Google will unveil the next Android version in a few hours

May 27, 2015 11:49 GMT  ·  By

Google annual I/O conference kick-starts tomorrow and one of the highlights of the event will probably be Android M, which is known internally as “Macadamia Nut Cookie.”

But even as Android 5.0 Lollipop is yet to be adopted by the majority of devices in the mobile environment, Google believes it is time for the dawn of a new version of Android. After all, it’s been a year since the release of Lollipop.

In the past, Google was a lot hastier in rolling out new versions of Android. But this pattern is about to change, and Android fans will have to get used to seeing a new version of the build arrive each year.

This piece of information is not a mare, worthless rumor, as it comes to us right from Google’s own VP of Engineering for Android, Hiroshi Lockeimer. Talking to Fast Company about the present and the future of Android, he disclosed that Android M is indeed coming tomorrow. But he also shared an interesting bit of information related to what’s about to come.

Lockheimer revealed that a new version of Android will be unleashed upon the world every year, as Google will now be adopting a “yearly cadence of big releases.” Since Google M will see the light of day tomorrow, it’s pretty safe to speculate Android N will arrive around this time next year. Subsequently, Android O will be launched in summer 2017 and so on.

Is Google getting more relaxed with soft updates?

Looking back into history, it’s pretty obvious we’re witnessing an important slow-down of the pace at which the updates arrive into the wild.

You might remember that older Android versions including Cupcake, Donut, Éclair, Froyo, Gingerbread and Honeycomb were released in the extremely short time span of two years (between 2009 and 2011).

It would have taken Google more than 7 years to introduce all these versions with a year lag between them. Now, even if major Android upgrades are more segregated, they can still bring about substantial changes.

For example, Android 5.0 Lollipop brought about an important shift in design language known as Material Design and who knows what else Android M might add into the equation (we took a guess here).

Lockheimer refutes the claim that Google tactic changed because it is getting increasingly harder for the search giant to find ways to improve its operating system. Naturally, Android users can easily come with countless suggestions on how Google could improve the OS at any given moment of the day.

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