#101 N is for Nougat: Google unveils the official name for Android N

Say hello to Android Nougat v7.0

After months of speculation, Google finally announced that the name of the next version of Android will be Nougat. The company made the announcement via Twitter and also unveiled a statue of its mascot standing on some pieces of nougat. The version number for Android Nougat will be 7.0. 

At Google I/O, the company had announced that it was crowdsourcing the name of of the next version of Android. One of the suggested names included Nutella, which may have been preferred for Google’s Senior Vice President, Hiroshi Lockheimer. Another name that was suggested was a South Indian treat called Neyappam. The Kerala Government, via its Twitter account, even encouraged people to vote for the name.

The developer preview for Android N, or should we say Android Nougat, launched a few months back. The upcoming update would include features such a multi-window support on phones and tablets that would allow users to run two apps side-by-side in split screen mode. Further, the update would also allow users to reply to notifications from within the notification interface. Android Nougat also improves upon the Doze feature that was introduced in Marshmallow and introduces a data saver mode.

Further, Google also announced a new VR platform that was built into Android Nougat called Daydream. The new platform is a more capable than Google Cardboard and would needs some basic hardware requirements for a device in order to work.

 

 

#81 Google ‘Leaks’ Secret Plans of a Time-traveling Car on Back to The Future Day

Joining the Back to the Future day celebrations, Google has decided to have a little fun. The internet company has “leaked” its plans of a time-traveling car.

PowerTech & Powertechmation: Celebrating the Back to the Future day, Google has joined the party by tweeting a link to its “secret” time-traveling car project Project Flux. Know everything about it here.

The search engine giant, that recently undergone the Alphabet restructuring, tweeted the link to its secret Project Flux (Flux capacitor, remember?) in a post that looked related to some new Gmail theme.

PDF in the tweet pulls off an impressive show and tries to fool you into believing that some new Google moonshot project in progress.

Google writes in the PDF:

"With Project Flux our goal is to give everyone the ability to explore any place and anytime, no matter where—or when—they are. It builds on Google’s mission to make information universally accessible and useful by giving people a front row seat to experience anything they are curious about."

Also read: Google claims its 'FaceNet' system is 99.96% accurate

If you read closely, you’ll realize that the test locations mentioned, correspond to the locations in the Back to the Future movie.

Check out Google’s complete time-traveling car plans and Project Flux ahead and share your views in the comments below.

– Project Flux

#57 What is Google’s New and Upcoming Service Called “YouTube Red”?

Do you remember YouTube’s very own music-focused, subscription based service called Music Key that was launched about a year ago? Well, it didn’t perform well against the competitors like Spotify, Apple Music or Rdio. However, the company is aiming to rejuvenate things by rebranding it.

Interestingly, Google has recently updated its YouTube app that includes a text describing a product called YouTube Red. It’s a service that enables background and ad-free music playback, a feature that was absent in the Music Key subscription service.

This was spotted by Android Police, writes that the rebranding is shown as a notification only when you are leaving a video playing in the background and you switch to another app. This is also shown as a pop-up when you re-open YouTube later.

Take a look it in the screenshots below. To see these changes, you must be having the latest version the Android app on your device.

It should be noted that Music Key still has the “beta” tag associated with it and Google could be planning to relaunch the service as YouTube Red. It’s possible that Google aims to do a lot more that music with YouTube Red and this possible rebranding is just the first step.

The next week, on September 29, Google is holding an event and it’s expected to launch heavy weight products like new Nexus phone as well as Android Marshmallow. We can also witness the launch of the much-awaited YouTube ad-free subscription service and new Chromecast.

It’s expected that YouTube Red will be playing a bigger role in the upcoming Google Movie.

What do think about this rebranding? Did you like the name YouTube Red? Tell us in the comments below.

#52 Google announces event for September 29, might launch Nexus devices

Alongside, Google is also expected to announce public availability of Android Marshmallow v6.0, and a next generation Chromecast. 

Google has announced and sent out invites for a September 29 event in San Francisco. It has not revealed much information regarding what the event will be about, except for the teaser line, “tasty new treats and much more". But, if rumours are to be believed, Google may unveil the upcoming Nexus smartphones, public availability of Android Marshmallow, and the new Chromecast.

Two new Nexus smartphones are expected to be launched this time, made individually by LG and Huawei. Latest word suggests that the phones may be named LG Nexus 5X and Huawei Nexus 6P. There have also been a number of rumours regarding the device specifications. The LG Nexus 5X is expected to come with a 5.2-inch Full HD display, powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 sacs and 3GB of RAM. The phone is also tipped to come with a 12.3MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera, along with a 2700mAh battery pack. It might be priced at $399 (approx. Rs. 26,300) and $449 (approx. Rs. 29,600) for the 16GB and 32GB models respectively. The Huawei Nexus 6P is expected to come with a larger, 5.7-inch Quad HD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 sacs and 3GB of RAM. It is also expected to come with a 13MP rear camera, 8MP front camera and 64GB of internal storage. Both the Nexus smartphones are expected to feature USB Type-C ports, and fingerprint sensors. Android Marshmallow v6.0 is expected to come pre-loaded on them. 

Google is also expected to announce the Chromecast 2 in the event. It is expected to have better WiFi support to enable faster connectivity. Other new features expected on it are social media and image feeds. The company might also unveil Chromecast Audio, which will allow Chromecast to connect with speakers via an auxiliary cord. Apart from under-the-hood changes, the new Chromecast is also expected to feature updates in its design.