Marshmallow has only been around for five months now but it looks like it is already being superseded by a younger sibling. This Wednesday Google announced a developer preview of the unnamed upgrade. It shall simply be known as Android N for now.
This release is Google’s earliest software preview to date, Google’s Vice President for Android; Hiroshi Lockheimer has said that the final release software should be available this coming summer.
The highlighted features in Android N preview include Java 8 support, multi-window, direct replt notifications, bundled notifications and enhancements to ‘Doze mode’. More details on features are shown below.
Google are being very tight lipped about the ‘N’, and there have been a few hints that it could be savoury not sweet this time. In reference to the Android N, Lockheimer recently wrote in a blog post, “We’re nut tellin’ you yet.”
Google are offering a $150 discount for developers on the Pixel C tablet to try out the new features on. Please note, the initial preview release is intended for developers only and not for general consumer use yet.
The company will be updating the Android N Developer Preview system images often during the Developer Preview program. And, as the final build release nears, Google will be inviting consumers to try the new Android N.
On a final note, the official development site has a timeline fixed for the release of Android N. The N Developer preview will run from March 9th and continue as a developer option until the release date which is planned for Q3 2016.