated in the new Android 4.2 to feature personalized
search, promotional campaigns with notification center integration,
more billing options, and easier in-app micro-transactions. 
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