What Will The Future Hold For SEO Trends In 2013?

SEO in 2013 is only going to get more interesting – it’ll pan out to previously uncharted territory, and yet largely stay the same. This is mainly due to the constantly changing landscape of the internet. There’s no other way to put it; when the internet changes, SEO trends in 2013 must adapt to stay relevant. Otherwise online marketing in 2013 through effective SEO will just have to bite the dust, and no one wants that. Change is the name of the game.

Big Changes in SEO 2013 Algorithm

According to insightful research, the SEO commenting system took a big hit when Google implemented Penguin and Panda updates back in early 2012. This opens a lot of opportunities for SEO in 2013, while it may or may not have a drastic impact on your business practices, depending on how you look at it. Simply put, comments no longer carry as much weight for SEO in 2013 as it did back in early 2012 pre-Panda and Penguin updates. In terms of internet marketing, this is a huge deal. This means the effectiveness of spamming to boost your internet presence is no longer viable. In other words online marketing in 2013 just got so much more interesting!

The Landscape of SociSocial Media Marketing In 2013

It’s pretty much common knowledge of every internet marketer that Google is perhaps the biggest player to root for when it comes to boosting one’s presence online. Insightful research is not even necessary to realize that. It is a fact. For example, the search giant’s take on social media, Google Plus, is one to watch out for in the coming year. It’s surely to break new grounds in terms of SEO trends in 2013. This year Google Plus didn’t quite take off the way Google had hoped it would, but one thing became clear: with regards to business practices, Google Plus will be quite handy for enhancing one’s SEO 2013 algorithm. In other words, it was a powerful tool for promoting the internet marketing campaigns of business worldwide. Google Plus, now that is social media marketing at its best.

Mobile Now Carries More Weight for SEO In 2013

Thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and tablets as a direct result of Apple’s influence in mobile computing, the battle for effective SEO in 2013 will revolve around websites that are on-the-go-friendly, more or less, as well as mobile apps. You no longer just want you website to be optimized for viewing on a 21-inch desktop monitor, no—it should be just as conveniently view-able when displayed on the 4.5-inch screen of an iPhone. This will basically be the first and most important rule for SEO in 2013.

For online marketers who are looking to stay ahead of the pack come next year, they’ll do well to take note of these upcoming changes. Grab the opportunity to learn the new rules while you’re at it.

These SEO pointers will surely guarantee you even greater success when pulled off correctly.

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Google Cutts: Links From Press Releases Won't Help

An old fashion and sometimes often used method today, to get links to your web site, is to use press releases with embedded links in those releases.

So you'd contract a press release distribution company and make sure that the content of the release have links to your web site. That release would hopefully be syndicated by other news outlets and those outlets will keep the links intact.

Matt Cutts of Google said in a Google Webmaster Help forums that links from press releases shouldn't have a positive impact on your rankings.

Matt Cutts Wrote 26 Dec:

Note: I wouldn't expect links from press release web sites to benefit your rankings, however.

Now, when you do press releases, it might get your web site in front of the eyes of bloggers, reporters and others, where what they write or link to may have an impact on your rankings. But the links within the releases themselves, Google says - they won't benefit your rankings.

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6 Ways Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Will Change in 2013

Considering the shifts in Search Engine Optimization survival, 2012 has been quite an eventful year. There have been several important updates that have changed the search scene altogether.

A massive crackdown on spam sites through the EMD updates was not the only scathing step taken by Google. Google updates its algorithm over 500 times a year in order to weed out low quality sites from the top positions. Google will never stop its relentless run to make search results more relevant.

Search engine optimization, as it stands today, is no longer child’s play. It has become quite challenging and innovative strategies are required to attain better rankings.

So what is the outlook for SEO in 2013? The answer to this question is still vague, as people are not sure about the updates that are to occur in 2013. Fierce arguments are still raging regarding the Google updates that may take place. While some believe that the future lies in content marketing, others believe that social media presence will be the key. Others continue to resort to blackhat SEO methods that may land them on Google’s hitlist.

Based on what I hear people saying and see people doing, and my understanding of the proposed Google updates that may take place, here is a list of major changes in SEO you can expect to occur in 2013.

