Android KitKat 4.4.3: Update Gets New Phone Dialer

Android KitKat 4.4.3: Update Gets New Phone Dialer
Hugo Barra, vice president Android product management at Google, displays the new Nexus 7 tablet on Wednesday, July 24, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Jack Phillips
6/3/2014
Updated:
7/18/2015

The Android 4.4.3 KitKat update getting rolled out over the next few days will feature a brand-new dialer.

The update is for the Google Nexus 5, Nexus 4, Nexus 10, and the Nexus 7. T-Mobile began announcing that it started the update Monday.

The 4.4.3 KitKat update is also listen on Google’s “Factory Images for Nexus Devices” page.

According to Droid-Life, the update appears to have only a few minor changes, including the Phone app. The app appears to look more like Gmail and has more color.

The People app also got a change.

AP: Samsung to release phone with Tizen OS

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday it will begin selling a smartphone that runs on its Tizen operating system in the third quarter of this year, advancing the company’s plans to reduce dependence on Google’s Android software.

Samsung, the world’s top smartphone maker by sales volume, said in a statement that the smartphone calledSamsung Z will go on sale in Russia first. It said there are plans to sell the phone in other countries but didn’t name them.

Tizen is already used in a few Samsung products including a smartwatch but has not been deployed in a mass produced smartphone until now.

Unlike Apple Inc. with its own operating system, Samsung’s popular Galaxy smartphones and tablets use Google’s open source Android platform, a reliance that prevents Samsung from challenging the dominance of Apple’s App Store and Google Play in the lucrative market for smartphone apps.

The Tizen phone will have preinstalled apps and users will have access to additional apps through Tizen Store.

Samsung has been encouraging the development of Tizen apps but the numbers available are likely to be small in comparison to the App Store and Google Play.

The South Korean company said the Tizen smartphone has a 4.8-inch high definition display, a fingerprint sensor for security and a “slim, angular” design.

It said the operating system will allow users to browse the Internet faster and utilize applications more effectively.

Superficially, users may not perceive much difference from the Android operating system because it and Tizen share Linux as the underlying framework.

The Samsung Z will be shown at a Tizen developer conference in San Francisco this week.

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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