Apple iOS 5 vs Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread
Apple iOS 5 is the newest version of Apple operating system for iOS devices. It was officially announced on 6 June 2011 and available for users by the fall of 2011. Unveiling iOS 5 at the WWDC 2011 in San Francisco, Apple proudly announced that their iOS market share is above 44% and the App Store now has over 425,000 applications. And over 95,000 apps are specially designed for iPad. Meanwhile, Android 2.3.4, code named as Gingerbread is the latest version of the Android OS for smartphones by Google. The Android Gingerbread was first released in December 2010 and thereafter four minor revisions to Gingerbread were released. The latest version is Android 2.3.4. Android is having the second largest market share in the mobile market, one behind iOS. Android Market is also growing fast to give a tough competition to Apple’s App Store. The major difference between these two system is that, while iOS is an Apple’s proprietary platform for iDevices, Google’s Android is an open system used as the base platform for their smartphones by many manufactures including Motorola, Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony Ericsson, Dell, and many others. Most of the manufactures take Android OS and modify and include their own UI on top of it to differentiate their product. While both, iOS 5 and Android 2.3.4 have excellent features and continuously improving, there are some basic differences between them. While iOS 5 uses Safari browser and does not support Adobe flash player Android uses Android WebKit browser with full HTML and Adobe Flash player support. And now Firefox 4 is also available for Android. Instead of ITunes and now iCloud of Apple Google introduced Music Beta. Similarly, it’s Apple TV in iOS instead of Google TV in Android. Anyhow, as long as there is positive competition it’s beneficial for users. One feature that was much awaited but missing in iOS 5 is the Near Field Communication (NFC), which is available in Android OS.
iOS 5
The mobile operating system by Apple Inc. (known for its amazing finish) has been released for the 5th iteration. Released in October 2011, iOS 5 meant for all versions of iPad, 3rd and 4th generations of iPod touch and iPhone 4S, 4 and 3S.
Though many expected significant UI changes to iOS 5, it remains more or less similar to the previous version in terms of the overall look and feel.
However, the notifications have been improved, and an all-new “Notifications Centre” has been introduced. Users can either ignore or respond to notifications. Users can browse through the list of notifications by up and down swiping. If the user decides to interact, he will be taken to the relevant application. This implementation of ‘Notifications’ has a big resemblance to how ‘Notifications are implemented in Android. A useful widget included in the Notifications section is the weather widget which is location aware and will update the user on current weather update. The new notifications appear in a non obtrusive manner. These notifications will appear briefly at the top of the screen. The lock screen will also display notifications and users can act on them by simply unlocking the screen.
The iMessage available in iOS 5 enables users to reduce messaging costs. It allows users to send text messages between iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices via Wi-Fi and 3G. Since iMessage is built into messaging, it allows users to send text, images, video, as well as locations. Group messaging is also enabled with iMessage and users can relax about security of the content that they share since these messages are encrypted. If the intended recipient supports iMessage, the contact will be coloured in blue, if not the contact will be coloured in green. This enables users to know if the phone is using data package or their phone connection to send the message.
Siri; the voice assistant made available in iOS 5 long with iPhone 4S is the biggest innovative feature of the platform. ‘Siri’ is an interactive assistant capable of doing many tasks for the phone user. The uniqueness of ‘Siri’ is the ability to behave based on context and appears less robotic than other assistants in the market. The downside of this amazing feature on iOS 5 is that it’s only supported by iPhone 4S. Read more on Siri at our review here.
iCloud is another innovative feature of the iOS 5. iCloud is a cloud based service which enables users to sync content between many Apple devices without effort. Contents are synchronised between many devices almost instantaneously. In combination with iCloud, iOS 5 enables users to install updates and software without the help of the PC. iOS 5 devices can now sync over Wi-Fi if iTunes is open in the desktop.
The camera application also has received few upgrades with iOS 5 release. The camera app can be opened from the lock screen. The application provides many features such as grid lines, pinch-to-zoom, and tap focus to compose a quality snap shot. Photos can be taken by pressing the volume up button (Hardware Button) in the device. Improved enhancements to photo s are also available with iOS 5.Users can edit, crop, auto enhance and remove red eye of the photos taken as iCloud will send a copy of the photo to iPad as soon as the photo is taken.
The browsing experience on iOS 5 is another area improved by this iteration of iOS. Tabbed browsing is available for iPad users for the first time. Users can open a total of 9 tabs at one time. Reading list is another feature available with iOS 5 which enable users to keep track of what they are reading.