Digital Marketing:

Digital marketing will also play a big role in 2013. Digital marketing will slowly include the entire spectrum of online marketing from market-purposed content creation, through pay-per-click strategies, to use of social media. Because of certain expected Google updates, this will get a big boost and chances are that more and more brands will come into the digital marketing field in time.

Author Rank:

How Google handles Author Rank will be the biggest search factor in 2013. It may turn the entire internet marketing world upside down.

Google will assign each blogger an Author Rank based on various parameters such as niche authority and domain expertise. This Rank will be given a major role in ranking the content authored by that author. Simply speaking, the higher the rank and reputation of the author, the higher are the chances of their content ranking well in search engines. Also, an author’s published content will be directly linked to their Google+ profile, thereby drawing Google+ into SEO calculations. So, with the mooted Author Rank update, performance of a site will depend more upon the reputation and niche expertise of the content’s author in social networks.

Social Media Presence:

SEO in 2013 will be heavily influenced by the numerous social networks and the development and utilisation of an effective social media presence. Site owners and technicians have to carve a niche out for themselves in social media if they want their sites to do well in search rankings. Sharing of content on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Pinterest, Delicious, LinkedIn, MySpace and Google+ will be of the utmost importance. Social media popularity will, in a way, decide the fate of a site as far as Google is concerned.

The reason Google gives such importance to the social media presence of a site is yet to be definitively ascertained. But there are many theories out there regarding this. Social media presence is proof that the traffic finds the content of a site useful. However, many say that Google will do this to give its staggering Google+ a boost. Many believe that in the days to come, Google+ might just emerge as the most important social network for webmasters.

Equivalency Score Algorithm:

Another major update that is expected to take place in 2013 is the Google Equivalency Score Algorithm (ESA). ESA is expected to work in the same way as Google Adword’s Quality Score where each keyword is given a point score based on several factors. The quality score of the keywords is then used along with the bid amount of the advertiser and the ads are ranked accordingly. ESA, if operationalized, will have a huge impact on online businesses. It will effectively cut down the monopoly of some websites on number one rankings and will create a more level playing field for all businesses. One effect of this is that Google may display the same results for a search query in different orders each time the results appear on screen.

Link Disavow Tool:

The Link Disavow Tool was created to collect data on the backlink structure of sites. Chances are that Google will use this tool in 2013 to create an algorithm using the links that have already been submitted to them. The tool will be used to improve reporting of spam sites and poor quality backlinks. Consequently, blog posts and forum posts can no longer be used to create backlinks.

No Fundamental Changes in SEO:

Having started by explaining how SEO will fundamentally change in 2013, let me close by saying that the foundation of SEO is going to remain the same. Whether web owners and professionals like it or not, content will continue as the king online. High quality, well-written, expertly displayed, functionally useful content will still hold the key to ranking well for target search terms. Any site needs to have compelling and unique content that has good readability and provides a rich user experience. Half the search battle is won if a website follows this cardinal rule, and that will only become more true in 2013 and beyond.

Currently accepted link building practices such as viral article submission and automated link posting won’t work any more, as the basis for them affecting search results is revealed as artifical. Google began the tough scrutiny of backlinks in 2012, and this will continue in 2013.

While we must wait to see just how Google and other search giants implement their strategies for 2013, it can be taken for granted that their efforts to keep search results organically honest, relevant and useful to consumer will have an impact on the industry that has developed around search engine optimization. Whether the effects of that are good or bad, for consumers and the industry, remains to be seen.

What about you? Are you ready for 2013? Do you foresee other ways in which search will change next year and beyond?

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List of Phones And Tablets in Queue For Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Upgrade

List of Phones And Tablets in Queue For Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Upgrade

New Delhi: If you own an Android phone or tablet, updating it's operating system is of utmost importance as it will bring many new features and functionalities.

All the companies selling Android devices have more or less announced their plans for the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update. This update will bring exciting features and improvements including speed enhancements, improved search features, and a small voice recognition engine that fits in the device itself, without the need for installing external support. This means for voice recognition and support, the Android device won't require an active internet connection.

