'Android O' beta released, Android OS now on 2 bn active devices

On the first day of its annual I/O conference at its Mountain View headquarters in San Francisco late on Wendesday, Google said "Android O" -- that will be released later this year -- would bring more fluid experiences to the devices as well as improvements to areas of the phone called "vitals" like battery life and security. 

"With picture-in-picture, you can seamlessly do two tasks simultaneously, like checking your calendar while planning a party on a Duo video call. And Smart Text Selection improves copy and paste," the compnay said in a statement.

"By using machine learning to recognise entities on the screen-like a complete address, you can easily select text you want with a double tap and even bring up an app like Maps to help navigate you there," it added.

'Android O' is aimed to make phone startup quicker and apps faster, with added optimisations for developers to help prevent your battery from draining. 

With an aim to reach out to "the next billions of users" with a new initiative, Google also unveiled Android Go - a new configuration of Android for entry-level Android devices. 

The goal of Android Go is to get computing into the hands of more people by creating a great smartphone experience on all Android devices with 1GB or less of memory.

Android Go is designed with features relevant for people who have limited data connectivity and speak multiple languages.

This optimisation of the latest release of Android, starting with Android O, to run smoothly on entry-level devices.

It will also consist of specially designed Google apps, like YouTube Go, Chrome and Gboard-to use less memory, storage space and mobile data. 

And there will be a version of the Play Store that highlights apps specifically designed for the next billion users coming online while still offering the entire app catalog.

All three of these things will ship together, as a single experience, starting in 2018.

Google also introduced Google Play Protect -- a comprehensive set of security services for Android, providing powerful new protections and greater visibility into your device security. 

"Play Protect" is built into every device with Google Play, is always updating and automatically takes action to keep your data and device safe. 

"Play Protect" detects and removes apps that might be harmful. 

"And with more than 50 billion apps scanned every day, Google's machine learning systems are always on the lookout for new risks," the company said.

As part of the "Google Play" protect, the company also launched 'Find My Device' that allows users to locate, ring, lock and erase your Android devices, tablets and even watches remotly.