Apple and Google have been locked in a face-off of the better mobile device operating system for years now, ever since they knocked Blackberry out of the running. The former’s proprietary iOS and the latter’s open-source Android have divided gadgets into two camps, or rather there are Apple devices on one side and Android ones on the other. Over the passing of years, both have been constantly growing and evolving, with newer versions of the Android MOS being code-named by its developers after snacks both general and branded. The latest iteration, version 8.0, was released earlier this August, but it is only recently that its codename was made known to the public.
We can now say hello to Android Oreo.
Vital additions
The newest version of the Google-developed operating system was announced as early as last March under the working name Android O. In the months leading up to its August release the new MOS was under a public beta period, enabling app developers working in Android to update their versions. As is fashion, the very first mobile devices to fully use the new Android Oreo will be Google gadgets. To be precise, they will debut with the HTC-made Pixel and LG-made Nexus lines of smartphones. Builds of the MOS have already rolled out for carrier testing with the said devices.
Android Oreo is described by Google as being loaded with “vital” upgrades pertaining to extending battery life and improving MOS security.
The latter has an example in the new anti-malware Google Play Protect, which sounds the alarm whenever a malicious app is downloaded in one’s smartphone. The notification panel is reported to be getting an overhaul. Android Oreo also has a new picture-in-picture ability that lets users watch videos while simultaneously using other apps.
It also takes a subtle dig at Apple iOS by making its emoji library somewhat similar in look.
Snack team-up
Google started a theme with its development of succeeding versions of the Android MOS by naming each new significant numerical upgrade after a type of sweet. Once before, the internet giant used a branded snack as a code name: 4.4 Kit-Kat in 2013.
This led to a collaborative promotion between Google and Kit-Kat brand owner Nestlé; for a limited time there were Kit-Kat bars shaped like the Android logo produced.
With the release of Android Oreo, Google is looking to replicate the Kit-Kat phenomenon by partnering with the cookie’s manufacturer Nabisco. During the Great American Eclipse of August 21, the company unveiled a statue of the Oreo MOS in Manhattan, close to the site of the old Nabisco factory that made the first Oreo cookies.
