Google has pulled back the curtain on its new Android 4.1 OS, which will be available as an over-the-air update to the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S smartphones as well as the Motorola Zoom Android tablet starting in mid-July. It also ships on the Google Nexus 7 tablet.

So, what’s on tap for the future of the world’s most popular mobile operating system? How about new graphics acceleration that will make the OS run (literally) “buttery smooth,” expandable notifications, offline speech recognition (take that, Siri) and a whole new way to search? Keep reading for all the hot new tools and features coming to an Android smartphone or tablet near you.  

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Google Now: Search Without the Work

Google Now is a new way to get data you can use immediately to your device. Traffic automatically populates nearby commuter data and tells you the best route to take to work. Places shows you nearby restaurants, bars, or other venues of interest as you travel. Other new features include live sports scores from your favorite teams (Android knows the sport teams you care more about because it analyzes your search history, if you opt in) and automatic updates on delays for any flights you've searched.

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