Google has started uploading the latest version of its Android operating system, i.e. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, to users' smartphones. As expected, Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ owners will be the first to receive the update. The HSPA+ version is available in the UK, most of Europe, and the United States.
According to Google, the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean software offers an improved search experience. It does not seem, however, to have tweaked the system to address a patent issue that caused a brief ban on Galaxy Nexus smartphone sales in the United States. The patent dispute stemmed from the fact that Jelly Bean poses a direct challenge to Apple's voice-operated virtual assistant, Siri.
Google said it has enhanced Voice Search in order to display answers to spoken questions. The answers will include various sources such as Wikipedia, the CIA World Factbook, and Freebase, a community-run knowledge database. Moreover, the search giant also introduced Google Now, an exciting new feature designed to offer information without the user having to actively activate a query.
"Google Now tells you today's weather before you start your day, how much traffic to expect before you leave for work, or your favorite team's score as they are playing," touted the search giant on its Google+ social network, in an update to the Nexus page.
Both the Voice Search and the Google Now features, however, are potentially infringing on an integrated search patent filed by Apple. Back in December, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted Apple intellectual property rights to the concept of gathering search results from various sources using different techniques, and presenting them in "a unitary interface." The Cupertino, California-based tech giant uses the innovation to power its popular virtual assistant, Siri.
After Apple filed a complaint that Samsung has infringed the patent in question by including integrated search functionality in the Galaxy Nexus handset, last week A U.S. court imposed a sales ban on the handset in the U.S. The ban was later lifted, but several reports indicated that Google would amend Android to limit its quick-search and voice-search features to display only Web-based results.
Google's Jelly Bean rollout follows news from Microsoft that it has reached patent agreements with two more companies who install Android on their devices. Microsoft has filed lawsuits against companies that have refused to pay a fee, alleging that several of its inventions have been incorporated in Google's system. New York-based tablet maker Coby Electronics and California-based Aluratek, the last two companies to sign agreements with Microsoft, join Samsung, LG, HTC, and other who have signed similar licensing deals. Microsoft is currently trying to secure an agreement with Google's Motorola hardware unit.
