Google unveils Android’s latest
tech tips and tricks
Google’s next version of its Android
operating system will boast 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 upgrade will give Android’s personal
assistant, Google Now, expanded powers of intuition that might be greeted as a
great convenience to some and a tad too creepy for others.
Most of the renovations unveiled Thursday at
Google’s annual developers’ conference won’t be available until late summer or
early fall, about the same time 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.
Both Google and Apple are vying to make their
products even more ubiquitous by transplanting much of their mobile technology
into automobiles and Internet-connected televisions and appliances. Google
hopes to play a prominent role in the management of home security and
appliances with a new operating system called Brillo that will interact with
Android devices.
Here’s a closer look at some of the key
features in the upcoming Android upgrade, currently known simply as M.
Now on Tap
Google Now currently learns a user’s
interests and habits by analyzing search requests and scanning emails so it can
automatically present helpful information, such as the latest news about a
favorite sports team or how long it will take to get to work.
With the M upgrade, users will be able to
summon Google Now to scan whatever content might be on a mobile device’s screen
so it can present pertinent information about the topic of a text, a song, a
video clip or an article.
The new Android feature, called Now on Tap,
will be activated by holding down the device’s home button or speaking, “OK
Google,” into the microphone.
That action will prompt Now on Tap to scan
the screen in an attempt to figure out how to be the most helpful. Or, if
speaking, users can just say what they are seeking, such as “Who sings this?”
Google is hoping to provide Android users
with what they need at the precise moment they need it without forcing them to
hopscotch from one app to another.
Mobile payment do-over
Android M will include an alternative to the
mobile payment system Apple introduced last fall. Google’s response, called
Android Pay, will replace Google Wallet for making mobile purchases in stores
and applications. Google Wallet, which came out in 2011, will still work for
sending payments from one person to another.
Like Apple’s system, Android Pay can be used
to store major credit and debit cards in smartphones that can be used to pay
merchants equipped with terminals that work with the technology. Android Pay
will also work on devices running on the KitKat version of Android released
last year.
Source
| Asian Age | 3 June 2015
Regards
Pralhad Jadhav
Khaitan & Co
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