New Delhi: In line with our expectation, Google announced the next version of its Android operating system - Android M - at its annual developers' conference Google I/O 2015. The new Android M operating system, which is the successor to Android Lollipop, boasts new ways to fetch information, pay merchants and protect privacy on mobile devices as the Internet company duels with Apple in the quest to make their technology indispensable.
The new OS focuses on six key areas which include customisable app permissions, smoother app-to-web experience, enhanced app-linking capability, Android Pay, fingerprint support, and better battery management. Google is also working with device manufacturers to bring the latest USB Type-C connectors to enhance the Android M experience.
Android M is aimed at providing a better web and app-to-web experience. The new OS includes a new Chrome custom tabs feature that loads content faster and offers features like save passwords, auto fill, multi-process security, among others. The new app-linking capability lets you seamlessly switch between apps through links without any disambiguation prompt. For example, if you receive a verified Twitter link in your email, tapping on it will lead you directly to the post in the Twitter app without any extra prompts about where you want to open the link.
With Android M, Google has made multitasking less of a battery woe. It has included a new Doze feature that has motion detection which optimizes battery usage. When the dozing feature is enabled, the device still continues to send notifications about priority-based activities.
The fingerprint functionality in Android M can be used either as a standalone feature to unlock Android devices or to authorize either Android Pay transactions, Google Play store purchases, or partner e-commerce app purchases.
Other features of the newest Android M include easy word selection toolbar, direct share for apps and content, Now on Tap - a new capability to assist users in real time, and improved volume controls.
The upgrade will give Android's personal assistant, Google Now, expanded powers of intuition that may be greeted as a great convenience to some and a tad too creepy for others.
Most of the renovations unveiled on Thursday at Google's annual developers' conference won't be available until late summer or early fall, around the same time that Apple is expected to release the latest overhaul of the iOS software that powers the iPhone and iPad.
The annual changes to Android and iOS are becoming increasingly important as people become more dependent on smartphones to manage their lives. Android holds about an 80 percent share of the worldwide smartphone market, with iOS a distant second at 16 percent, according to the research firm International Data Corp.
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