You must have watched our live Google I/O coverage. In order to summarise the event we are going to tell you what google exactly announce yesterday. So here we go.
1: Android M
Starting the keynote, Google Senior Vice President Sundar Pichai announced the new os version of Android for this year and that Android M. With Android M users will get some new and interesting features. Android M Developer Preview is now available on the Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, and Nexus Player. Some of the newest Android M features are as under:
App Permissions:
The first new feature is “App permissions,” simplifying what data users allow apps to access. In this new model, apps on Android M will no longer ask for a lengthy permissions list upon installation, but instead prompt the user for permission when the app needs to use a feature. So if you want to send an audio note via whatsapp, Whatsapp will ask you to give it access to the mic. This is the way the new app permission will work.
Doze:
This is the new power management in Android M through which the devices can last 2x longer than Lollipop. This new management system detects motion of the device and goes to the deep sleep mode when the device is not moved for a long period. This helps device save some juice. Doze basically shuts down all background applications during the night, but can still turn on alarms and receive high priority notifications such as Hangouts messages.
Now on Tap:
Now on tap is a new feature in Google Now that will come in Android M. This new feature is really cool and helps you a lot. To assist you in your daily life, Google Now wants to provide proactive answers. The Now On Tap is another way to give you information about what’s on the screen. For example you can listen to Skrillex on Google Music and pause to ask Google “What is his real name,” and it will know you mean to ask about the artist you’re currently listening to or if you have an email about a new movie just press and hold the home button and now on tap will get all information about the movie on your screen including its rating, IMDB and trailer link. This is like smart search.
2: Android Pay
What we told you before, Google announced Android Pay at Google I/O. With Android Pay, users can sync all of their debit cards, credit cards, and loyalty cards inside one service. Google said that Android Pay is based on three things “Security, simplicity, and choice,”. This is a new way to pay for goods and services with your Android phone. As of right now, Google has a large handful of partners, such as Best Buy, Whole Foods, and McDonalds, but the list will continue to grow.
Also Read: Android “M” is Android Milkshake
With Android Pay, you unlock your phone and place it near a merchant’s contactless terminal. You don’t need to open an app. You’ll also see payment confirmation and get transaction details on your phone. Just select “Buy with Android Pay.” At a partnered merchant, users can use tap-to-pay to make purchases through NFC technology, or use the service to make purchases through applications. For more security Android Pay will also support fingerprint authentication to approve purchases.
3: Native Fingerprint Support
With Android M the devices will now have an option to be unlocked with fingerprint scanner. Since it depends on hardware so from now on every device running Android M will have fingerprint scanner. This Fingerprint scanner can also be used in apps like Android Pay for secure payments and other things.
4: Google Photos
Google made its new Photos app official today during the I/O keynote. The new app is called “Google Photos”. a new, standalone product that gives you a home for all your photos and videos, helps you organize and bring your moments to life, and lets you share and save what matters. Google Photos is like Google+ Photos. The concept is same behind the app is to sync your gallery things in the cloud. With Google Photos you’ll get free unlimited photos and video storage for life. All photos will be backed up in high quality ie. up to 16MP resolution and 1080p.
The new effects or features include pinch in and out for different views based on days, months and years. This will help you find old photos. The other cool feature on Google Photos is drag to select, Instead of selecting photos one by one now you can select one photo and drag it to the end to select others. It’s like selection in Windows. If you want to give Google Photos a try, it’s available now on Android, iOS and the web.
5: USB Type-C
After Apple has made USB Type-C port the only port in their new Macbook, Google also did same. Now Google is offering USB Type-C support in Android M. This depends on the hardware, Google said that it is working with many smartphone makers to make USB Type-C a standard.
6: Google Play
Google is changing the way it shows results on Google Play Store. For example, searching for “shopping” no longer brings up the most popular shopping apps, but relevant sections such as “Coupons” and “Fashion.”
Family Friendly Search:
Google play new features include the family friendly search.For parents, they can also look for a Family Star badge to find content that’s kid-friendly. They can even look for popular children’s entertainment characters and search for related content. This will help parents decide what app is good for children.
Also Read: 3 Best Android Apps For Kids
HBO Now:
The other best thing which many people were waiting is HBO Now. Google confirmed that HBO Now, the US broadcaster’s new streaming service, will be available on Google Play later this summer. HBO Now costs $14.99 a month, which is quite the premium price, but with it, you can watch Game of Thrones episodes, Silicon Valley and many more.
7: Project Brillo
Brillo is another operating system by Google for IoT devices. Brillo is derived from Android that will run on low-end devices.This will provide low power, wireless solution that can be easily scalable to all types of Android devices. Brillo is using its own language, Weave, to communicate between the Brillo, device and cloud. Brillo will launch in Quarter 3; Weave will come out in Q4.
8: Offline connectivity
Google talked about its efforts to make its apps available offline in countries where internet is limited. With YouTube and Chrome offline support Google announced Offline Maps. This will help access Google Maps location search and directions without requiring an internet connection.While in offline mode Google Maps will still contains all the same information that an online user sees, such as business locations, ratings for businesses, autocomplete for addresses, and even navigation. Offline Maps will be available later this year.
9: Google Inbox
Google Inbox is now open to all. Now you can get access to Inbox without an invitation. And not only is it open to all, the Inbox crew tossed in a bunch of really great features like Undo send, Trip bundles, custom signatures and swipe-to-delete
10: Updated Cardboard
The new updated cardboard performs the same as earlier but the new cardboard will now take only 3 steps to assemble it and supports up to 6″ devices.
Expeditions:
There’s a new “Expeditions” program that lets teachers control virtual field trip destinations from a tablet and allow students to explore new places from a Google Cardboard system. This programme is already started in many schools around the world and open for teachers to apply if they want this programme to be deployed in their schools too.