Chinese smartphone maker, Gionee has released the Android 4.4 KitKat on its mid-range handset Elife E3 in India.
The company confirmed the news on the official blog (G Cafe), detailing the installation procedure and the new features of the new Android 4.4 KitKat.
Unlike other companies, Gionee is releasing a downloadable file on the website instead of OTA (Over-The-Air) process, which would have been simpler for novice smartphone users.
Users with no technical knowledge of manual installation are advised to take their devices to authorised service centers and get their phones updated. Others who know a thing or two about phone flashing can log in to Gionee's website and download the file. The company has even provided installation guide with screen shots [HERE].
Gionee Elife E3 made its debut in India in May and shipped with Android v4.2 Jelly Bean OS. Now the new v4.4 KitKat will bring in new features such as re-furbished UI, GioneeXender for optimised performance, 9 Indian regional dialects support and many more tweaks to improve the efficiency of the phone.
Official change-log of Android 4.4 KitKat for Gionee Elife E3:
- Android upgrade to KitKat
- Added 9 Local Indian Languages includes Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu.
- Added one game: Hitout Heroes
- Updated one game: TexasPoker
- Added CamCard, users can conveniently save the contents on business cards into the phone by scanning the card.
- Added TouchPal input method for faster and more efficient typing experience.
- Updated WeChat with a new interactive interface and smoother communication experience.
- Updated UC Browser with optimized UI and page loading effects.
- Updated Saavn for a more enjoyable musical experience.
- Updated NQ Mobile Security for better protection of your phone.
- Updated Kingsoft office for more efficient work and study related operations.
- Updated GioneeXender for optimized performance and further improved the linking success rate.
- Updated Amigo Paper with a brand new UI interface design.
Brief description of the key features of Android v4.4 KitKat OS:
- Priority Contacts: The new OS empowers the phone to automatically prioritize contact list for easy access, based on the frequency of calls made to a number.
- Enhanced Message grouping: Google has brought in some improvements to the new Hangouts app, and now users can find all their text SMSs and MMSs, audio and video call details at one place. They can also share location and send animated GIFs.
- Emoji Characters: Initially users had to install a third party app to use colorful characters in their SMS. Now, with KitKat update, the keypad comes pre-loaded with native Japanese Emoji emotion icons.
- Improved Caller-ID: If a user receives a call from unknown number, the phone will look for matches on the net with local listings via Google Maps.
- NFC and Wireless Printing: Google's new OS comes with a new Quickoffice app where-in people can create and store word documents in cloud storage as well as print files wirelessly on NFC-enabled HP printers.
- Immersive display: To enhance the entertainment factor, the new OS comes with immersive mode, where the status bar and navigation buttons disappear in to the back ground while you play music, games and read e-books. Users can just swipe the edge of the screen to bring backtheutility buttons.
- Enhanced Google Mobile Service (GMS) apps: This application helps users to automatically back-up photos and video clips. They also can create, view, share rename Google Docs and files.
- Location Menu: This integrated location menu enables users easily activate GPS, Wi-Fi and mobile networks, while simultaneously keeping a tab on the battery consumption by the location service based apps.
- Multi-tasking: With efficient memory management, users can multi-task by opening multiple applications; Listen to music while you browse through the net.
- Performance: Like all software updates, the new KitKat enhances smartphone's performance as well as efficient RAM management, leading to increase in battery life.
