Google has announced the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, the next version of the Android mobile operating system. This version brings new features but don’t expect any drastic changes, it includes some features for developers also, it is not a major release though as you can see from the version number increase to mere point one. Android 4.3 comes loaded with the Nexus 7 tablet announced today. It is also rolling out to your previous Nexus 7, nexus 4, nexus 10 and Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ devices.
Android 4.3 adds support for restricted profiles extending the multi user feature available in Tablets. It allows you to manage the multi user profiles with more ease. With restricted profiles you can set separate environments for users, it also allows o restrict content with in the apps. Developers can specify app restrictions for users, what restrictions owners can put in, and these can be enabled from the profile configuration settings. Developers can opt out completely to not support restricted profiles.
Android 4.3 improves performance and it builds on the Jelly Bean and improves some of the included features like hardware-accelerated 2D rendering and adds new optimizations to make it faster. Location based services performance is optimized in this version, the optimized APIs on supported devices make use of the hardware and software to better use the battery.
This version supports OpenGL ES 3.0 version and is available for developers to take advantage of the capabilities. “Game developers can now take advantage of OpenGL ES 3.0 and EGL extensions as standard features of Android, with a”ccess from either framework or native APIs.”
Android 4.3 introduces built-in support for Bluetooth Smart Ready and provides set of standard APIs using which developers can develop apps that can recognize low power, small devices that use Bluetooth Smart technology. The technology is already supported in new Nexus 7 and the Nexus 4.
