Ice Cream Sandwich Android: More New Features

By Vincent Funaro, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, October 20, 2011

Google unveiled its new Android 4.0 software which is also known as Ice Cream Sandwich at its "Mobile Unpacked" event on Wednesday.

The new ICS software will include many new features such as panorama for taking pictures, an updated contacts app called People which resembles a social network, left and right swipe to access apps and facial recognition capability to unlock the handset.

Those are some of the more commonly known additions to the new operating system.

Here is a list of some more of Ice Cream Sandwich’s new features.

Disabling Bloatware

Many smartphones come with unwanted software pre-installed which is nearly impossible to get off the device. Ice Cream Sandwich makes it easy to disable these apps by adding a new setting that allows this to be done, removing the icon, preventing it from running on the system and providing the option to re-enable later.

Screenshot

One of the most simple, yet interesting features on Ice Cream Sandwich is the new screen shot capability. By simultaneously holding down the power and volume down button the user can capture a still of any particular screen they want others to see and it will immediately be added to their photo gallery.

Spell Check

The software’s spell check also proves to be quite impressive as it locates and underlines mistakes and suggests fixes similar to the way Microsoft Word does. It also includes third-party dictionaries, spell checkers and other text services.

Explore by Touch

This mode is specifically included for blind or visually impaired users. It makes it possible to navigate without seeing the screen using audible feedback. The browser also has the capability to read Web content aloud.

Visual Voicemail

Android now supports visual voicemail. However, this feature will not be free. Users will most likely have to pay their carriers in order to gain access to this capability which integrates voice transcriptions, audio files and more from multiple providers directly into the phone app.