Google Now and the enhanced Google Voice Actions are, without doubt, a highlight of Jelly Bean. Google Now can display relevant information, depending on your location and time, with access to some of your data. Voice Actions make Google Now smarter by allowing you to speak into your phone to initiate a Google search, or set an alarm, or a reminder.

The enhanced Voice Actions in Jelly Bean also allow you to directly call someone by simply saying “Call example name.” Here is a small tip to make voice dialing via Google Now/Voice Actions easier.

One of the major issues with the YouTube app on Android is that it only plays back HD videos if your device is connected to a Wi-Fi network. Over 3G, the app only provides the option to playback videos in “HQ” mode.

With Android devices now packing full HD and higher resolution screens, watching videos on HQ mode is quite an eyesore. At the very least, Google should provide an option to view videos in HD mode even when streaming videos over mobile network.

Thankfully, a developer over at XDA forums has released a modded version of the YouTube app that allows for 720p/1080p video playback over 3G or Wi-Fi. The app will be especially handy for DROID DNA, HTC One, Galaxy S4 and other 1080p Android handset users, where videos in HQ mode don’t do justice to the screen of these phones.

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean did not bring any new major feature, but it did bring some usability enhancements like a gesture typing keyboard and lock screen widgets. The current implementation of lock screen widgets in Android 4.2 is pretty poor, though, with the restriction of only one widget and no permanent maximised mode.

However, the ability to keep multiple lock screens with a widget should be a decent workaround for the majority of people out there.

Lock screen widgets will provide access to all your important updates or notifications from your favorite apps or services in just a single glance, without requiring you to unlock your phone every single time. They are especially handy if you use a pattern or numeric lock on your smartphone, since you can view all your important notifications without the need to unlock your phone.

Here are our favorite lock screen widgets for Android.

One of the highlights of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean is Photo Sphere, which allows you to click a 360° panorama picture. Photo Sphere takes Panorama photos to the next level, and actually gives the viewer a sense of being present on that location when viewing them.

Since Photo Sphere is more than just a normal image, you cannot simply upload it to any website to share with your friends. The only way to enjoy Photo Spheres is to upload them to Google+. Even in Android, only the stock Gallery application is fully capable of opening a Photo Sphere in the right format.

Thankfully, a developer has come up with an alternative way to view and share Photo Spheres on Android devices and the web. SphereShare.net will not only allow you to upload your existing Photo Sphere(s) and share them with your friends, but also allow you to view thousands of Photo Spheres uploaded by users from all over the world along with its relevant location data.

It’s like Instagram for Photo Spheres.

The Galaxy S4 is now available in nearly every major market around the world, including the United States, Europe, and Asia. Like with the Galaxy S2 and S3, Samsung has released two variants of the Galaxy S4 – the I9500 that uses the Octa-Core Exynos SoC, and the LTE variant that uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon SoC.

If you own the international variant of the Galaxy S4 (I9500), or the Korean variant (SHV-E300S/K) that uses the Exynos 5 SoC, and are looking to root it, here is how to do so the right way.