What is New For Users in Android 2.3

Android 2.3(Ginger Bread) is released along with Nexus S yesterday and many people wonder what is new in it. In this article we will deal about what is new in this new version of the famous mobile operating system from Google, Android 2.3. Without much prolongation, we will go straight into the business. Let us see what Ginger Bread has brought for its users.

User Interface Changes:

The new user interface has been redesigned to be more user friendly, faster and more energy-efficient. The theme’s background has been changed to black in areas like the menus, notification bar other parts of the user interface. For simplified use and navigation, changes in menus and settings have also been introduced.

New Keyboard:

The keyboard has been updated for faster editing and input. The keys have been reshaped so presses are more accurate, and an idea stolen from add-in applications like SwiftKey, the new keyboard now displays word suggestions based on what you’re typing. You can switch to voice mode from the keyboard to replace selections, too. Multi-touch key-chording lets you enter numbers and symbols with keyboard shortcut combos, instead of having to change to the numeric keyboard mode. This new additions would make the android keyboard much efficient like that of the iPhone’s.

Improved Word Selection:

Now you can select a word via press-hold, a similar gesture to what’s used on iPhone for the same task. On Gingerbread, this takes you to a free-selection mode where you can adjust the area needed to select by dragging two bounding areas together. Hope that would be helpful for many, mainly while writing notes and stuff.

Copy/Paste Improved:

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The press-hold gesture mentioned above also starts the copy/paste process. After selecting content, press anywhere in the selection mode to copy the text.

Improved Power Management:

Android now is more active in managing apps that keep the device awake, even going so far as to close apps when appropriate. In the Application Settings, users can now see how the battery is being used by various apps. This feature can help any Android device to be alive for longer with a single battery recharge.

Application Control:

A shortcut to Manage Applications is now in the Options menu from the Home Screen. A new Running tab displays a list of active apps and the storage/memory being used. From here, apps can be stopped, ending the need for add-on “task killer” type applications to do this. This is similar to that of the Task Manager in windows. This will help to reduce the load the load on the processor by stopping unwanted programs and giving more space for the apps which we are using at that time.

Internet Calling:

Internet Calling (SIP) addresses can be added to Contacts and calls can be placed from the Quick Contact or Dialer. A SIP account is needed for this feature to work. This feature will be available depending on manufacturer and carrier support.

NFC:

Near-field communications support is now included in Android. With NFC, you can “touch” or “swipe” an NFC tag embedded in a poster, sticker, ad, or anywhere else and then be directed to a website associated with the URL included in the tag’s data. NFC support will be determined by the phone’s hardware. The Demo is in the video at the bottom.

Downloads Management:

A new Download Manager is introduced in Ginger Bread which will efficiently manage the downloads made from the browser, email or any other apps.

Camera:

The Camera now provides access to multiple cameras on the device, if the phone includes more than one (such as a front-facing camera, for example). This will help apps to choose which camera they want to use for efficient functioning.

Android 2.3 has bought lot of good stuff with it. Hope this article helped you in understanding the new features of Ginger Bread. Share your thoughts with us through the comments. Ciao !