Google Reveals New Android Software
May 18 2016 - 3:58PM
Dow Jones News
By Nathan Olivarez-Giles
Alphabet Inc.'s Google doesn't yet have a name for Android N,
its next major mobile operating system release, but the division is
already sharing details, such as a split-screen mode for tablets
and phones, a smoother graphics-processing engine and the ability
to choose the skin color of emojis.
Dave Burke, Google vice president of Android Engineering, said
the new operating system will have more than 250 new features.
The split-screen mode will be triggered with a long tap on the
recent-apps button. Doing so will let you see the last app you used
next to the one you're currently using.
Other multitasking improvements center around the recent-apps
button, including the automatic removal of apps in the queue that
you haven't used in a while, and a "clear all" option to start
fresh. (You currently have to swipe away each app one by one.) And
double tapping the recent-apps button will let you quickly toggle
between the app you're currently using and the last one you
used.
Android N will introduce skin color to emojis, instead of just
the bright yellow people now available -- a feature Apple Inc.'s
operating system has had for a year.
Android N also will introduce improved security measures, such
as the ability to encrypt each individual file stored on a
phone.
Many changes will be focused on making Android perform faster
and more efficiently across a wide range of processors, display and
other hardware variations. Android developers have to be cognizant
of the thousands of different models that run the operating system,
including not only phones and tablets but streaming TV boxes and
other Internet-of-things devices.
One such under the hood change that Android N will introduce is
called Vulkan, a 3-D graphics application program interface built
to help developers make games render smoother and with higher
fidelity.
As for that lack of a sweet name (such as its predecessors
KitKat, Lollipop and Marshmallow), Google launched a new website,
android.com/n, where the public will be able to submit their own
ideas. Potential names discussed so far have are nougat and
Nutella.
A public beta of Android N is being released today at
android.com/beta for users of the Nexus 5X, 6 and 6P smartphones
and the Nexus Player set-top box. Its official release will come
later this summer.
Write to Nathan Olivarez-Giles at
Nathan.Olivarez-giles@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 18, 2016 15:43 ET (19:43 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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