Android M to be announced at Google I/O 2015

After Lollipop, Google is now preparing to release its next iteration for its Android operating system. With its incremental alphabet naming convention, the next version would start with the letter M and it would take probably a few months before they reveal its final name.

For the Android M, Google is appears to be focusing on improved notification and greater voice controls beyond the typical “OK Google”. So far no word on the design but we reckon they would be some subtle tweaks from its current Material Design that was introduced with Lollipop.

About the same time last year, Android L was introduced during Google I/O 2014 and it was officially launched as Android 5.0 Lollipop in October. That’s also the same time they had announced its Nexus 6 phablet and Nexus 9 tablet which came with Lollipop out of the box.

In terms of OS adoption rate, Lollipop is still far from dominating the Android platform. At the most recent count, Android 5.0 Lollipop takes 9% of total Android devices, while the latest Android 5.1 having just 0.7%. Most devices, close to 40% are still running on Android 4.4 KitKat and the biggest hurdle comes from device makers that are slowly pushing updates to its current handsets.

With the Chinese brands aggressively pushing cheap and cheerful handsets, they are notoriously known for slow software updates. Only recently we are seeing new devices being announced with Lollipop out of the box but there’s still no visibility of them upgrading their current KitKat flagships to Lollipop. In their home market, software updates for these Chinese brands doesn’t seem to be a priority as personalised themes and UI are more critical in their home market. As comparison, the mainstream brands such as HTC, Sony and Samsung have already pushed Lollipop updates internationally even for last year’s models. With Android M coming up soon, the software gap will increase if manufacturers don’t keep up with the latest updates.

Google I/O 2015 is happening on 28th May and it will be streamed live over YouTube. If you want to know what’s in store for Android, this is one event you won’t want to miss.

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