Here is what these companies plan to do:

Samsung

The Korean giant is planning to upgrade its Galaxy S3, Galaxy S2 and Galaxy Note to Android Jelly Bean. However, Samsung has not specified how much time it will take to bring these phones to the latest version.

Samsung Nexus S and Nexus Prime, which are part of Google's Nexus lineup, are already getting the update, but then Nexus Prime is not available in India.

Other phones in the Samsung line up like the Galaxy R, Galaxy S Plus and S Advance have the desired specification to support Android 4.1. However, Samsung has not announced any plans to upgrade them. These devices have not even been updated to Android 4.0.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 is also likely to get Android 4.1, but there has been no announcement to that effect till now. Samsung has just announced that older Galaxy Tabs like the 750 will be getting Android 4.0 shortly.

HTC

HTC has announced that it has started working on the Jelly Bean update. One X, One XL and One S are likely to be the first HTC devices to get it.

Some of the older phones like the HTC Desire line might not get updates as most of them are stuck at Android 2.3.

Sony

Sony will update its Xperia 2012 lineup, which includes Xperia S, Xperia P and Xperia Neo etc. It has also backtracked on a statement that the 2011 line-up is not getting the update and has now informed that it is still evaluating which of the phones from 2011 will get the upgrade.

Xperia Arc S is likely to make the cut.

Motorola

Given that Motorola is now owned by Google, updates are expected to come faster. Motorola is already updating Xoom tablets to Android 4.1 and is soon expected to roll-out updates for its flagship Razr lineup and the Atrix 2.

LG

LG has been a laggard in terms of updating its devices. According to some reports, LG Optimus 4X HD will get updated to Android 4.1 but only in the first months of 2013.

Asus

Asus sells only two tablets in India. While it is confirmed that its Transformer Prime TF 201 will get Android 4.1 Jelly Bean shortly, Transformer TF101 is also likely to get the update.

Acer

Acer has also officially announced that it will update some of its Iconia tablets to Android 4.1. However, it has not specified which those tablets are. Given that in India only Iconia A500 and A501 are available and both have high end hardware, they are both likely to get the update.

Karbonn

Karbonn, with Smarttab 1, became the first one to bring a product based on Android 4.1 to India. The company also said that the Smarttab 1 already sold with Android 4.0 will be updated shortly, probably before other manufacturers do so.

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What's New in Android 4.1, Jelly Bean?

Android 4.1, Jelly Bean

Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, is the fastest and smoothest version of Android yet. Jelly Bean improves on the simplicity and beauty of Android 4.0, and introduces a new Google search experience on Android.

• Everything in Jelly Bean feels fast, fluid, and smooth. Moving between home screens and switching between apps is effortless, like turning pages in a book.
• Jelly Bean features improved performance throughout the system, including faster orientation changes, faster responses when switching between recent apps, and smoother and more consistent rendering across the system through vsync and triple buffering.
• Jelly Bean has more reactive and uniform touch responses, and makes your device even more responsive by boosting your device's CPU instantly when you touch the screen, and turns it down when you don't need it to improve battery life.

What's new in Jelly Bean?

Accessibility:

• With Jelly Bean, blind users can use 'Gesture Mode' to reliably navigate the UI using touch and swipe gestures in combination with speech output.
• With the new accessibility focus feature, you can move a cursor between controls to maintain a target for the next action or a source for the next navigation event. You can double tap anywhere to launch the current item with accessibility focus.
• Text traversal in accessibility now gives you more control – choose to move between pages, paragraphs, lines, words or characters.
• TalkBack, a screenreader for Android, now supports gestures to trigger actions, to navigate applications, and traverse text.
• Get full support for braille accessibility services (download BrailleBack on Google Play).

Android Beam:

• With Android Beam, you can now easily share your photos and videos.
• Instantly pair your phone or tablet to Bluetooth® devices like headsets or speakers that support the Simple Secure Pairing standard by just tapping them together.

Audio Accessories:

• Support for USB audio docks, shipping later this year.