In addition to the main feature upgrades mentioned above iOS 5 has introduced new multi tasking gestures to the platform. ‘Air play’ mirroring, reminders App, Newsstand and Twitter integration are other areas of improvement on iOS 5. iOS 5 appears to be more polished and refined with a new bundle of enhancements. This version of the OS seems stable in many previous versions of Apple hardware it is intended for, as well.
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Apple iOS 5 Release: 6 June 2011 |
| New Features and Improvements
1. Notification Center – with the new Notification Centre now you can get all your alerts (including new email, texts, friend requests, etc.) in one place without any interruptions to what you are doing. The swype down notification bar appears briefly at the top of the screen for a new alert and disppears quickly. – All alerts in one place – No more interruptions – Swype down from the top of any screen to enter Notification Center – Customize to see what you want – Active lock screen – notifications display in the lock screen for easy access with one swype 2. iMessage – it is a new messaging service – Send unlimited text messages to iOS devices – Send text, photos, videos, locations and contacts to any iOS device – Send group messaging – Track messages with delivery and read (optional) receipt – See the other party typing – Encrypted text message – Switch between iOS devices while chating 3. Newsstand – read all your news and magazines from one place. Customize Newsstand with your newspaper and magazine subscriptions – Browse stores right from Newsstand – When you subscribe it appears in the newsstand – Folder for easy access to favorite publications 4. Reminders – organize yourself with to-do lists – To-do list with due date, location etc. – View list by date – Set time based or location based reminder alert – Location reminder: get alert when you near the set location – Reminders work with iCal, Outlook and iCloud, so that it auto update change to all your iDevices and callendar 5. Twitter integration – system wide integration – Single sign in – Tweet directly from browser, photo app, camera app, YouTube, Map – Reply to friend in the contact by start typing name – Share your location 6. Enhanced Camera features – Instant access to Camera app: access it right from the lock screen – Pinch to Zoom gestures – Single tap focus – Focus/Exposure locks with touch and hold – Grid lines ti help compose a shot – Volume up button to capture the photo – Photo stream via iCloud to other iDevices 7. Enhanced Photo features – on screen editing and organize in photo album from Photo apps itself – Edit / Crop photo from Photo apps – Add photos to album – iCloud automatically push photos to your other iDevices 8. Improved Safari browser – displays only what you like to read from the web page – Removes ads and other clutters – Add to reading list – Tweet from browser – Update reading list in all your iDevices via iCloud – Tabbed browsing – Performance improvement 9. PC Free activation – no more need for PC: activate your device wirelessly and do more with your Photo and Camara apps right from the screen – OTA software upgrades – On screen camera apps – Do more on screen like on screen photo editing – Back up and restore via iCloud 10. Enhanced Game Center – more features added – Post your profile picture – New friend recommendations – Find new games right from Games Center – Get on the spot overall achievement score 11. Wi-Fi Sync – wirelessly sync your iDevice to your Mac or PC vis shared Wi-Fi connection – Auto sync and iTunes back up when connected to power source – Purchases from iTunes appear in all your iDevices 12. Enhanced mail features – Format text – Create indents in the text of your message – Drag to rearrange names in the address field – Flag important messages – Add/Delete mailbox folders on your device – Search mails – Free email account with iCloud that will be updated in all your iDevices 13. Additional Calendar features – Year/Weekly view -Tap to create new event – Drag to edit date and duration – Add/rename/delete calendars directly from your device -View attachment right from calendar app – Calendar sync/share via iCloud 14. Multitasking gestures for iPad 2 – Multi finger gestures – New moves and short cuts like swipe up for multi tasking bar 15. AirPlay Mirroring – Support for video mirroring 16. Innovative new features for differently abled people – Work with specialized hardware accessories for differently abled – LED Flash and custom vibration to indicate incoming call – Custom element labeling 17. Support iClouds – iCloud wirelessly pushes files across multiple devices managed together |
| Compatible Devices:
iPad2, iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPad Touch 3rd and 4th generation |
These features are add-on to existing features in iOS 4.3.3
Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread)
Android 2.3.4 is the latest over the air Android version update to Gingerbread. This is the fourth revision to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). Android 2.3 Gingerbread is a major platform release by Google, it was released in December 2010. Gingerbread includes many new features and improvements to existing features in Android 2.2 (Froyo). Some of the new features of Gingerbread are new UI Framework, redesigned keyboards, new copy and paste functionality, improved power management, better application management, new download manager, NFC (Near Field Communication), support for VoIP/SIP calls, new Camera application for accessing multiple cameras, supports for several new sensors such as gyroscope, rotation vector, linear acceleration, gracity and barometer, support for mixable audio effects including bass boost, headphone virtualization, equalization and reverb, support for extra large screens and much more.
