News & Reviews:   Google Android

It looks like Google is cleaning out the house this month as after announcing that it’s ending support for Google Chrome to devices running Android 7 and below, it’s doing the same for Google Calendar. This is likely due to security issues involving old versions of Android that would affect users of the 2 apps.

After teasing Android 12L last year, Google has finally released the optimised Android 12 version for tablets and foldable display smartphones last Monday (7 March 2022). However, the official release was a bit awkward, given how there’s no actual tablet or foldable device hardware to run Android 12L on currently.

Google was recently reported joining the Universal Stylus Initiative (USI) as a promoting member. They join Dell, Intel and many other tech industry brands. While you can check out what USI styluses would bring to Android, we're more interested to see if the join by Google means that Android devices may all be able to use USI active styluses.

After months of guessing the upcoming Android M name, Google has made it official by putting up an Android statue holding a Marshmallow outside of the building. Previously, Android 5.0 was codenamed L and eventually called Lollipop. It turns out when Android 6.0 comes out later this year, it will likely be called Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The Android 6.0 SDK is currently available for developers looking to update while the final Developer Preview is also available for download. New features expected to come with Android MarshMallow include a Doze feature that will induce a deeper sleep during standby therefore improving battery life. Fingerprint scanning will also be built into the operating system along with a new permissions model for apps management. No Malaysia release dates for when Android 6.0 Marshmallow is coming for all of the various Malaysian smartphones but such updates will likely take time, with a probable release sometime at the end of the year. In related news, Google's Project Ara modular smartphone has been delayed to 2016.