Page 5 - DIGICEL MAY 29

TECHNOLOGY A23
Friday 29 May 2015

Google unveils Android’s latest technological tricks

MICHAEL LIEDTKE David Singleton, director at Android Wear, speaks during the Google I/O 2015 keynote presenta- OVER
AP Technology Writer tion in San Francisco, Thursday, May 28, 2015. Android M will include
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — an alternative to the mo-
Google’s next version of Associated Press bile payment system that
its Android operating sys- Apple introduced last fall.
tem will boast new ways much of their mobile tech- mation, such as the latest say what they are seeking, Google’s response, called
to fetch information, pay nology into automobiles news about a favorite such as “Who sings this?” Android Pay, will replace
merchants and protect pri- and Internet-connected sports team or how long it Google is hoping to pro- Google Wallet for making
vacy on mobile devices as televisions and appliances. will take to get to work. vide Android users with mobile purchases in stores
the Internet company du- Google hopes to play a With the M upgrade, us- what they need at the pre- and applications. Google
els with Apple in the quest prominent role in the man- ers will be able to summon cise moment they need Wallet, which came out in
to make their technology agement of home security Google Now to scan what- it without forcing them to 2011, will still work for send-
indispensable. and appliances with a new ever content might be on hopscotch from one app ing payments from one
The upgrade will give An- operating system called a mobile device’s screen to another. person to another.
droid’s personal assistant, Brillo that will interact with so it can present pertinent ___ Like Apple’s system, An-
Google Now, expanded Android devices. information about the top- MOBILE PAYMENT DO- droid Pay can be used
powers of intuition that to store major credit and
may be greeted as a great debit cards in smartphones
convenience to some and that can be used to pay
a tad too creepy for oth- merchants equipped with
ers. terminals that work with the
Most of the renovations technology. Android Pay
unveiled Thursday at will also work on devices
Google’s annual develop- running on the KitKat ver-
ers’ conference won’t be sion of Android released
available until late sum- last year.
mer or early fall, around ___
the same time that Apple PROTECTING PRIVACY
is expected to release the Android M will be compat-
latest overhaul of the iOS ible with fingerprint scan-
software that powers the ners so device users can
iPhone and iPad. verify their identities by
The annual changes to An- pressing a button instead
droid and iOS are becom- of entering a passcode.
ing increasingly important Apple’s iPhones began us-
as people become more ing a fingerprint reader in
dependent on smart- 2013.q

phones to manage their Here’s a closer look at ic of a text, a song, a video
lives. Android holds about some of the key features clip or an article.

Tech blog spinoffan 80 percent share of the in the upcoming Android The new Android feature,

worldwide smartphone upgrade, currently known called “Now on Tap,” will be
Re/code is acquiredmarket, with iOS a distant simply as “M’’:
activated by holding down

second at 16 percent, ac- ___ by online media chainthe device’s home button
cording to the research NOW ON TAP
or speaking, “OK Google,”
firm International Data Google Now currently into the microphone. That

Corp. learns a user’s interests and action will prompt Now on The Associated Press Mossberg started their blog

Both Google and Apple habits by analyzing search Tap to scan the screen in Tech news blog Re/code at The Wall Street Journal,

are vying to make their requests and scanning attempt to figure out how said Tuesday it’s been ac- which is owned by News
products even more ubiq- emails so it can automati- to be the most helpful. Or, quired by online publishing Corp., where it was known
uitous by transplanting cally present helpful infor- if speaking, users can just company Vox Media, just as AllThingsD. Since the

18 months after spinning off spinoff, Re/code has con-

FCC head unveils proposal to narrow from its former parent, The tinued to stage success-

Wall Street Journal. ful industry conferences

‘digital divide’ Vox operates several news and earned a reputation
and entertainment sites, in- for breaking exclusive sto-

cluding The Verge, which ries. But its readership has

AP Business Writer With the net neutrality rules cess to the Internet and also covers tech news. In lagged. Re/code had 1.5
NEW YORK (AP) — The released earlier this year, other modern technologies an online statement, Re/ million unique visitors in
head of the Federal Com- the agency redefined and those without. code founders Kara Swish- April, compared with 12
munications Commission is broadband as a public util- According to a Pew Re- er and Walt Mossberg said million for the Verge and
proposing that the govern- ity, like the telephone, giv- search Center report from they will continue to oper- 53 million for all Vox sites
ment agency expand a ing it stricter oversight on 2013, 70 percent of U.S. ate their site separately but combined, according to
phone subsidy program for how online content gets to adults have a high-speed may occasionally collabo- the comScore research
the poor to include Internet consumers. That triggered Internet connection at rate with The Verge. service. Another tech news
access. The FCC Chairman lawsuits from Internet ser- home. Only 54 percent of Re/code has focused on site, GigaOm, shut down
Tom Wheeler, has empha- vice providers. households earnings less tech companies and busi- earlier this year. A number
sized that Internet access The proposal Thursday to than $30,000 a year do. ness news, while The Verge of other news sites continue
is a critical component of expand the Lifeline phone The FCC says low-income reports from a culture and to cover the tech industry
modern life, key educa- program to Internet service Americans are more likely lifestyle perspective. Terms in New York and Silicon Val-
tion, communication and aims to narrow the “digital to rely on smartphones for of the acquisition were ley, and some have added
finding a keeping a job. divide” — those with ac- Internet access. q not disclosed.Swisher and staff in recent months.q