A major update to Android smartphones and tablets is on the horizon as public beta testing starts for its new 8.0 Oreo operating system.
The new system has a host of features, which Engadget says includes "picture-in-picture multitasking" and better battery performance. It also comes with a redesigned set of emojis, as well as "notification dots" that quickly alert users to activity on an app.
The improved notification feature will help users "manage the volume of notifications on their devices", the BBC reports, rectifying the large amount of alerts known as "notification diarrhoea" on older versions.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Other improvements include a smart copy-and-paste feature that the broadcaster says "highlights an entire address, telephone number or web addresses when people try to copy it."
It's not the first time Google – the parent company of Android – has tied the name of its mobile operating system to a brand of sweets.
Before Android Oreo, which is named after the biscuit company, Engadget says Google used the KitKat name through a partnership with the chocolate company Hershey. Other operating system names include Marshmallow, Donut and Ice Cream Sandwich.
Android Oreo isn't ready for a rollout across smartphones and tablets yet, but The Verge says people on the company's Open Source Project public beta programme can now begin trialling the update.
Those with one of Google's Pixel or Nexus devices should receive the update "soon", the website reports, while other Android owners will have to wait longer before Oreo becomes available.
-
Nepal chooses toddler as its new ‘living goddess’Under the Radar Girls between two and four are typically chosen to live inside the temple as the Kumari – until puberty strikes
-
October 5 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons include half-truth hucksters, Capitol lockdown, and more
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailoutTalking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
Is the UK government getting too close to Big Tech?Today’s Big Question US-UK tech pact, supported by Nvidia and OpenAI, is part of Silicon Valley drive to ‘lock in’ American AI with US allies
-
Google: A monopoly past its prime?Feature Google’s antitrust case ends with a slap on the wrist as courts struggle to keep up with the tech industry’s rapid changes
-
South Korea's divide over allowing Google MapsTalking Points The country is one of few modern democracies where the app doesn't work
-
Google avoids the worst in antitrust rulingSpeed Read A federal judge rejected the government's request to break up Google
-
Is AI killing the internet?Talking Point AI-powered browsers and search engines are threatening the death of the open web
-
Unreal: A quantum leap in AI videoFeature Google's new Veo 3 is making it harder to distinguish between real videos and AI-generated ones
-
Google's new AI Mode feature hints at the next era of searchIn the Spotlight The search giant is going all in on AI, much to the chagrin of the rest of the web
-
Is Apple breaking up with Google?Today's Big Question Google is the default search engine in the Safari browser. The emergence of artificial intelligence could change that.
