Android O rumours: New features make use of AI

Android 7.0, or Nougat, rolled out to Indian phones only early this year, but unofficial news of exciting features in the next version, Android O, is already making waves.

While the official announcement of Android O (and which sweet this O will stand for) is set to be in May this year, developer previews will roll out soon after. It might take until the end of the year for the final version to release, and then a few more months until it reaches India.

As Apple's iOS soars ahead with unique features and makes clever use of Artificial Intelligence tech, Google plans to catch up in its latest version.

A San Francisco-based tech news company, which leaked the details, claims to have spoken to a source familiar with developments in Google. Which is why, details are sketchy and there's always a doubt if these features will be part of the next update.

Google Assistant, a take on Siri (on iOS) and Alexa (on Amazon), has already made its debut on Google Pixel devices. The personal assistant AI will also feature in other Google phones, including the latest Moto G5 Plus, soon enough.

Besides Google Assistant, Android O features other smart tech that are useful and time-saving.

For instance, there's Copy Less, which, as the name suggests, helps you cut down on copying and typing or pasting manually.

The feature automatically reads what you're reading on every app (for instance, the name of a restaurant) and recognises when you are going to type that on to another app (to a friend on WhatsApp). The text will pop up as a suggestion on the Gboard keyboard bar (when you type “let's go to”), so that you only have to tap it. It sounds creepy, but you'll agree that it's quite convenient.

Another feature that may or may not make it to the final version is Gesture Triggers. It might be a slightly vague feature that has great potential to mess things up if it isn't smart enough. When this feature is on, you can draw on the screen the first letter of the app you want to open to trigger it.

In addition to this, Android O will identify texts that are names, addresses and website links, and then link it to the corresponding app (an address would open on Google Maps). This feature is already incorporated in Gmail (addresses and time values are highlighted) and has been around on iOS for years.

Until Google's I/O conference in May, here's hoping that Android Nougat makes it to all Android phones before the announcement.