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Google’s flagship tablets are to start updating to its latest Android 4.4 KitKat operating system today, the company has announced.
The 10-inch Nexus 10 and both 2012 and 2013 Wi-Fi models of the 7-inch Nexus 7 will receive the update “starting today”, according to the official Android Twitter account.
Starting today, Nexus 7 (2012 and 2013) and Nexus 10 will be getting a tasty update to Android 4.4, KitKat
— Android (@Android) November 13, 2013
If you have a Nexus 7 with 3G or 4G, you’ll be waiting a little longer for the four-fingered upgrade, as will Nexus 4 owners. You’ll be “getting the update soon”, Google promises.
HTC has said its premier phone the One will be updated to Android 4.4 in January, with its developer-friendly Google Edition receiving it later this month. Samsung has said it will announce updates “in due course”. Google says it’s designed KitKat with low-powered devices in mind, with it running on gadgets with as little as 512MB RAM, so even cheap phones should be able to handle the update.
KitKat has some interface tweaks you may find useful, including a Google search bar at the top of every page. You start with just three pages — your home page, a dedicated Google Now page to the left (rather like HTC’s Blinkfeed) and a Google Play widget to the right. New pages are added further to the right.
Less handy is that there’s no basic text app anymore — texts are handled by Hangouts by default, which means all your Gchat IMs from all your accounts are in the same place, which I’ve personally found very confusing on the Nexus 5. The beauty of Android is that you can change pretty much everything if you tinker enough, so you can just install a new text app and set that to default.
Have you had the update yet? What do you think of KitKat’s new tweaks? Have a break down in the comments, or roll out to our Facebook page.
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