Browser and WebView

• Browser has improved performance, CPU and memory efficiency. With better performance for animations and HTML5 canvases and an updated JavaScript Engine (V8), pages load faster and feel smoother.
• Browser now has better HTML5 video support, and has a new user experience. Just touch the video to play and pause, and smoothly transition into and out of fullscreen mode.
• Browser now supports the updated HTML5 Media Capture specification on input elements.
• WebView now supports vertical text, including Ruby Text and other vertical text glyphs.

 Calendar:

• Calendar is more buttery. Content fades in, animations are sprinkled throughout, and swiping/paging between days is smoother.
• Calendar will now display event colors if you've given your event a color on your PC.
• The 'Today' button on the action bar now shows the current day. When viewing an event's details, you can now email all the guests with a single tap.
• Notifications for upcoming events now display more of the event description to let you quickly see relevant details without having to open the app.
• Notifications for upcoming events now let you email all the guests without opening the app, and you can choose a quick response such as "Be there in 10 minutes" or type your own.
• A new option in Calendar settings lets you create your own default quick responses for emailing guests.
• You can now snooze an upcoming event reminder right from the notification.
• Calendar has a new 7" tablet layout that is optimized for the form factor.
• When viewing Calendar in portrait orientation on tablets, you can hide or expand controls to give you complete control over how you view your Calendar space.
• Calendar will now remember whether you've chosen to hide or expand controls so you have a consistent experience viewing Calendar whenever you open it.

Camera and Gallery:

• You can now swipe from the camera viewfinder to quickly review photos you've taken without having to leave the camera app. You can swipe back to the camera viewfinder to start snapping photos again.
• When viewing photos in Gallery, you can pinch to zoom out to enter "filmstrip mode" and rapidly review photos. When viewing photos in filmstrip mode, you can swipe up or down to delete an individual photo. You can also undo the delete with a single tap.
• When taking a photo, a new animation sweeps your photo off the screen. There is now a new paging animation when swiping between photos.
• Camera features a new animation for switching between the front-facing and back cameras.
• When focusing on an object in Camera, a new animation gives you visual feedback on your focus state.
• Gallery features a new animation when selecting a photo from within the album view and back.

Data Usage:

• You can now dismiss a data usage warning without changing the data threshold set for warning notifications.
• Disable background data usage on certain Wi-Fi SSIDs by designating them as mobile hotspots.
• Android now automatically detects when one Jelly Bean device is tethered to another's Wi-Fi hotspot, and intelligently enables or disables background data usage on the SSID.

Face Unlock:

• Face Unlock is now faster and more accurate, and startup is smoother with a new animation.
• You can improve face matching accuracy by calibrating your face in different conditions and with different accessories (e.g. hat, glasses).
• Face Unlock can now optionally require a 'blink' to verify that a live person is unlocking the device rather than a photo.

Internationalization:

• Jelly Bean adds support for bidirectional text and more input languages to make the platform accessible to more people around the world.
• There is improved support for Arabic and Hebrew, including a new Arabic font, in the platform.
• You can now enter text in one of 18 new input languages, including Persian, Hindi and Thai. Additional Indic languages Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam are now supported by the platform.
• Emoji from Unicode 6.0 will now render when received or viewed.
• If the system language is set to Japanese, Japanese specific versions of glyphs will now be properly rendered.

Keyboard:

• The platform's dictionaries are now more accurate and more relevant.
• The language model in Jelly Bean adapts over time, and the keyboard features bigram prediction and correction.
• You can now switch languages quickly with the dedicated language selector key on keyboard.
• You can use custom keyboard input styles for more than 20 languages, with keymaps for QWERTY, QWERTZ, AZERTY, Dvorak, Colemak, and PC styles.
• You can choose the input styles that you want to use for each keyboard, and use a hotkey to switch between them while typing.

Messaging and Talk:

• New notifications display the full text of incoming SMS messages. When receiving an MMS, you can view the full photo in a notification.
• When entering recipients for an SMS or MMS, a new UI collects recipients as chips, making it easier to compose messages.
• Talk features a new notification style.

