Artificial intelligence is disrupting everything in its path, including Google's sacrosanct calendar. Android 16 is announced for early 2025, a first in the history of mobile OS.
According to information from CNETGoogle plans to launch Android 16 from the start of 2025several months before its usual schedule. A decision that marks a turning point in the history of the mobile OS.
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A historic break
Traditionally, Google unveiled its new major Android releases in the third quarter of each year, a few weeks before the Google I/O event.
This well-established calendar made it possible to synchronize the releases with the new Pixels. But times change, and Google with them. As revealed by Seang Chau, vice president of the Android platform, in his interview with CNETthis acceleration responds to an imperative: adapting to the rapid evolution of AI.
The AI dictates the times
Changing the calendar isn't just about dates. It reflects a profound transformation of the mobile industry. “ We are experiencing a unique moment“, explains Seang Chau to CNET, “ that of completely reinventing what our smartphones can do. » This “reinvention” involves in particular the massive integration of generative AI functionalities.
Google's new strategy is structured around two axes:
- A major release in the second quarter (Android 16)
- A minor Q4 update for optimizations
This faster pace should allow developers to access new machine learning and AI APIs more quickly.
But this acceleration also raises questions. Android being an open source system used by many manufacturers, the challenge of compatibility remains. How to ensure rapid deployment across the entire ecosystem? Google is banking on its Treble project, which already facilitates updates, but the bet remains far from won.
The ambitions are great. Beyond simple virtual assistants, Google is already imagining revolutionary applications with Gemini: games with dialogues generated by AI, new content moderation tools, advanced integrations between services… The field of possibilities is widening considerably.
This announcement comes in a context of intense competition. Qualcomm, the leading supplier of processors for Android smartphones, is already working on concepts for advanced AI applications. Apple is not left out, with Apple Intelligence and its Apple Silicon chips.
By bringing forward the release of Android 16, Google is sending a clear message: the era of mobile AI has launched, and there is no question of falling behind. It remains to be seen whether this eagerness will make it possible to keep the promise of a real revolution in uses.
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Android 16 could be inspired by a flagship iPhone feature
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