Google’s latest version of Android will give mobile payments another shot.
The company announced the new operating system, codenamed “Android M,” on Thursday. It comes with a mobile payments product called Android Pay, HBO Now and more at its annual Google i/o developers conference in San Francisco on Thursday.
Android M
Android M focuses on subtle improvements to the user experience, including squashing a ton of bugs and overhauling basic features, according to Dave Burke, Google’s VP of engineering.
The biggest news is Android Pay, Google’s latest take on mobile payments. It’s pretty similar to Apple Pay, and a big improvement over Google Wallet, the companies earlier attempt at a mobile wallet. Just unlock your phone and tap on a reader — no need to open an app.
Google has been working with major credit cards and U.S. mobile carriers on Android Pay. The open platform works with any other device with NFC and users can pay for goods at more than 700,000 stores across the United States.
Third-party apps can also use Android Pay inside their apps, so you can pay for your Lyft with Android Pay.
Other Android M improvements include a new permissions tool that give users more control over what data they share with apps. Prompts and a reorganized setting screen let them manage what apps can access things like location, camera, microphone, contacts and sensors.
Chrome Custom tabs will offer in-app browsing, sharing things like login information between apps and the browser. When you click on links in apps, they can now open directly inside apps instead of asking users to choose between a browser and an app.
In an attempt to get more battery life, Andoroid M will have a feature called Device Sync Activity. It tracks your activity to tell when you’re not using your phone much and put the phone into a “doze” mode that uses less power.
Future phones will support multi-tasking USB Type C cords for charging and data transfer.
And Following in the footsteps of Apple, Google will now offer HBO Now on Google Play for Android and Chromecast users.
Google bragging
Google tried to kick-up the drama at it’s big press event with an impressive use of videos. They keynote room was surrounded almost entirely by giant curved screens. They were used to play humongous games of Pong and show a video of a whale swimming slowly by. They zoomed the universe past asteroids and plants, eventually arriving at Earth.
After an elaborate animation of a fictional Google-landia, Sundar Pichai, Google’s senior vice president of products finally took the stage. He started with the usual big of bragging about stats. Eight of the 10 phones that shipped last year had a version of Android. Google’s core products all have more than a billion users, including Gmail, Search, YouTube.