The first two revisions, Android 2.3.1 and Android 2.3.2 were very small upgrades to Android 2.3. Basically Android 2.3.1 OTA (Over The Air) came up with Google maps 5.0. Android 2.3.2 was a major fix, possibly on SMS bug but official logs have not been released regarding this. Again the next release Android 2.3.3 was a small update, few new features and APIs (Application Program Interface) were added to Android 2.3. 2. The notable upgrade was the improvement for NFC feature – now applications can interact with more types of tags. NFC communication relies on wireless technology in the device hardware, and is not present in all Android devices. Improvement was made to API for developers to request filtering on Android Market, so that their applications are not discoverable to users whose devices do not support NFC. And there were some improvements on Bluetooth as well as for non-secure socket connections. There were also some changes for developers in graphics, media and speech. The last release Android 2.3.4 brings an exciting new feature to Android based devices.With the upgrade to Android 2.3.4 users can video or voice chat using Google Talk. Once updated users will notice a voice/video chat button next to their contact in Google Talk contact list. With one touch users can send an invitation to start a voice/video chat and can make video calls via 3G/4G network or via Wi-Fi. The Android 2.3.4 update in addition to this new feature also includes some bug fixes.
The phones running Android 2.3.4 will have the following features:
| Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread)
Kernel Version 2.6.35.7 Build No: GRJ22
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| New Feature
1. Support voice and video chat using Google Talk |
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Improvements included with Android 2.3.3 update 1. Improved and extended support for NFC – this allows applications to interact with more types of tags and access them in new ways. The new APIs have included wider range of tag technologies and allow limited peer to peer communication. Also it has a feature for developers to request Android Market to not to show their applications to users if the device does not support NFC. In Android 2.3 when an application is called by a user and if the device does not support NFC it returns a null object. 2. Support for Bluetooth non-secure socket connections – this allows applications to communicate even with devices that is not having UI for authentication. 3. New bitmap region decoder added for applications to clip part of an image and features. 4. Unified interface for media – to retrieve frame and metadata from input media file. 5. New fields for specifying AMR-WB and ACC formats. 6. New constants added for speech recognition API – this supports developers to show in their application a different view for voice search results. |
| Improvements included with Android 2.3.2 &2.3.1 update
1. Supports Google map 5.0 2. Bug fixes on SMS application
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| Features from Android 2.3
User Features: 1. New user interface has a simple and attractive theme in black background, which is designed to give a vivid look while being power efficient too. Menu and settings are changed for ease of navigation. 2. Redesigned soft keyboard is optimized for quicker and accurate text input and editing. And the word being edited and dictionary suggestion is vivid and easy to read. 3. Multi touch key cording to input number and symbols without changing input mode. 4. Selection of word and copy/paste made easy. 5. Improved power management through application control. 6. Provide user awareness on power consumption. Users can view how the battery is used and which consume more. 7. Internet calling – supports SIP calls to other users with SIP account 8. Support Near-field communication (NFC) – high frequency high speech data transfer within a short range (10 cm). This will be useful feature in m commerce. 9. A new download manager facility that supports easy storage and retrieval of downloads. 10. Support for multiple cameras For Developers 1. Concurrent garbage collector to minimize application pauses and support increased responsiveness game like applications. 2. Touch and keyboard events handled better which minimizes the CPU utilization and Improve responsiveness, this feature is beneficial for 3D games and CPU intensive applications. 3. Use updated third party video drivers for faster 3D graphic performance 4. Native input and sensor events 5. New sensors including gyroscope is added for improved 3D motion processing 6. Provide Open API for audio controls and effects from native code. 7. Interface to manage graphic context. 8. Native access to activity lifecycle and window management. 9. Native access to assets and storage 10. Android NDk provide robust native development environment. 11. Near Field Communication 12. SIP based internet calling 13. New audio effects API to create rich audio environment by adding reverb, equalization, headphone virtualization, and bass boost 14. Built in support for video formats VP8, WebM, and audio formats AAC, AMR-WB 15. Support multiple cameras 16. Support for extra large screen |
These features are in addition to the existing features in Android 2.2 (Froyo)
Read More:
Android Versions and Features
iOS Versions and Features