Just in time for Halloween, Google unwraped its latest Android release, KitKat and introduced the Nexus 5 - a new Nexus phone developed with LG.
The first thing you'll notice about KitKat is the new "immersive mode", which brings the book you're reading, the game you're playing, or the movie you're watching to the center, automatically hiding everything except what you want to see.
Of course, Google has made many under the hood. The Phone app has been enhanced to make calling easier. You can now search across your contacts, nearby places, or even Google Apps accounts directly from within the app.
Whenever you get a call from a phone number not in your contacts, your phone will look for matches from businesses with a local listing on Google Maps.
With the new Hangouts app, all of your SMS and MMS messages are together in the same place, alongside your other conversations and video calls.
In addition, Emoji, the colorful Japanese characters, are now available on Google Keyboard.
With KitKat you can also print photos, documents, and web pages from your phone or tablet. You can print to any printer connected to Google Cloud Print, to HP ePrint printers, and to other printers that have apps in the Google Play Store.
From apps like Quickoffice, you can open and save files on Google Drive, other cloud storage services, or your device. And with access to recently used files, it's easier to send the file you were just working on.
Other features of Android KitKat include:
- Support for the Message Access Profile (MAP) so Bluetooth-enabled cars can exchange messages with your devices.
- With your Android device and a Chromecast, you can watch online content from Netflix, YouTube, Hulu Plus, and Google Play on your HDTV.
- Applications that embed web content now use Chrome to render web components.
- Android now supports closed captioning and subtitles. To turn on closed captioning, go to Settings > Accessibility and turn on Captions.
- If you ever lose your device, you can find or wipe it with the Android Device Manager
- The Downloads app has been redesigned, giving you new sorting options and list and grid views for all the files you've downloaded.
- If you love to customize your device and have installed one or more home screen replacements, you can switch between them easily in Settings > Home.
- The redesigned Email app has a fresh new look with nested folders, contact photos and better navigation.
- Your wallpaper now extends through the notification tray and system buttons. And when you change your wallpaper, you can preview just how it will look before you set it.
- On devices with an infrared (IR) blaster, Android now supports applications for remote control of TVs and other nearby devices.
- Access your location settings from anywhere with a new tile in Quick Settings.
- If you want to conserve battery, go to Settings > Location to switch between high accuracy and battery-saving location modes. There's no need to toggle GPS, Wi-Fi, and mobile network settings. And to see which apps have recently requested your location, go to Settings > Location.
- Jump to a specific part of a song or video from your lock screen. Just long press on the play or pause button and then select the point you want.
- Application sandboxes have been hardened with security-Enhanced Linux.
- When you use fitness apps like Moves on Nexus 5, the phone acts as a pedometer to count steps. Android 4.4 and updated hardware make this a more battery-friendly way to measure your activity.
- Android 4.4 introduces a new, open architecture for NFC payments that works with any mobile carrier, and lets apps manage your payment information in the cloud or on your device. Now you can tap to pay with Google Wallet or other apps at more than a million stores.
Improved software and Nexus 5's new hardware mean Android responds to your touch faster and more accurately than before.
With the new Nexus 5 launcher, Google smarts are integrated into the phone. Swipe once from the home screen to get Google Now. When on your home screen or in Google Now, just say "Ok Google" to launch voice search, send a text, get directions or even play a song. And in the coming weeks, Google is enhancing Now with new card types that bring you information about contextual topics that interest you such as updates from a favorite website or blog.
With KitKat, Google has also slimmed down Android?s memory footprint by doing things like removing unnecessary background services and reducing the memory consumption of features that you use all the time. This was done not only within Android but across Google services like Chrome and YouTube. 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.
For KitKat, Google partnered with LG to develop Nexus 5 -- the slimmest and fastest Nexus phone ever made. It has a 5" Full HD display (445 ppi), a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, 2.26GHz procesor, 4G/LTE and wifi connectivity, along with
new camera lens for capturing more light for brighter night and sharper action shots. The camera also features optical image stabilization and a new HDR+ mode, which automatically snaps a rapid burst of photos and combines them.
Nexus 5 is available today, unlocked and without a contract, on Google Play in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan and Korea (and coming soon to India), starting at $349. The Nexus 5 will be also available soon at Sprint, T-Mobile, Amazon, Best Buy and RadioShack.
Android 4.4, KitKat, which comes on Nexus 5, 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.
