| In the modern world, technology moves fast – way to state the obvious, right? One of the drawbacks is the transition period between the old software and the new software, like when one goes from Windows 7 to 8, or from Android's Ice Cream Sandwich to Jelly Bean, or from Apple's iOS 6 to 7. The initial time spent with the new OS is often determining which apps are broken and which ones need updated, or how drastically the OS was changed from the previous version to now. When the dust settles though, you have a moment to reflect on the cool things that happened with that massive update, which robbed you of precious time that could have been spent browsing your library site on your phone or tablet in search of some new reading material. Top 3 Cool, New Features in Android 4.3 AKA "Jelly Bean": - Bluetooth Smart Ready – Looking forward to that fabled smart watch, or the latest innovation in fitness bands and heart rate monitors? Bluetooth Smart devices connect to Android devices to provide specific information that can be translated by apps. For instance, take the heart monitor: You're out for a run listening to an audiobook in OverDrive Media Console. Just as you hit the 3 mile mark, take a look at the Android app that links to your heart monitor, and see if the increase in beats per minute is due to a faster lap time, or the suspense of the title you're listening to. Jelly Bean is ready for these devices and the improvement to the Bluetooth tech that will allow these devices to use less battery life on both your phone, and the Bluetooth gadget.
- Improvements to Digital Rights Management – Do you like to stream Netflix or Hulu on your device? Those streams are traveling to you with DRM baggage. Google has improved the way the operating system handles DRM protocols by making the DRM framework modular, that is to say allowing developers to integrate the protocols on the app side. What all that technobabble means is that Android can manage the DRM encoded stream to make it play and look better. This must mean OverDrive Streaming Video will be here before we know it. Have you added video to your OverDrive service? You may want to sign-up for video now so your site is ready when streaming video launches.
- Support for multiple and/or restricted profiles – This is a big one. Much like the desktop computer of old, tablets are becoming the family's shared tech of choice these days. Before the newest iteration of Jelly Bean, as well as the older versions of Android, you only got one profile per device, meaning everyone had the same level of access to every app, every website. Now, you can set up separate profiles where each profile is its own environment, with its own storage, widgets, apps, system account, and level of access, including restricting web access to younger users. Since each profile has its own apps, OverDrive Media Console will have a separate bookshelf for each profile. This way, Mom can keep her saucy romance novels separate from junior's Harry Potter books, or Dad's science fiction. Something tells me we may be seeing a lot more sessions at libraries on how to use this feature.
Top 3 Cool, New Features in iOS7: - Control Center – Swipe up from the bottom of the screen, and the Control Center is there. You can manage AirDrop settings, screen brightness, any music playing, airplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, screen orientation, and more. With this easily accessible Control Center, you can quickly turn on the Bluetooth to continue to enjoy an audiobook in your car, turn on Wi-Fi to download the next five parts of "War and Peace", or even adjust the brightness for better readability of that book you just can't put down.
- Auto-updates in the app store – I think this feature speaks for itself. When that new version of OMC is released, iOS 7 can be told to download the app automatically, without needing to manually go into the app store, find your app, and tap that update button. What's not to love with making updating apps even easier?
- Siri can open apps – You can now tell Siri to open an app for you. However, you can't tell her which title to open in OMC once the app has been opened. Still, it's pretty cool that you can long-press that home button and say "Siri, open OverDrive Media Console,” and jump into some more reading. Perhaps, Apple will add a little more functionality in the future so you can say, "Siri, open OMC, and play 'The Hobbit'," and she can drop you back into Middle Earth.
Apple's cooler features are much simpler to describe, which really speaks to their design aesthetic of giving you just enough to get going. By contrast, Android's cooler features are a little more granular, and require more explanation, speaking loud and clear to the more "techie" aesthetic of Android. Either way, both Google and Apple are working day and night to provide the best their respective operating systems have to offer. It's also great to see that so many of the new features can also help to improve your OverDrive reading experience. Justin Noszek is a Support Services Specialist at OverDrive.  |
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