Notifications:

• You can now take action on notifications directly from the redesigned notifications shade.
• Notifications from the same application are grouped together, and the first item is automatically expanded. You can also pinch notifications to expand or collapse them.
• You now get an image preview in notifications after taking a screenshot. You can quickly share the screenshot directly from the notification.
• You can lock automatic display rotation from the notifications shade on 7" tablets.
• For Wi-Fi only devices, quickly see the SSID of the access point you're connected to from the notifications shade.
• You can now touch-hold a notification to identify the application that created it and turn off notifications from that application if needed, as well as uninstall the application.

Networking:

• Wi-Fi protected setup is now supported with WPS push button and PIN support.
• A new setting lets you stay on mobile data and avoid nearby Wi-Fi networks with poor connections.

News and Weather

• News and Weather is updated to improve freshness and power consumption.

People

• The People app is more buttery with smoother animations and improved search performance.
• The People app now retrieves high res photos automatically for Google contacts with public Google+ profiles and displays higher res photos (720x720) on certain devices.
• High res photos set on Google accounts will be backed up and synced across devices.
• The People app has a new 7" tablet layout that is optimized for the form factor.
• You can now quickly add your favorite contacts to a home screen, directly from the contact's details page.
• The People app helps you organize your contacts and reduces duplicates with an Improved auto-joining algorithm.
• You can now clear the frequently contacted list from the favorites tab in the People app.

Phone

• When you miss a call, a new notification lets you return the call or reply by SMS with a single touch.
• Incoming visual voicemails are displayed in a new notification that lets you play the message with a single touch.
• When a call is ongoing, a new notification lets you hang up the call with one touch.
• As part of Project Butter, the dial pad is more responsive. Call log scrolling is buttery smooth, and swiping between tabs in Phone is quick and fluid.
• You can now clear your frequently contacted list in the favorite tab of Phone.
• You can now add phone numbers from the call log to existing, read-only contacts.

Settings:

• Accounts are now displayed in the primary Settings view so you can easily see all the accounts you're signed into on your device.
• You can now easily access all Google Privacy Settings in one place by selecting your Google account from Settings.

System:

• Device encryption is now more reliable, and periodically reminds you to decrypt your device. Now, SMS messages and calls are declined when waiting for decryption.
• You can long press the 'Power Off' option in the power menu to boot your device to safe mode.
• A new 'Reset app preferences' button lets you quickly reset default applications for specific activities, background data restrictions, notifications suppressions, and more.
• A redesigned dialog with larger icons lets you intuitively choose your preferred application for specific activities.
• Google Apps Device Policy on your device may now override the 'keep screen awake' option from developer settings.

Text-to-speech:

• Jelly Bean introduces a new conversational text-to-speech voice in US English, available as both a network engine and an embedded engine via the TTS API.

Voice Typing:

• A new embedded speech recognizer lets you use Voice Typing even when you don't have an Internet connection.

Widgets:

• Jelly Bean makes it easier to personalize your home screen. As you place widgets on the screen, everything else automatically moves to make room.
• When they're too big, widgets resize on their own. If you choose to resize a widget, apps and widgets will now also move out of the way.
• You can now quickly remove apps or widgets from any home screen by picking them up and flinging them to the edge of the screen.
• Launching apps and returning back home are now faster and smoother.

The new Google experience on Android

Google Search:

• With Jelly Bean, a redesigned experience uses the power of the Knowledge Graph to show you search results in a richer way. It's easier to quickly get precise answers to search queries and explore and browse search results.
• Get to Google Search faster: Google Search can be opened directly from the lock screen by swiping up. For devices with software navigation keys, you can now swipe up from the system bar to quickly access Google Search with Google Now. For devices with a hardware search key, you can tap it to launch Google Search.
• If you're using a wired headset, long press the headset's button to activate Voice Search. You can quickly perform a search query by voice and have the result read back to you.
• You can say "Google" to activate Voice Search from within Google Search.
• For many search queries performed through Voice Search, you can now hear a spoken answer.
• Voice Search recognition is now significantly faster so you can search quickly on the fly.
• Voice Search can now recognize queries even when you have a poor network connection.

