Android version 5 “Lolipop ” released

Google released out version 5.0 of its Android operating system, codenamed Lollipop, on Friday.The company describes the update as a “quantum leap forward”, thanks to its revamped design and new features.Android already has an 84.7% share of global smartphone shipments, according to research company IDC.

But engineering chief, Hiroshi Lockheimer, told the BBC that among his team’s goals was making Android more appealing to the business sector.”We’ve made a concerted effort around focusing on the enterprise-use case,” he said.

“If you think about it most people only carry one device.”The one device that they carry [should] work for various scenarios in their life -obviously for personal use, but also if they want to use it for corporate purposes.

Notifications now appear at the top of the screen rather than covering a game’s playing area “We wanted to make sure that Lollipop is designed in such way that corporations are happy to endorse it.”

New facility allowing Android to be put in “do not disturb” mode for a pre-determined period of time should minimise the risk of missing important calls or notifications after a meeting was over because the user forgot to switch off the setting.

Google calls its new paradigm “material design”, and it places fresh emphasis on graphical animations and colour changes in response to the device owner’s actions.

“The animations and ripples and things like that are eye candy, but at the same time there’s a purpose to them. They give feedback to the customer that you’ve tapped here, and the software got it, and is doing something about it,” said Mr Lockheimer.

“And when one thing moves from one side of the screen to the other it gives you a sense of place and that you’re moving forwards in the screens, or up or down.

“These are very interesting visual cues to help the user understand what is happening in the software.”

The card-based interface, introduced in the anticipatory search app Google Now, now plays a greater role.

Notifications adopt a card-like appearance on the lock screen, and the design is also used to deliver Google Search results and to switch from one app to another when multitasking.

Another change with notifications is that device owners can customise which types should rise to the top of the list presented to the user or conversely be prevented from appearing on the lock screen, to help device owners prevent information overload.

A Bluetooth-enabled smartwatch can enable a user to identify themself instead of having to type in a password
Furthermore, new notifications now appear at the top of a device’s screen rather than covering its centre to avoid the interruption of other activities such as playing a video game.

Android Lollipop also introduces a new feature called “smart lock”.

This allows users to set a location – such as their home, car or office desk – or Bluetooth device – such as a smart watch or work keyboard – as a trigger to disable the need to type in a password.
Behind the scenes, Android Lollipop uses a different process to execute and compile code than before.
It also means Android becomes capable of taking advantage of 64-bit processors, which have the potential of supporting more RAM memory than before.

Google also releases the software development kit and system images for Nexus 5 phones and Nexus 7 tablets on Friday via the Android developers site- allowing app creators to test their software.