Android seeks to make smartphone smarter.
Google announced the next version of its Android mobile operating system, codenamed “Android M,” on Friday at the Google I/O 2015 developer conference. (In case you’re wondering, the company did the same thing with Android 5.0 “Lollipop,” referring to it as “Android L” until just before the software actually launched.) But while Lollipop introduced a ton of new features and a new visual design for the operating system, Android M’s big changes are under the hood.SAN FRANCISCO — Google fired the latest salvos in an escalating arms race among tech’s Big 5 for the hearts, minds and coding of developers at its developers’ conference this week.Google’s updated Android mobile software seeks to make the smartphone smarter, while keeping the search titan relevant in a world where people rely on apps on the go.That’s the approach Google appears to be taking with the launch of Android Pay, a new mobile-payments system that closely mimics the Apple Pay platform launched last fall.
At the eighth annual I/O conference in San Francisco, Google laid out a futuristic road map to a throng of 5,000 software developers, its infantry in the war against Apple, Amazon.com, Facebook and Microsoft. At its annual Google developers conference Thursday, Google offered a preview of Android M, due for release later this year, with an upgraded version of ‘Google Now,’ the voice-activated assistant which competes with rivals like Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana.
Scrambling to play catch-up, Google crucially has cut partnerships with a slew of big retailers including Macy’s, Best Buy, Walgreen, Whole Foods and McDonald’s. Google Now has always been able to pull data from Google apps to do things such as tell you when to leave for an appointment or when to check in for a flight.
The tech titans are locked in a worldwide skirmish to make devices of all kinds smarter — whether smartphones and tablets, wearable devices, Internet-connected televisions, cars or virtual reality. That list of retailers looks a lot like Apple Pay’s, and cutting those partnerships is something that the search giant’s flopped Google Wallet system failed to do when it was launched in 2011. But the service now integrates with third party apps, allowing users to pull up information that’s relevant to whatever they’re doing at the moment.
With most people on the planet within an arm’s length of an electronic device, these five are vying to become the primary vendor-supplying technology underpinning five key battlefields — the Internet of Things, autos, virtual reality, mobile payments and wearable devices — worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Now on Tap responded by showing the artist along with online information about him and the band. ‘You can get information instantly,’ Chennapragada said. ‘The article you are reading, the music you are listening to, the key is understanding the context of the moment. Google’s Near Field Communication technology will be at odds with Samsung’s upcoming “Samsung Pay” platform, which operates using the magnetic stripes of traditional card readers. You are able to get answers to quick questions.’ Broadening the reach of Now also lets Google’s money-making services tag along with smartphone users shifting from using web browsing programs to accessing online services directly from individual applications.
That could pose a big headache for Google, given that Samsung is far and away the most popular Android-based smartphone, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all Android-based devices. Until now, you had to agree to a list of permissions when installing an app, which usually meant allowing that app to use your phone’s microphone, location, contact list, and more. Android Pay, the company’s answer to Apple Pay, lets users make purchases with their connected devices, as payments generally shift away from cash and even plastic and toward secure mobile options. Developers will essentially be letting Google index applications learn more about people’s habits and behaviors to better target ads and keep people loyal to its online services, according to Current Analysis research director Avi Greengart. ‘This helps Google at least as much as it helps developers,’ Greengart told AFP at the gathering. ‘At the end of the day, it feeds into Google advertising. Succeeding in mobile payments is crucial for Google, whose investors have grown increasingly impatient with the company’s inability to generate profits outside its search business.
Broadly, there’s reason for optimism about mobile payments, according to marketing firm Interactions, which estimates that 30 per cent of shoppers already use mobile wallets. Cars from automakers such as Audi and GM were on display at I/O showcasing Android Auto, hammering home the point that car manufacturers today sell their models more on their interconnectivity than their horsepower. Of those who don’t, 62 per cent expect to use it within the next year, according to the firm. “Brillo,” a new operating system for the “internet of Things,” an industry buzzphrase for networks of sensors that are expected to begin networking everything from home appliances to store merchandise. “Cardboard,” a cardboard box that turns an Android-based smartphone into a virtual reality viewer. Some Android phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 4, already have fingerprint sensors, but they’re powered by extra manufacturer software layered over the top of Android.
With Apple Watch capturing most of the wearable spotlight these days, Google was keen to point out that some 3,500 apps are now available for a range of smartwatches powered by Android. •Internet of Things. It was buttressed Thursday with the announcement of Brillo and Weave, new Internet of Thing protocols aimed at making it easier for developers of connected devices to have their gadgets work seamlessly together. •Virtual reality. In what just might be the biggest “wow” of the keynote, Google unveiled an upgraded Cardboard project that intends to bring virtual reality to the masses. Android M also supports USB Type C connectors, which will allow phones to charge about three to five times faster than the micro-USB tech found in today’s Android phones.
That drives more visitors to Google and gives the company more opportunities to sell ads. “This was really all about Android, where previous I/O keynotes were all over the place — Glass, self-driving cars,” says Holger Mueller, principal analyst at Constellation Research. “It was badly needed. Analysts say Google will have to prove that it can attract consumers to new platforms after pulling Google Glass and mixed results for devices that run Android Wear. “(Intelligent personal assistant) Google Now and Photos reflect a true breakthrough in artificial intelligence and deep learning,” says Mark Hung, an analyst at Gartner. “The use of contextual information was impressive.”