Google’s annual developer conference Google I/O kicked off a
few hours ago and this year, the event was all about Android and how the
company has managed to put it to almost everything consumers use with a screen.
The search giant has started the event by announcing the
future of the mobile operating system. Dubbed as Android L, the mobile OS
boasts over 5000 new APIs according to the company’s head honcho for Android
and Chrome Sindar Pichai. These new APIs will bring about changes mainly in two
sections of Android – Interface and Performance.
In terms of interface, Google is planning to unify the user
experience on all of its platforms by introducing a new design language called Material Design. At first glance, it
looks like Google has managed to get the best of both worlds by employing a
design language that mixes the simplicity and minimalist look of Windows Phone
coupled with great animation found on iOS.
But in a nutshell, Material Design employs the use of
shadows and improved animations to give consumers a sense of depth and
perspective. With the new design philosophy, users will be able to see certain
elements of the UI move as if they are placed on different levels like a stack
of cards, see button presses as ripples on the screen and see notifications as
floating cards over an active app.
Aside from interface, the L Developer preview also comes
with improvements in performance. For starters, this upcoming version of
Android will run exclusively on ART runtime instead of Dalvik, which should
give a boost in performance to future droid smart devices.
The OS will also have better battery performance in the
future thanks to the so-called Project Volta, which monitors which apps and OS
components are consuming the most power thru a feature called Battery Historian
and then manages these apps through a Job Scheduler API in order to save more
energy.
Android L will also provide support for 64-bit hardware and
enable better graphics thru its extension pack (supports Unreal engine 4) for
graphics that should allow future Android handsets to compete with gaming
consoles and PCs in terms of graphics quality.
Moreover, the L Developer Preview showcases how the company
is trying to get Android as productive as possible. The preview will comes with
a new feature called Android for Work that is based on Samsung’s Knox software
that will enable consumers to use just one phone for both work and personal
purposes at the same time keeping data between the two separate and secure.
Then there’s Google
Fit, which basically works in unison with fitness tracker hardware to provide
a complete picture of a user’s fitness. Hardware partners for Google Fit
include Nike, Adidas, LG, Polar, HTC and Intel to name a few.
Finally, there’s Android One, a new initiative at Google
that hopes to provide quality handsets to developing markets. It’s basically a
cheaper version of the Nexus program that will provide affordable smartphones
to countries like India. And just like the Nexus and GPE programs, Android One
handsets will be able to receive timely OS updates straight from Google.
At present, the search giant has already partnered with
three manufacturers in India for Android One, namely: Micromax, Karbon and
Spice.
