All the New Stuff in Android 4.4 KitKat

Here's what you need to know about the Android OS update, Android KitKat brings all of Android's most innovative, most beautiful, and most useful features to more devices everywhere.

KitKat will bring even smarter and easier search to Android, according to the Official Google Blog, and, perhaps more importantly, it's going to be backwards compatible with older devices, so everyone can get in on the fun. A few of the prominent enhancements in KitKat include:

"OK Google" commands and better Google Now integration: How cool will it bewhen you can wake up your phone, start a search, take a photo and so on just by saying "OK Google"? Google Now will also find a place on your homescreen if you like.

Universal, integrated search: Now you'll be able to lookup a number for a business or person directly from the phone dialer-searching across not just your contacts, but also Google Apps and nearby places.

SMS support, location sharing, and animated GIFs in Hangouts: Google announced this yesterday, and it means that Hangouts can be your go-to app for all of your instant messages, video calls, and text messages.

Less memory usage: "KitKat streamlines every major component to reduce memory use" the Android Developer site states. So even old phones running KitKat should be faster and more responsive.

Added support for more capabilities including NFC, print management, and easier file browsing: These are things Android app developers can make use of to enhance their apps.

The official Google blog announcement doesn't say much, but you can expect more details soon at the consumer KitKat site (when it comes up, that is).