Google Now:

• Google Now brings you just the right information at just the right time. Cards appear throughout the day at the moment you need them, and appear as a notification when they're important. Learn more.
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• Weather card: When you start your day, Google Now shows weather for your current location and work.
• Traffic card: Get traffic conditions and alternate routes before you leave home or work.
• Transit card: When you're near a bus stop or a subway station, this card shows you what buses or trains are next.
• Places card: When you're on the go, Google Now will suggest nearby bars, restaurants, and places of interest.
• Flight card: See flight delays and traffic conditions to the airport for flights you've recently searched for.
• Sports card: You can see live scores and upcoming games and also buy game tickets on the fly.
• Currency card: When you're traveling, quickly check the local conversion rate.
• Translation card: When you're in a foreign country, you can quickly translate words into the local language.

Google Apps

Google+:

• As you swipe through the stream, large bold photos now fall into place with animations giving you a more interactive browsing experience.
• Google+ on tablets has a new magazines layout in the stream.
• You can now create and manage Google+ Events right from your device. Posts and photos are saved to the event so you can relive the party any time.
• Party Mode lets you instantly upload and share photos during an Event so you capture all the right moments in one place.
• New notifications let you +1, comment, or reshare without having to open the Google+ app.
• You can now see live video streams of all participants in a Hangout.
• A new navigation menu lets you easily navigate through the app and quickly see Google+ notifications.
• When viewing a post, you can now swipe to expand and view comments.

Chrome:

• As a part of Project Butter, Chrome is optimized for fluid and responsive interaction with web content.
• To get you started, a new product tour guides you through Chrome’s features.
• Quickly change tabs by dragging your thumb from the edges of the screen.
• Chrome has a new look and feel for the "Other Devices" page.
• Chrome now has simplified application-level settings, which are most consistent with the rest of the platform.
• Chrome is the standard browser on Nexus 7.

Maps

• With support for offline maps, you can select an area to cache and access it even when you don't have a data connection.
• Compass Mode for indoor views and street view is more accurate and responsive with gyroscope support.
• With Zagat ratings and reviews built in to Maps, you can quickly get the information you need about places you search for.
• You can now browse Google Offers within Maps to find local deals.
• Get indoor walking directions in Maps.

Currents:

• With performance enhancements throughout the application and updates to the user interface, you can browse articles quickly and intuitively.
• With an enhanced layout engine for articles, you can enjoy dramatic, large images on a variety of articles.
• Currents now uses hardware acceleration to make moving between articles smoother.
• Currents has a new 7" tablet layout that is optimized for the form factor.
• For editions written in other languages, you can now translate text into your preferred language.

 YouTube:

• YouTube has a new, more intuitive user interface, including a guide that provides quick access to your channel subscriptions.
• YouTube can now preload videos from subscribed channels for seamless playback even on slower networks.
• With a new integrated menu, you can easily watch YouTube on the big screen with Nexus Q or YouTube TV.

Gmail:

• Gmail has an optimized view for 7" tablets in portrait orientation to give you a better experience reading email.
• Gmail and Email feature updated notifications will give you a preview and digest of your inbox. Notifications will also now display the full text of new mail.

Google Play

• A new set of recommendations widgets use a variety of signals — content that people with similar tastes have purchased, stuff that's popular around where you live, content people in your Google+ circles have +1'ed, and more — to recommend new content like apps, games, music, and movies.
• A new My Library widget, which displays all of your recent movies, books, music, and magazines and dynamically changes based on what you've been engaging with recently.
• Smart App Updates ensure that only the parts of an application that have changed will be downloaded when you next update it, saving on time, bandwidth, and battery when updating apps.
• Jelly Bean introduces app encryption for paid apps.

Google Play Books:

• Embedded audio tracks and videos can now be easily streamed directly within the book you're reading.
• You can now add bookmarks to remember important information for later or pick up where you left off reading.
• Play Books now offers fixed layout books, optimized for tablet-reading of books with beautifully designed graphics and layouts, like children's books and comic books.
• For visually impaired users, automatic text-to-speech settings have been enabled.

Google Play Movies and TV Shows:

• Movies and TV shows can be quickly downloaded for viewing offline, now with just one tap.
• When you make a new purchase from Google Play, that item will be synced directly to the Play Movies and TV Shows app, ready for you to watch when you open the app.
• You can watch Movies and TV Shows with Nexus Q by using the integrated media routing menu.
• You can zoom in during video playback.

