Android 4.1 Jelly Bean presented at Google I/O 2012

Google officially introduced Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" at the Google I/O 2012 conference. This new mobile operating system will be published by mid-July for the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S and Xoom smartphones. One of its biggest new features is Project Butter, an effort to improve Android's performance and response time. Also new is a tweaked home screen, an improved camera app, an updated notification system, and enhanced search functions.

The whole system hums along at 60fps now, and while the difference of a few milliseconds might sound like small potatoes, it becomes glaringly apparent the moment you run Jelly Bean next to an ICS device. Animations are smoother and quicker. The CPU immediately ramps up the moment a touch is detected to ensure speedy response.

The home screen has also been tweaked, adding some nice features like dynamically resizing widgets, so you no longer have to place it, resize it then move it to where you want if there isn't enough room. If there is room, but your app icons are merely in the way, the widget will automatically push them to the side. And, in a nice, slick touch, apps and widgets can be removed by flicking them off the screen. Another extremely welcome touch is the addition of offline voice input. Now you can tap the microphone and dictate a message even with the phone in airplane mode.