So, Google has just released the Android 4.1 SDK, so lets take a quick look it what’s in there 
for game developers.
- Vsync support, screen refreshing at 16 ms
- systrace, a new kernel level profilinge tool
- input device querying
- low level media codec access
- multi-channel audio
- audio pre-processing
- audio chaining ( transition on audio effect to the next )
- new renderscript extensions
- improved HTML5 rendering speeds
- improved JavaScript engine speeds
Well, that’s about it. Audio get’s a pretty big boost in capability and it will be interesting to see the results of universal vsync. Otherwise a pretty minor update. On the bright side, it shouldn’t really result in any more fragmentation.
From a non-gaming perspective, it also adds resizable widgets, smart updates ( only update the parts that changed! Long overdue ), many new notification options and a bunch of graphical fluff.
So, how many years until 4.1 has more than a 1% install base? Considering I am still waiting for my Galaxy Note to be upgraded from 2.3, I’m not holding my breath.
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