You can now access the Google search from your home screen with a quick short cut.
Press the menu key and hold it for couple of seconds. This will launch the Google Search.
Note: This short cut may work only on selected phone models and selected Android version.
The Android version 4.1 (Jelly Bean) offers new kind of notifications – Expandable Notifications.
The expandable notifications can be expanded and collapsed to see more detailed info and actions. For e.g. an email notification can be expanded to see the subject and few lines of the content.
Additionally, you can take some actions also directly from the notification like Delete, Reply – without opening the email completely.
To expand the notification – touch the notification with both fingers and swipe down / expand as shown in the image below.
Samsung Swype keyboard has introduced a much needed feature for Indian customers – Typing in Hin-Glish.
Note: This option is available only in the latest Android version: Jelly Bean
In India, typing in Hinglish (typing Hindi words in English for e.g. Kya kar rahe ho) is very common. Samsung realized this and they introduced this special language in the Swype keyboard.
To activate this option, Go to Settings > Language & Input > Swype Settings > Language Options and download languages.
Another way to reach this settings is: Open some text editor so that the keyboard appears. Do a long press on the space bar. The Swype keyboard will offer you to change input language and will give an option to download more languages.
We all know how to type in upper case – by taping the caps lock key.
However, this types only one character in upper case and then the caps lock is turned off automatically. If you want to keep the CAPS lock on, then tap it twice continuously.
If you tap again, the CAPS lock will be turned off.
You can get navigation directions very easily using Google Now. In order to enable this feature, you must set your Home and work location in the Google Now settings.
To set these locations, open your Google Now settings. Go to Traffic card settings. Set your home / work location as shown.
Now onwards, Google now will automatically tell how details like how much time to reach home / office etc.
In the Jelly Bean Android version, Google introduced an intelligent personal assistant : ‘Google Now’. Google Now gives you all the relevant information at the time you need it. For e.g. :
Like wise it has many useful features. And you don’t have to ask / search for this information manually; It tells you automatically.
This information is presented in the form of cards. Activate these cards and get the relevant info automatically.
To activate cards, just click on the Google search widget and go to settings to activate cards. The below image shows the whether and the commute cards.
Tethering is the process of sharing the mobile internet connection with other devices. For e.g. you can share your mobile internet connection with your tablet via WiFi.
If you are tethering via WiFi, then your tablet will consider it as a normal WiFi connection and it can consume large amount of data which can be costly.
In the Jelly Bean Android version, you can designate certain WiFi networks as mobile hot spots. Thus, even though it is a WiFi connection, the system will treat it as a mobile internet connection. You can then control the internet usage by disabling background services etc.
You can also set apps to warn you before using these networks for large download.
To mark certain WiFi networks as mobile hotspots, go to Settings > Wireless & Networks > Data Usage > Mobile Hotspots
In the latest Android version – Jelly Bean, Google has added a new feature named : Google Now. You can talk to Google Now and give voice commands just like Siri.
For e.g. to create a new alarm, just say: “Set alarm for 9:00 a.m. tomorrow”
Just click on the microphone button in the Google search widget to start giving commands.
The reboot to safe mode has saved many PCs from crashing. In the Android Jelly Bean version, android provides you option to reboot to safe mode if some thing goes wrong.
This is a great tool if one of your 3rd party apps is causing a trouble and you want to hunt it. To reboot to safe mode:
If you reboot to safe mode, all the 3rd party apps will be disabled. These apps will be enabled again when you reboot normally.
In the Jelly Bean version of Android, you can adjust various volume controls directly from your home screen. Just press the volume button (volume up or down) key and you will get the familiar slider to control the volume settings.
Next to this, there will be a settings icon which will expand the settings and will show separate sliders for media, ringtone, notifications and system. You can slide each one of them individually.
This is a great short cut 
