Google's official schedule for its I/O 2015 conference went live yesterday. From the first looks through the two day schedule (day 1 and day 2), a couple of standout developments under the spotlight at the conference appear to be: the next version of Android, codenamed Android M, and an accessibility feature called Voice Access. Hopefully there will be more interesting revelations kept under wraps for the conference itself.
The Mountain View firm made specific mention of 'Android M' in a section about Android for work, however that document and reference has already been pulled, reports Android Police. That event was in the schedule at 2.30pm on day one but is now not listed in the schedule. Luckily some bright spark made a screenshot of the Android M reference, as seen below.
As you can read in the above screenshot description, a major new feature of Android M is in helping Android devices fit into the workplace. Last year Google used the I/O to talk about Android L which subsequently materialised as Android Lollipop. Android Lollipop powers just under 10 per cent of active devices according to Google's own stats.
The touch screen that most Android devices rely upon for input and interaction works very well in most cases but sometimes hands-free is more convenient or simply a must. Now, thanks to personal assistants on all the major mobile platforms, you can do lots using your voice but Android M is to bring further touch UI replacement techniques to the OS.
Under the auspices of accessibility Google is developing Voice Access. This looks to be some software tools that will enable developers to make their apps hands-free. The Google I/O session is called "Your app, now available hands-free". In the talk developers are told of a feature where they can "give anyone access to their Android device through voice alone," with little or no development overhead.
Google I/O 2015 runs from 28th to 28th May. It is held at the Moscone Centre in San Francisco, CA. The keynote and select sessions will be live streamed online.
