Top 5 features of Android 4.3 Jelly Bean

Android 4.3 is available from today if you're the proud owner of a Nexus 7, and it will also be coming 'soon' on the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 Google versions. Many believed that Android 4.3 Jelly Bean would make an appearance at the search giant's annual IO conference which took place in May, but sadly no such announcement was made.

 1. Addition of Restricted Profiles:

This feature is for users who have kids. Android has allowed you to have multiple users for some time now, but with this version you can finally have restricted profiles.You can keep junior out of your, ah, questionable apps or Web sites.

Technically, it means that you can set up separate environments for each user with fine-grained restrictions in the apps that are available in those environments.

According to Google, "Each restricted profile offers an isolated and secure space with its own local storage, home screens, widgets, and settings. Unlike with users, profiles are created from the tablet owner’s environment, based on the owner’s installed apps and system accounts. The owner controls which installed apps are enabled in the new profile, and access to the owner’s accounts is disabled by default."

2.  Bluetooth Smart Ready support:

 The new Android OS now includes native Bluetooth Smart support or Bluetooth Low-Energy. Devices such as the Nexus 4 and the new Nexus 7 are now Bluetooth Smart Ready. Furthermore, Bluetooth AVRCP 1.3 support has been added, meaning that song names will now be displayed on car stereos.

3.  Graphics Capabilities:

 Android 4.3 now supports OpenGL ES 3.0 – “the latest version of the industry standard for high performance graphics“. In a nutshell, version 3.0 supports better and more complex 2D and 3D graphics, as well as new options for texture compression and shaders. Evidently, this will allow app developers to create more graphically advanced applications / mobile games.

4.  Notification Access:

 People love those notifications at the top of their Android display. I know I do. I'm constantly checking them. Until this new version of Android appeared developers couldn't access this data stream. Now they can. That is, if you, the user, allow them to.

What developers can do is register a notification listener service that, with your blessing, will receive all the data notifications when they're displayed in the status bar. Developers can then launch applications or services for a new class of "smart" apps.

5.  Improved Audio:

For owners of devices that feature stereo speakers (such as the new Nexus 7), Android 4.3 brings virtual surround audio to the table. This particular feature delivers a quasi-surround effect which has been used for various speakers and headphones for many years. For the Android platform however, this is a new addition and it’s most welcomed.