Android M Features Surface As New Android 6.0 OS Is Set To Be Unveiled On May 28

Android M will reportedly be the new version of Android unveiled at Google's I/O developers conference, to be held May 28 and 29 in San Francisco. The official schedule initially said that Android M would be revealed during the Android for Work session, as Android Police reported, but apparently that session has been removed from the schedule.

The rumor mill now says only that the new features will arrive with Android M OS or Android 6.0. Here is the lowdown on some of the expected features:

Voice Access

Phandroid said there will be a session on Voice Access at the I/O event. Early speculation hints that it will let developers include voice action in their apps to deliver a complete hands-free experience to the user.

Nearby

A report from Android Police said the Nearby feature will allow Android devices to find and communicate with close distance devices, places and people. It will be revealed through the Proximity-based communication session.

Material Design

9 to 5 Google says that Google will host several sessions on Material Design. One session is titled “Bringing material design to life on Android.”

Improved App Permissions

Bloomberg reported that Google will provide more power to the user to control what kind of data -- such as photos, contacts or locations -- can be accessed by the apps. In other words, users will be able to install an app without providing any permission to access the aforementioned data. At present, before installing any Android app, users are required to access all permissions.

The Google I/O event will be held at Moscone Center West. In 2014, Google released an app for the event, which allowed users to watch all the sessions as they happened via live stream. As of this writing, the search engine giant has yet to release an app for the upcoming conference.

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