How do you use Android Jelly Bean version 4.2?

Last month, Google released Android version 4.2... an upgrade on the July-released Jelly Bean. It's pretty sweet.

You know how you dismiss the upgrade iTunes reminders dozens of times before eventually upgrading, and more often than not you don't see a change? (Ok, to be fair iTunes is a solid program, which I do use.) Well, not so with Android upgrades. Upgrades always seem zippier, smoother, and just cool feature-filled. The camera in 4.2, in addition to changes in the notifications bar capabilities are probably the biggest changes. Feature-by-feature, this is what's new in Android Jelly Bean, version 4.2:

• Any HDMI-enabled TV can display what's on your Android, wirelessly. All you need is a wireless display adapter, and your phone can beam to the TV.
• A feature that I thought pretty whatever until I thought about it more is the phone's screensaver mode. Like a computer, instead of just going black, your screen can default to a screensaver-style display. This could be slideshows of your gallery pics, your news feeds, etc. It's pretty neat. Think about it.
• Before Jelly Bean, notifications were simply info and a port to open the app where you take action; now you can actually choose some options from notifications. For example, if you have a reminder pop up, you could choose to email the participants or dismiss the reminder right from the drag-down notifications bar.
• Battery life is improved in this Android version, through a brilliant feature in which your fingers on the screen increase CPU usage, which goes semi-standby when not in use. Touchscreen and speed improvements are noticeable... zippy is my word of choice.
• Now we've all seen the spectacular Samsung Galaxy S3 commercials, in which device owners share content just by touching the phones. Did you know the S3 isn't the only phone that can do this? Android Beam is a new program that uses a tap to wirelessly beam just about anything on the screen between two phones with the program.
• Widgets (my number one reason to prefer Android over iPhone) have taken a big step in this version. Now when you drop a widget on your screen, instead of that irritating message that it doesn't fit, which causes you to lose the widget you were holding and have to dig it up again, now other widgets will resize to make room for the new one. That's very friendly of them, don't you think? 
• Google Now makes your phone into even more of a personal assistant. You get weather every morning, location-based info such as train schedules, etc. Google searching has also improved, as well as capability to browse the web with your voice.
• The Photo Sphere camera is a huge improvement in Jelly Bean 4.2. Basically, the camera shoots in all directions, and joins the photos together, rather like a very intelligent, vertical and horizontal panorama software.
• Last, and probably least, Google is now excited about gesture typing. But I already knew about gesture typing, and I already like Swype (see this article about the Swype keyboard) muchly, so I'm not excited about this. Sorry, Google.

This Android 4.2 upgrade of Jelly Bean is pretty impressive. I love software developers that understand the importance of upgrades upgrading something.

How do you get movie theater information on an Android?

My favorite new movies always seem to be released in the month of December; summer action flicks can be fun, but I find that pre-Christmas releases more often catch my attention... such as the nostalgic continuation of the Peter Jackson/J.R.R. Tolkien collaboration, in the form of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which made its appearance just yesterday.

Until recently, you had to reserve tickets either by calling the theater or by pulling up the website on a computer or tab. Fandango's app has now added ticket-purchasing capability for over 20,000 movie theaters, which means you can see what's playing, watch trailers, check showtimes, and buy your tickets all in this one app.

The Fandango app, which has won three Webby awards, uses GPS to show you movies playing around your location in the next hour, lists most tweeted movies, allows you to sign up for alerts indicating when a movie hits your theater, and can operate in tandem with your Android's Voice Actions function, in addition to all the other features you expect in a movie app.

Click here to get the Fandango App from the Google Play Store

How do you compete with Siri, on an Android?

Do you think it's logical that Siri, the alternative to the earlier-released Android voice command program, is considered, by popular opinion, to dominate the voice command aspect of smartphones? Odd, considering that Android's came out first and, in unbiased tests, typically is declared the winner by a small margin. Do you know why, against all odds, Siri is more widely popular than Android's Voice Actions? Because of her name -- Siri; it's fun to say. Well, allow me to explain why this, once again, backs up Android-lovers' claim that the Android smartphone is customizable to be my perfect smartphone, not Steve Job's perfect smartphone. iPhone users must call their robotic assistant Siri; that is her name. It just so happens that I would prefer to name my own voice command program. Her name is Layla. What is yours named?

Now let us compare Siri and Layla. I don't hide that I am biased toward Android (but my bias is founded in fact... I decided Android was better, and then became biased), but I do try to be fair in my comparisons. Siri is, in most points, comparable to Layla. Both can, with few errors, transcribe texts and emails, play music, call contacts, search the web, transcribe notes, open webpages, give navigation directions... and much more. When asked to navigate to a website, Layla is superior; she will pull up the site homepage, while Siri will usually pull up a search engine page with the site's links, adding an extra step. Siri also has what I would call an inferior navigation system. iPhone ironically now has access to Google Maps, but this is not what Siri uses when asked to navigate to an address, meaning no turn-by-turn directions directly from her. The navigate feature on my Android is one I've used extensively (it's especially convenient if I'm wearing non-touchscreen compatible gloves, and Layla can do the work for me), and have actually encountered no problems. Compared side-by-side with my Siri-toting friends, Layla was faster, more accurate, and found my destination without fail. Layla can also be asked to call a business that is not in my contacts, and she will track down the number, then dial it. Siri requires extra steps to get to the point of placing the call.

Get Voice Actions for Android here, if it is not yet installed on your smartphone. And don't forget to give him or her the name you think your personal assistant should have.