Google Play Music:

• A new Sound Search widget lets you identify songs you hear and purchase them directly from Google Play.
• The Google Play Music widget now lets you thumbs up songs as they're playing and features a new design for better readability.
• Playlist art is automatically created based on the album art of songs in that playlist.
• In the now playing bar, you can swipe between screens.
• The Recent screen features larger album art.
• You can delete tracks within the app.
• There is a Now Playing queue of tracks.
• There is an integrated media routing menu for listening to tracks on Nexus Q, Bluetooth audio devices and headsets.

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Android 4.1, Jelly Bean

Android 4.1, Jelly Bean: The world's most popular platform gets even better

Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, is the fastest and smoothest version of Android yet. Jelly Bean improves on the simplicity and beauty of Android 4.0, and introduces a new Google search experience on Android.

Fast And Smooth

We put Android under a microscope, making everything feel fast, fluid, and smooth. With buttery graphics and silky transitions, moving between home screens and switching between apps is effortless, like turning pages in a book.

More reactive and uniform touch responses mean you can almost feel the pixels beneath as your finger moves across the screen. Jelly Bean makes your Android device even more responsive by boosting your device's CPU instantly when you touch the screen, and turns it down when you don't need it to improve battery life.

Simple, beautiful and beyond smart

Expandable, actionable notifications.

Android has always put you in control when it comes to staying notified and connected. Now you can take action directly from the notifications shade. Late for a meeting? Email everyone to let them know. Missed a call? Call them back in an instant. And because they’re expandable, you can get an even deeper look into the things that matter most, like multiple emails or photos on Google+.

Widgets work like magic.

With Jelly Bean it's now even easier to personalize your home screen. As you place widgets on the screen, everything else automatically moves to make room. When they're too big, widgets resize on their own. Interacting with your favorite apps and customizing your home screen has never been easier.

Seamlessly take and share photos.

Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, made snapping photos super fast; Jelly Bean brings that same speed to the next step: viewing. Just swipe over from camera to filmstrip view to instantly view the photos you just took, and quickly swipe away the ones you don’t like. Now sharing — and bragging — are a breeze.

A smarter keyboard.

Android's dictionaries are now more accurate, more relevant. The language model in Jelly Bean adapts over time, and the keyboard even guesses what the next word will be before you've started typing it. With improved text-to-speech capabilities, voice typing on Android is even better; it works even when you don't have a data connection, so you can type with your voice everywhere you go.

Accessibility.

With Jelly Bean, blind users can use 'Gesture Mode' to reliably navigate the UI using touch and swipe gestures in combination with speech output. Jelly Bean also adds support for accessibility plugins to enable external Braille input and output devices via USB and Bluetooth.

Android Beam.

With Android Beam on Jelly Bean you can now easily share your photos and videos with just a simple tap, in addition to sharing contacts, web pages, YouTube videos, directions, and apps. Just touch two NFC-enabled Android devices back-to-back, then tap to beam whatever's on the screen to your friend. Instantly pair your Android phone or tablet to Bluetooth® devices like headsets or speakers that support the Simple Secure Pairing standard by just tapping them together – no more syncing or searching required.

The new Google experience on Android

The best of Google just got better on Android. The search experience in Jelly Bean has a new look-and-feel, and has faster and more natural Voice Search. And Google Now brings you just the right information, before you even ask.

A new look for Search.

Android has search at its core. With Jelly Bean, a redesigned experience uses the power of the Knowledge Graph to show you search results in a richer way. It's easier to quickly get answers and explore and browse search results.

  

Voice Search.

Sometimes you'd rather just speak your search query. Or just ask a question. Android lets you search the web with your voice, and it's convenient for getting quick answers on the fly. It speaks back to you and is powered by the Knowledge Graph, bringing you a precise answer if it knows it, and precisely ranked search results, so you can always find out more.

Google Now brings you just the right information at just the right time.

Google Now tells you today's weather before you start your day, how much traffic to expect before you leave for work, when the next train will arrive as you’re standing on the platform, or your favorite team's score while they’re playing.

And the best part? All of this happens automatically. Cards appear throughout the day at the moment you need them.

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