Android O likely to be released on August 21

Android creator Andy Rubin might be launching his own smartphone but that does not take away the attention away from Android's upcoming operating system.

Android has remained quiet so far on the OS launch or its name apart from teasing users with the letter 'O'. However, not everyone is remaining quiet about it.

The ever-reliable Evan Blass has just tweeted out the latest development regarding the Android O.

Android O release scheduled for the week of 8/21, "most likely on the 21st itself."

Blass, who is known for giving credible smartphone related inside information with iPhone 8 rumors and Samsung Note 8 being his prime reveals, claims that Android is scheduled to be released next week.

Google shifts mobile focus to apps and digital assistant

It is likely that Google's own Pixel smartphones will be the first recipients of Android O if it is actually released on August 21. Normally, Google's own devices usually get the updates first followed by third-party phones.

Here is what is the Android's latest OS is expected to bring.

Fluid Experience

With the new ‘Fluid Experience’, Google wants its users to become more productive and enjoy multitasking tools in their everyday use.

Focusing on low-powered devices, it has introduced TensorFlow Lite, a scaled-down version of its machine learning tool, Tensor Flow.

Also coming with Android O is a new framework that would hardware accelerate neural network features, helping keep some of the AI components on the device, avoiding the need to find an online server to compute things like actions on text selections.

Picture-in-Picture

Google is bringing Picture-in-Picture mode to Android O. As the phrase suggests, Picture-in-Picture mode lets you watch a video while using other apps.

While watching a video on YouTube, just tap the Home button and the video will pop into a small window. It will keep on playing as you navigate other apps on your device. You can even move the video around as per your convenience. Once you’re done watching the video, simply swipe it away and it will be gone.

Notification Dots

Google is finally changing the way Android devices show notifications, making it more fluid.

“Notification Dot is a new way for developers to indicate that there’s an activity in the app,” said Dave Burke, vice president of Android Engineering. Users will be able to long-press the app icon with Notification Dot and it will show notification in a tiny pop-up window.

Here's all you need to know about Android O

Auto-fill with Google

Auto-fill is already used by Chrome and other browsers for quickly filling in your username and password with a single tap. With Android O, Google is extending the feature to apps. So, next time you set up a new device and install apps on Google Chrome, the system will automatically suggest the username and password.

Smart Text Selection

Typically, you long press/double tap a word on Android to select. But with Android O, Google is adding machine learning to make selecting/highlighting easier.

For example, if you try to select an address/name consisting more than one word, the system would recognise and select the entire phrase. In case of an address, the system will recognise it as an address and suggest you Maps, making finding directions easy.