Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich announcement round-up

For Google and Android fans around the world, today has been a big day, as Google teamed up with Samsung to announce the Galaxy Nexus and Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich”. Many new features were shown off today at the event, including the Galaxy Nexus, so we have compiled a list of everything to know from the Google event in case you missed it or were asleep.

Galaxy Nexus

The Galaxy Nexus specifications were fully leaked an hour before they were unveiled at the event in Hong Kong. They include:

A 4.65-inch 1280 x 720 HD Super AMOLED display
HSPA+ or LTE (depending on region)
1.2 GHz dual-core processor (TI OMAP 4460)
1 GB of RAM
16 or 32 GB of internal storage
5 MP rear camera with flash; 1.3 MP front camera
Full HD 1080p video recording at 30 FPS; zero shutter lag
Bluetooth 3.0 and dual-band WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n
NFC and a barometer
8.94mm thin; 135g light
1,750 mAh battery

We also have a convenient comparison table between the Galaxy Nexus and the Galaxy S II, iPhone 4S and HTC Sensation. In most cases, the Galaxy Nexus is the victor.

The Galaxy Nexus will be available in the United States, parts of Europe and Asia starting in November; more regions to follow. You can register your interest in the device at Google's Nexus website.

Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich”

Google announced a plethora of new features in Android 4.0, and while many improvements are visual, there are still core enhancements being made. Below we have listed some of these new features so you can quickly get an idea what Google has introduced in Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS).

Honeycomb-styled interface
New Roboto typeface used throughout the UI
New lockscreen featuring quick unlock to camera and notification pane access
Improvements to multitasking and the notification pane
Resizable widgets
Quick SMS responses when rejecting incoming calls
Improvements to text input, autocorrect and copy & paste
Real-time voice-to-text input
Full control over data usage, including usage notifications
New contacts app featuring better social integration and “Me” profile
More advanced Calendar and Gmail apps
Improved Gallery featuring a photo editor
Improved Camera app including panorama mode and easy sharing
Cloud connectivity with automatic Google Chrome bookmark sync
Offline access to emails (past 30 days by default) and web pages (when you save them)
Face unlock using facial recognition technology
Android Beam for NFC sharing of loads of content
Integrated visual voicemail and appropriate APIs
Integrated screenshots from hardware button combination
Support for high-density mobile displays such as the Galaxy Nexus’ 720p display
Many, many new APIs

For developers out there, the Android 4.0 SDK with all the improved and new APIs is now available from Google’s developer website.

The first device to be loaded with ICS is, obviously, the Galaxy Nexus, but the OS is also heading to the Nexus S at some point. It is unclear, however, if ICS will make its way to the older Google Nexus One. It is also unclear whether smartphone manufacturers will update their devices to ICS, or which devices will end up being updated. Hopefully carriers and manufacturers will announce their intentions soon.

Also, check out Google's ICS screenshots in the gallery below