Android 4.3 Jelly Bean will seem to roll out after the Google I/O conference this May 15th and speculations of new features with the upcoming Android version leaked out. HTC teases two new technologies rumoured to appear on Android 4.3 - the Bluetooth Low Energy and OpenGL ES 3.0.

According to Android Authority, HTC has given too much information of two features on the rumoured Android 4.3 Jelly Bean OS. While there is no direct confirmation of Android 4.3 or Android 5.0 coming up on the Google event, it is a good thing to know bits of what's going to happen.

BLE or Bluetooth Low Energy

This technology is still based on the classic Bluetooth we all know but with improvements making it different to the current Bluetooth mobile phones use. Compared to the standard Bluetooth, the BLE has reduced power consumption and costs less without severing the communication range.

Nokia in 2006 originally introduced Bluetooth LE under the codename "Wibree," but later merged with the main Bluetooth standard in 2010. As of now, Android OS does not support BLE, although some devices such as Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 have compatible hardware ready for the technology.

Other mobile devices compatible with BLE are iPhone 4s, iPad 3rd & 4th gen, iPad Mini, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2, Lumia 820, Lumia 920 and Surface Pro.

OpenGL ES 3.0

OpenGL is a graphics specification for shading, texturing, rendering and other similar factors used in mobile phones, PDAs and video gaming consoles. OpenGL ES 3.0 was released on August 2012 and enable applications to have new visual features such as:

  • Multiple enhancements to enable acceleration of advanced visual effects.
  • Greatly enhanced texturing function including 3D textures, depth textures, cube maps and sampler objects.
  • Reduces implementation variability and making it much easier to write portable applications.

If these two new technologies are featured in the upcoming Android version, Bluetooth will be more efficient and the graphics rendering of user interface and games will become smoother, faster and more responsive.