Posted on 08/17/2015 10:50:55 PM PDT by Swordmaker
The search giant unveils the name of its next update for smartphones and tablets. Some key features include a new mobile payments system and some tricks for the company's digital assistant, Google Now.
Google's update for Android, its mobile software for smartphones and tablets, officially has a name: Marshmallow.
The software, previously only referred to as Android M, was announced in May during Google I/O, the search giant's annual developer conference.
The moniker follows Google's whimsical naming convention for new versions of Android. The company typically names its software updates alphabetically and after sweets. For example, the most current version of Android is named Lollipop, and the one before that was KitKat. Marshmallow is expected to be released this fall.
But while the names are silly, Android is serious business for Google. The software powers more than 80 percent of the world's smartphones, from manufacturers including Samsung, HTC and Motorola. The software is also a gateway for Google to get people to use the company's services -- like search, maps and video site YouTube -- on their phones.
The software update will have some key new features. Android Pay, a revamped mobile payments service, will let people pay for goods both in apps and at retail stores using their phones. Google has been working on mobile payments for the past few years with a service called Google Wallet. The feature -- which will continue to exist but has changed its focus to letting people make money transfers in small amounts -- initially never caught on with consumers.
But since Apple introduced its own version, Apple Pay, as a new feature on its iPhone 6 models and Apple Watch, the mobile-payments space has heated up. Samsung showed off its offering, Samsung Pay, last week.
Android Marshmallow will also include a new feature for the search giant's digital assistant Google Now, called Now On Tap. The feature lets you access Google Now by holding the home button on your phone, similar to what Apple lets you do with its own assistant, Siri. With Now on Tap, Google reaches into its trove of data on users to give them useful information based on what they are doing at the time. That includes understanding what email you're reading or knowing what dry cleaner you use.
But while Google announces its Android updates with much fanfare, it will take awhile for most Android users to start using the software. As of the first week of August, only about 18 percent of Android users were using the most current available version of the software, Lollipop. The vast majority of Android users, about 73 percent, are using KitKat and Jellybean, two older versions of the software. The challenge, which observers often refer to as "fragmentation," often comes from handset manufacturers being slow to push out updates.
By comparison, Apple's iOS 8, which was released in September and powers iPhones and iPads, is on 85 percent of Apple's devices.
Google unveils the sweet nickname for its next version of the Android operating system, and a photo leak hints at what could be the next LG Nexus phone. Meanwhile, Motorola may have spoiled its upcoming Moto 360 smartwatch secrets.
Tip: Don't eat marshmallows while doing a news report.
See the video at the Reply #1 link above.
Watch this sweet episode of CNET Update to learn about the name of the next Android operating system, along with what the upcoming Nexus phone may look like. We also uncover some (not-so) secret details about the Moto 360, and explain how Google can help put solar panels on your roof:
Ping for your Android ping list. . .
LOL, OCD data mining much?
Sheesh.
I know a lot of you Windows folks have Androids, so please consider joining ThunderSleeps' new Android Ping List for the latest updates on releases, vulnerabilities, and related news!
And many thanks to ThunderSleeps for getting the new Ping List going!
When Android 5.02 showed up on my 2012 Nexus 7, I thought it would be great. It made the device unusable. I was able to go back to 4.4.4, but the tablet still isn’t the same (posting from it now, so at least it’s usable).
Hello, I have a Nexus 7 and love it. At least I did till I dropped it. The cracked screen has rendered it useless. Do you have any suggestions for replacing the screen? I’ve seen a video and it looks pretty straight forward but I would appreciate knowing if you have any firsthand experience with this.
Yeah...the email reading...I think I shall send some outing myself as ‘gay’...and see what happens...or no...I’ll ask for advice on what to do with the million dollars my gramma left me...BTW...I suppose Google reads any email? I don’t use gmail
It would seem that the only solution to keeping these tablets updated is to root them.
Have you found a replacement screen?
Some of these older tablets aren’t usable after the updates. I’m happy mine works at all, since I had to re-flash it back 4.4.4.
With a name like that it should run for the GOPe in the House or Senate.
The constitution doesn’t require that a candidate be a human.
A search of Amazon finds several vendors. Mine is the 2013 model. Looks to cost around $50.
A local company would do the work including the parts for about $170.
Doing it myself makes me a bit nervous even though I’m something of a techie.
If you want to be on the new Android Ping List, send a Freepmail to our newest Ping List manager,
and request he add you to the Android Ping list.
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Technically I’m an Android user via BlueStacks, typically to run a second account on some cross-patform games. I don’t think I’ll need to be on a ping list for it, though.
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