Android has released their latest software ‘Jelly Bean’ this week for its newer phones – the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which is one of the first handsets to receive the update. The update promises a number of things, including longer battery life, which will mean less people having to leave their phones plugged in to charge every evening. This update isn’t just energy saving – it also includes a brand new function that directly opposes Apple’s ‘Siri’.
Siri is a voice-controlled application that allows the user to speak directly into the phones speaker and receive an answer to their question or a reaction to their demand immediately. Apple has made this clear in one of their newest advertising campaigns, demonstrating through a range of shots of people making commands; from asking the phone what the weather is like in Paris, and receiving a 5 day weather forecast, to requesting their phone to play their favourite music, in this case‘Daft Punk’.
Android’s answer to this has caused outrage in America, where there was a patent row which resulted in the new Nexus being banned from sale for a short while. It was made available for sale again on the 9th of this month. Another thing that Android has lifted directly from Apple is Google Now, an app that has been designed to offer information without the user even having to make a query. Apple feels that this is also a breach of their patenting laws. Its war of the smartphones, and only the fittest shall survive!