Below you see a comparison of the new Nexus with the Samsung Galaxy S4, the iPhone 5S, and the Nexus 4:
|
Nexus 5 |
Nexus 4 |
Samsung Galaxy S4 |
Apple iPhone 5S |
Samsung Galaxy S4 |
| Dimensions |
5.4 x 2.7 x .34 inches |
5.2 x 2.7 x 0.36 inches |
5.4 x 2.7 x 0.31 inches |
4.87 x 2.31 . 0.30 inches |
5.4 x 2.7 x 0.31 inches |
| Display |
5-inch full HD IPS; 1,920x1,080 pixels; 445ppi |
4.7-inch full HD IPS; 1,280x768 pixels; 318ppi |
5-inch full HD Super AMOLED; 1,920x1,080 pixels; 441ppi |
4-inch Retina Display; 1,136x640 pixels; 326ppi |
5-inch full HD Super AMOLED; 1,920x1,080 pixels; 441ppi |
| Operating system |
Android 4.4 |
Android 4.2 |
Android 4.2* |
iOS 7 |
Android 4.2 |
| 4G LTE |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Wi-Fi |
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz and 5GHz) |
| NFC |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
| Bluetooth |
v4.0 |
| IR blaster |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
| Wireless charging |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
| Rear camera and recording |
8-megapixel; 1080p full HD video |
8-megapixel; 1080p full HD video |
13-megapixel; 1080p full HD video |
8-megapixel with 1.5 pixels; 1080p full HD video |
13-megapixel; 1080p full HD video |
| Front-facing camera |
1.3-megapixel |
1.3-megapixel |
2-megapixel; 1080p full HD video |
1.2-megapixel camera; 720p HD video |
2-megapixel; 1080p full HD video |
| Processor |
2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 |
1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 |
1.9GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 (US version) |
Proprietary A7 (64-bit) with M7 motion processor |
1.9GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 (US version) |
| Capacity |
16GB and 32GB |
8GB and 16GB |
16GB, 32GB, and 64GB |
16GB, 32GB, and 64GB |
16GB, 32GB, and 64GB |
| Expandable memory |
No |
No |
Expandable up to 64GB |
No |
Expandable up to 64GB |
| Battery life |
2,300mAh embedded; Usage time up to 17 hours; standby time up to 12 days |
2,100mAh embedded: Usage time up to 15 hours; standby time up to 16 days |
2,600mAh removable: Usage time up to 17 hours; standby time up to 12 days |
Embedded: Usage time online up to 10 hours on 4G LTE; standby time up to 10 days |
2,600mAh removable: Usage time up to 17 hours; standby time up to 12 days |
| U.S. Carriers |
T-Mobile, Sprint, and unlocked |
T-Mobile |
AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, C Spire, Cricket, U.S. Cellular |
AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and unlocked |
AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, C Spire, Cricket, U.S. Cellular |
| Colors |
Black and white |
Black and white |
Black, white, red, purple (Sprint only), and brown (Verizon only) |
Space gray, white, and gold |
Black, white, red, purple (Sprint only), and brown (Verizon only) |
Detailed sSpecifications Nexus 5
-
Screen: 4.95" 1920x1080 display (445 ppi), Full HD IPS, Corning Gorilla Glass 3
-
Cameras: 1.3MP front facing, 8MP rear facing with Optical Image Stabilization
-
Dimensions: 69.17x137.84x8.59 mm, 4.59 ounces (130g)
-
Battery:
- 2300 mAh
Talk time up to 17 hours
Standby time up to 300 hours
Internet use time up to 8.5 hours on Wi-Fi, up to 7 hours on LTE
Wireless Charging built-in
- Audio: Built-in speaker, 3.5mm stereo audio connector
- Processing: CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, 2.26GHz
GPU: Adreno 330, 450MHz
- Wireless:
Dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4G/5G) 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
NFC (Android Beam)
Bluetooth 4.0
- Networks: 2G/3G/4G LTE
North America:
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
CDMA: Band Class: 0/1/10
WCDMA: Bands: 1/2/4/5/6/8/19
LTE: Bands: 1/2/4/5/17/19/25/26/41
Rest of World:
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
WCDMA: Bands: 1/2/4/5/6/8
LTE: Bands: 1/3/5/7/8/20
- Memory: Choose 16GB or 32GB internal storage (actual formatted capacity will be less), 2GB RAM
- Ports and Connectors:
microUSB
SlimPort enabled
3.5mm stereo audio jack
Dual microphones
Ceramic power and volume buttons
- Sensors
GPS
Gyroscope
Accelerometer
Compass
Proximity/Ambient Light
Pressure
Hall