Earlier in the month, Samsung had announced the list of devices slated for KitKat update, and now, Taiwanese technology company Asus has followed suit by releasing the OS update schedule for their flagship PadFone series devices.
The company says the Asus PadFone 2, Padfone Infinity (in Asia and Russia) and PadFone A80 (Europe region) would receive the new firmware by the end of Q2 2014 (i.e. June 30) and the 'New PadFone Infinity' is slated to get the new update in Q3 (between July and September).
The KitKat OS update is said to be accompanied with custom Asus 'ZenUI', which features simple shortcuts for easy access and other enhancements, including visually appealing interface to enrich mobile experience.
Key Asus ZenUI features:
Prioritizes tasks: This feature manages informationby displaying information that is currently the most important and useful to the user, front and center on the lock screen, the home screen and in the notification drawer, making it easy to know about upcoming appointments, including cancellations and time changes, new messages and missed calls from favorite contacts, the weather at an upcoming destination, birthdays and anniversaries and more.
Do It Later: The feature enables user to task at hand without forgetting important things that are scheduled later in the day. If he/she is busy texting or writing an email and a receives a call, a simple tap automatically creates reminder for the user to call the person later. The feature also lets user to save online articles, YouTube video or any webpage to view it later.
Omlet Chat: This open messaging platform features one-to-one and group chat with unlimited member. It also lets user to share photos, stickers, video and audio between select contacts.
Open Cloud: This feature gives the user an option to store photos, music, data in ASUS WebStorage or any other cloud storage services.
Key enhancements of Android v4.4 KitKat OS update:
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.
Priority Contacts: The new OS empowers the phone to automatically prioritize contact list for easy access, based on the frequency of the peoples' contacts to which users talk.
Immersive display: To enhancethe 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 Message grouping: Google has brought in some improvements to the new Hangouts app; now, users can find all their text SMSs and MMSs, audio and video call details all at one place. He/She can also share location and send animated GIFs.
Emoji Characters: Initially users had to install 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.
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.
Multi-tasking: with efficient memory management, users can multi-task by opening multiple applications; Listen to music while you can 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.
