Google recently opened its annual I/O developer conference. It is here where the tech giant unveil its latest developments as well as new projects. Here are five of the most exciting projects Google announced this year.
Android M
Google senior vice president of products Sundar Pichai announced that Android M will be the most powerful Android variant when released. The upcoming operating system, successor of Android Lollipop, is already available for developers as a preview.
The most significant upgrade to Android M is prolonged battery life. According to The Telegraph, the new OS from Google will have a new feature called Doze. The new feature will limit background phone activity once it detects that the phone's motion sensor is in idle.
Android Pay and Fingerprint Technology
Android Pay is Google's answer to Apple Pay, Cupertino's contactless payment system. The new service will replace Google Wallet. Android Pay uses near-field communication technology and has tie-ups with more than 700,000 stores in the United States.
Users of Google Pay will have to link their credit card or debit card in order to use the service. Authentication is made using the newly developed fingerprint scanning technology. Google announced that the service will be embedded in all Android operating system and no app is needed in order to use it.
Google Card and Jump
Google recently released its virtual reality project Google Cardboard in the iOS platform. The company also released Expeditions, a project that uses Google Cardboard and is designed for teachers and students. Through Google Expeditions, teachers and students can go on a synched virtual tour.
Project Jump is a joint venture of Google and GoPro. According to Android Central, Jump uses 16 GoPro cameras in order to record 3D videos. Jump video is shot in panorama and will have a full 360-degree view of it's surrounding. Videos can be uploaded to YouTube and will also be available in Google Cardboard as well.