Android N features, release window detailed

It is going to be tethered to the "N" version of Android that Google plans to release later this year and requires more processing power and other features that aren't in a lot of the phones that consumers are now carrying around.

The mobile OS will improve the graphics and runtime of previous versions of Android, and introduce the Vulkan graphics API. This should deliver better graphics with more efficiency.

The compiler in Android N also works faster than previous versions of Android, and will reduce the space required to install apps on your smartphone. Once installed, users will receive OTA update notifications for any latest beta releases of Android N.

Android Instant Apps is a new feature that Google is now working on that'll enable you to run Android apps without actually installing them.

Other Google tools will also be incorporated into the Daydream experience, including Google Photos and Street View.

Elsewhere among the 250-odd new features coming to Android N, Google talked up some of its performance improvements. "When we think of the Google search experience today-a rich panel of information on [Zika virus], or an alert telling you your flight is delayed-it's striking to see how far things have come from the early days of 10 blue links".

The Alphabet Inc. division unveiled a new mobile messaging application Wednesday called Allo containing a digital personal assistant, based on AI technology that powers other Google services like Inbox.

Virtual Reality should finally graduate from the paper Cardboard viewer to a more serious endeavor.

Google's mobile payment service, Android Pay, is coming to the United Kingdom, marking its first expansion outside the U.S.

On Wednesday, Google joins Apple Pay, which launched in the United Kingdom almost a year ago. Having dragged its feet in enabling Apple Pay support, the bank now says that it has no plans to support Android Pay, choosing instead to focus on its own mPayment platform.

Developers should find the Android Wear 2.0 preview available soon, just hit the source below.

Google is keeping its plans under wraps, but the conference agenda makes it clear that virtual reality and artificial intelligence, or "machine learning", will be among the focal points.

Sure, Google Cardboard has been around for a while, but it looks like chump change compared to Oculus Rift or HTC Vive.

Using Allo, people can quickly reply to a conversation using artificial intelligence-driven Smart Replies that Google lifted from its Inbox email product.

Source: Android N features, release window detailed