Android 6.0 Marshmallow Rollout Begins Next Week for Nexus, Android One Devices

 Google at its Nexus event on Tuesday announced the rollout of Android 6.0 Marshmallow update will begin from next week over-the-air (OTA). The OS update would be hitting the Nexus smartphones, tablets, and other Nexus devices first. This time, the Android One devices are also on the list of first devices to receive the update. The company also gave some statistics on the global Android usage.

Dave Burke, Vice President of Engineering, Android, on Tuesday stated that Android 6.0 Marshmallow update would be spanning across Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 7 (2013), Nexus 9, Nexus Player, and Android One devices. This means there would not be any more updates for the Nexus 4, Nexus 7 (2012) and the Samsung Nexus 10. The search giant would also be pushing the Android 6.0 Marshmallow source code to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). While the start of the rollout is much closer to the new Nexus device launch this year, the OTA update could take weeks or even months to reach all Nexus devices worldwide.


Google introduced its Android 6.0 Marshmallow back in May during the Google I/O conference. Some of the new features of Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which has been available as the Android M developer preview since Google I/O 2015, include revamped app permissions; Google Now on Tap feature; new Chrome feature that will change the Web experience for Android users; new ways to handle Web links; integrated Android Pay mobile payment system; new fingerprint APIs for developers to add into their apps and native fingerprint support, apart from battery saver features called Doze that will make Android devices smart about managing power. Some of the other additions include a new memory manager, adoptable storage devices, new app drawer, auto backup and restore for apps, and support for USB Type-C ports.

Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google also announced that the company's mobile platform now tops at 1.4 billion monthly active users. This is a huge bump of 400 million since Google announced it had hit 1 billion monthly active users back in June last year. He added that Android usage has multiplied by around two times in certain markets.

"We've added 400 million active devices and the momentum is happening around the world - especially in emerging economies. In many, many places. In countries like Indonesia and Vietnam Android has literally doubled in the last year. And what's exciting about this is in most of these cases these are people who are adopting a smartphone for the first time," he said. Also announced was that Google Play now has over 1 billion active users and that more than 20 million Chromecast dongles have been sold until now. The company also said that 10,000 companies were either using or testing the Android for Work platform, and 30,000 new Chromebooks were being shipped everyday.

Well though wasn't much talk at the event about the Android One project but still we hope that Google will keep up its promise(although it didn't in case of Lollipop), and get the phones updates to the 6.0

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Tags: Android, Android 6.0, Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Android 6.0 Marshmallow Update, Google, Marshmallow, Mobiles, OS Update, Tablets, Update

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Microsoft Will Make Core Office Functions Free on All Mobile Devices

A few days ago, it was reported how Microsoft has partnered with Samsung to bring certain Microsoft applications to some new Samsung devices. Well, it seems that the folks over at Redmond are not done with what has been a host of announcements for the Android platform as of late. Today in a blog (source link below) Microsoft announced that it will be opening up core features for the viewing and editing of documents in Microsoft Office for free to any device that has a screen size smaller than 10.1 inches. This is already available for smartphones for Android and iOS, and seems to show Microsofts willingness to open itself to markets that it has seen very little penetration.

Microsoft Office has been a huge money maker for Microsoft over the years. It is the company’s bread and butter along with its Windows operating system. Microsoft’s willingness to operate with companies such as Samsung to provide core functionality and security for its applications shows that Microsoft is becoming more active and aggressive in the mobile space, even going so far as to work and integrate products with longtime rivals.

 Read More : Windows 10 will be free to upgrade for non-genuine versions

Microsoft has made clear its vision on how Microsoft will offer its products moving forward. According to Kirk Koenigsbauer, Corporate Vice President, Office 365 Client Applications and author of the blog had this to say about Microsoft’s vision “…we plan to keep up with that one constant—change. Now that Office is available for Windows, Android and iOS, we are investing in strategic partnerships with device makers. Availability across platforms has become an expectation for the one-in-seven people that use Office every day—and we deliver that by ensuring Office is immediately available on any device.”

This is a huge turnaround from how Microsoft has acted in the past when it came to working and operating on other platforms outside of the Windows OS. With the upcoming release of its new operating system and mobile platform, it would seem Microsoft is trying to make some of its core products work across multiple platforms in an effort to appeal to as many people as possible and potentially bring in some additional revenue by attempting to compel users to purchase premium subscriptions that will yield more services. With more and more enterprise and professional users craving better and more useful productivity software, Microsoft seems to be willing to step up to the plate and make things happen regardless of the device you are on. It is certainly a change of pace; how long this philosophy will continue, or how well it will work remains to be seen.

SOURCE: Microsoft Blog

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