Google readies Android Lollipop release

The company describes the update as a "quantum leap forward", thanks to its revamped design and new features.Android already has an 84.7% share of global smartphone shipments, according to research company IDC.But engineering chief, Hiroshi Lockheimer, told the BBC that among his team's goals was making Android more appealing to the business sector."We've made a concerted effort around focusing on the enterprise-use case," he said."If you think about it most people only carry one device."The one device that they carry [should] work for various scenarios in their life -obviously for personal use, but also if they want to use it for corporate purposes."We wanted to make sure that Lollipop is designed in such way that corporations are happy to endorse it."One example of this, he said, was the ability for a user to have both a personal and work "personality" on a single device - and the ability to switch "seamlessly" between them.The two personalities would let apps access different sets of stored data, allowing the user's employer to monitor the contents of one partition but not the other.Blackberry 10 and Samsung's Knox add-on for Android had previously pioneered this idea.Mr Lockheimer added that making encryption of stored data the default setting would increase security.And a new facility allowing Android to be put in "do not disturb" mode for a pre-determined period of time should minimise the risk of missing important calls or notifications after a meeting was over because the user forgot to switch off the setting."Given the decrease in market share of Blackberry, there is a big opportunity to gain enterprise customers," said Jack Kent, from the IHS consultancy."Apple has also been making a big play for that with the iPhone and iPad."Samsung had previously taken the lead with Android with its Knox security product, but it makes sense for Google to try to take the lead itself with what it's doing with Android Lollipop."Material designFor most users, the stand-out change in Android Lollipop will be its new look.Google calls its new paradigm "material design", and it places fresh emphasis on graphical animations and colour changes in response to the device owner's actions."The animations and ripples and things like that are eye candy, but at the same time there's a purpose to them. They give feedback to the customer that you've tapped here, and the software got it, and is doing something about it," said Mr Lockheimer."And when one thing moves from one side of the screen to the other it gives you a sense of place and that you're moving forwards in the screens, or up or down."These are very interesting visual cues to help the user understand what is happening in the software."The card-based interface, introduced in the anticipatory search app Google Now, now plays a greater role.Notifications adopt a card-like appearance on the lock screen, and the design is also used to deliver Google Search results and to switch from one app to another when multitasking.(BBC)Bakudaily.Az