KitKat's for everyone! And Nexus 5 released
Google has finally unwrapped its latest platform release, KitKat, which delivers a smarter, more immersive Android experience. The company also introduced the first device running KitKat, Nexus 5, a new Nexus phone developed with LG.
For KitKat, Google partnered with LG to develop Nexus 5, the slimmest and fastest Nexus phone ever made. Its design is simple and refined to showcase the 5 inch Full HD display. Nexus 5 also keeps users connected at blazing speeds with 4G LTE and ultra fast Wi-Fi.
The advanced new lens on Nexus 5 captures more light for brighter night and sharper action shots. And with optical image stabilisation, users no longer have to worry about shaky hands and blurry pictures. A new HDR+ mode automatically snaps a rapid burst of photos and combines them to give you the best possible single shot.
Additionally, KitKat's Android's memory footprint has been slimmed down purposely to allow the update to be able to fit onto older Android devices, which previously have not been able to benefit from more recent Android releases due to memory constraints. KitKat's memory footprint has had unnecessary background services removed and it reduces the memory consumption of features that you the users accesses all the time. This has been done not only within Android but across Google services like Chrome and YouTube.
Sundar Pichai, senior vice president for Android, Chrome and Apps at Google, stated in his blog: 'RAM (or memory) is one of the most expensive parts of a phone, and now Android can run comfortably on the 512MB of RAM devices that are popular in much of the world, bringing the latest goodies in Android 4.4 within reach for the next billion smartphone users.'
KitKat now focuses on the immersion of the user in various tasks and activities, using its new immersive mode that automatically hides everything except what the user really wants to see.
The Phone app has also been enhanced on KitKat. KitKat is making calling easier than ever by helping users search across their contacts, nearby places, or even Google Apps accounts (like a company directory), directly from within the app.
With the new Hangouts app, all of the user's SMS and MMS messages are together in the same place, alongside other conversations and video calls, so they will never miss a message no matter how it has been received.
Pichai noted: 'Google has always focused on helping users get immediate access to the information they need, and we want to bring this same convenience and power to users on Android. With the new Nexus 5 launcher, Google smarts are deeply integrated into the phone you carry around with you, so getting to the information you need is simple, easy and fast.'
Nexus 5 allows users to swipe once from the home screen to get Google Now access. Saying 'OK, Google' launches voice search, allows users to send a text, get directions or even play a song.
And in coming weeks, Google is enhancing Now with important new card types that provide information about contextual topics that interest the user, such as updates from a favourite website or blog.
Nexus 5 is available now, unlocked and without a contract, on Google Play in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan and Korea (and coming soon to India), starting at $349. Nexus 5 will be available soon at the following retailers: Sprint, T-Mobile, Amazon, Best Buy and RadioShack.
Android 4.4, KitKat will also soon be available on Nexus 4, 7, 10, the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One Google Play edition devices in the coming weeks.
