In just a few weeks, Google will be pushing out one of its
largest Android releases ever: Android 5.0, Lollipop. The update changes nearly
every aspect of the OS—a new design for every app, a new runtime, lots of new
features, and a focus on battery life. The company is also launching a pair of
new Nexus flagships, the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 aiming for a more premium market, and
the first Android TV device, the Nexus Player. Together with the release of
Google Inbox and a new Wear update, we're in the middle of a very busy few
weeks.
We sat down with a few high-ranking members of the Android
Team to get a better idea of what this new wave of Android devices will bring.
At building 43 at Google's headquarters, Dave Burke, the VP of Engineering for
the Android platform and Nexus devices; Brian Rakowski, VP of Product
Management, and Gabe Cohen, the team's Group Product Manager, were all gracious
enough to talk to us about the future direction of Android.
Android is more popular than ever, so a lot of our talk
focused on managing the massive ecosystem that Android has created. Carrier
involvement, unbundling things from the main OS, and future proofing were among
the topics of the day. We also got a little more insight into the new Nexus
devices.
