Google Announces 5.0 Lollipop, Nexus 9, 6, & Player

Google has announced three new Nexus devices, the HTC Nexus 9, Motorola Nexus 6, and ASUS Nexus Player (all 3 are up for pre-order). They've also just launched the SDK for Android 5.0 'Lollipop'.

Android 5.0 Lollipop changes:

• Material Design

  A bold, colorful, and responsive UI design for consistent, intuitive experiences across all your devices

  • Responsive, natural motion, realistic lighting and shadows, and familiar visual elements make it easier to navigate your device
  • Vivid new colors, typography, and edge-to-edge imagery help to focus your attention

• Notifications

  New ways to control when and how you receive messages - only get interrupted when you want to be

  • View and respond to messages directly from your lock screen. Includes the ability to hide sensitive content for these notifications
  • For fewer disruptions, turn on Priority mode via your device’s volume button so only certain people and notifications get through. Or schedule recurring downtime like 10pm to 8am when only Priority notifications can get through
  • With Lollipop, incoming phone calls won’t interrupt what you’re watching or playing. You can choose to answer the call or just keep doing what you’re doing
  • Control the notifications triggered by your apps; hide sensitive content and prioritize or turn off the app’s notifications entirely
  • More intelligent ranking of notifications based on who they’re from and the type of communication. See all your notifications in one place by tapping the top of the screen

• Battery

  Power for the long haul

  • A battery saver feature which extends device use by up to 90 mins
  • Estimated time left to fully charge is displayed when your device is plugged in
  • Estimated time left on your device before you need to charge again can now be found in battery settings

• Security

  Keep your stuff safe and sound

  • New devices come with encryption automatically turned on to help protect data on lost or stolen devices
  • SELinux enforcing for all applications means even better protection against vulnerabilities and malware
  • Use Android Smart Lock to secure your phone or tablet by pairing it with a trusted device like your wearable or even your car

• Device Sharing

  More flexible sharing with family and friends

  • Multiple users for phones. If you forget your phone, you still can call any of your friends (or access any of your messages, photos etc.) by simply logging into another Android phone running Lollipop. Also perfect for families who want to share a phone, but not their stuff
  • Guest user for phones and tablets means you can lend your device and not your stuff
  • Screen pinning: pin your screen so another user can access just that content without messing with your other stuff

• New Quick Settings

  Get to the most frequently used settings with just two swipes down from the top of the screen

  • New handy controls like flashlight, hotspot, screen rotation and cast screen controls
  • Easier on/off toggles for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and location
  • Manually adjust your brightness for certain conditions. Then, adaptive brightness will kick in based on ambient lighting

• Connectivity

  A better internet connection everywhere and more powerful Bluetooth low energy capabilities

  • Improved network handoffs resulting in limited interruption in connectivity. For example, continue your video chat or VoIP calls without interruption as you leave the house and switch from your home Wi-Fi back to cellular
  • Improved network selection logic so that your device connects only if there is a verified internet connection on Wi-Fi
  • Power-efficient scanning for nearby Bluetooth low energy (“BLE”) devices like wearables or beacons
  • New BLE peripheral mode

• Runtime and Performance

  A faster, smoother and more powerful computing experience

  • ART, an entirely new Android runtime, improves application performance and responsiveness
    • Up to 4x performance improvements
    • Smoother UI for complex, visually rich applications
    • Compacting backgrounded apps and services so you can do more at once
  • Support for 64 bit devices, like the Nexus 9, brings desktop class CPUs to Android
    • Support for 64-bit SoCs using ARM, x86, and MIPS-based cores
    • Shipping 64-bit native apps like Chrome, Gmail, Calendar, Google Play Music, and more
    • Pure Java language apps run as 64-bit apps automatically

• Media

  Bolder graphics and improved audio, video, and camera capabilities

  • Lower latency audio input ensuring that music and communication applications that have strict delay requirements provide an amazing realtime experience
  • Multi-channel audio stream mixing means professional audio applications can now mix up to eight channels including 5.1 and 7.1 channels
  • USB Audio support means you can plug USB microphones, speakers, and a myriad of other USB audio devices like amplifiers and mixers into your Android device
  • OpenGL ES 3.1 and Android extension pack brings Android to the forefront of mobile graphics putting it on par with desktop and console class performance
  • A range of new professional photography features for Android Lollipop that let you
    • Capture full resolution frames around 30 fps
    • Support raw formats like YUV and Bayer RAW
    • Control capture settings for the sensor, lens, and flash per individual frame
    • Capture metadata like noise models and optical information
  • State of the art video technology with support for HEVC to allow for UHD 4K video playback, tunneled video for high quality video playback on Android TV and improved HLS support for streaming

• OK Google

  Easy access to information and performing tasks

  • Even if your screen is off, you can say "OK Google" on devices with digital signal processing support such as Nexus 6 and Nexus 9
  • Talk to Google on the go to get quick answers, send a text, get directions and more

• Android TV

  Support for living room devices

  • User interface adapted for the living room
  • Less browsing, more watching with personalized recommendations for content like movies and TV shows
  • Voice search for Google Play, YouTube and supported apps so you can just say what you want to see
  • Console-style Android gaming on your TV with a gamepad
  • Cast your favorite entertainment apps to your big screen with Google Cast support for Android TV devices

• Accessibility

  Enhanced low vision and color blind capabilities

  • Boost text contrast or invert colors to improve legibility
  • Adjust display to improve color differentiation

• Now in 68+ languages

  15 new additions

  • Basque, Bengali, Burmese, Chinese (Hong Kong), Galician, Icelandic, Kannada, Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Sinhala, Tamil, Telugu

• Device set up

  Get up and running in no-time

  • Tap & go: instant set up of your new Android phone or tablet by simply tapping it to your old one (requires NFC)
  • Whenever you get a new Android phone or tablet, you can bring over your apps from Google Play automatically from any of your old Android devices

• And a whole lot more

  • Tap & pay: easily manage multiple payment apps by quickly switching between them
  • Print preview and page range support
  • Revamped display for battery, Bluetooth, data usage, and Wi-Fi settings and new search functionality in settings
  • New device level feedback for Nexus devices in Settings > about phone > send feedback
  • Easier sharing with
    • Improved ranking of your options within the share menu
    • Android Beam: lets you share a file with someone nearby by gently tapping the two devices together
  • Where supported by the hardware, your device will wake up as soon as you pick it up or tap the screen twice
  • Improved hardware keyboard accessory support including support for multilingual, emoji input, search key, and improved app and system key chords

Credit Android.com

Nexus 9 specifications:

• Android 5.0
• 8.9" 2048x1536 IPS display
• Tegra K1 Denver (64-bit)
• 2GB LPDDR3
• 16GB or 32GB internal storage
• 8MP rear camera / 1.2MP front camera
• 6,700 mAh battery
• WiFi 802.11ac | BT 4.1 | GPS/GNSS | NFC
• optional 4G LTE
• 153.68 x 228.25 x 7.95 mm | 425 g
• starting price = $399

Nexus 6 specifications:

• Android 5.0
• 5.96" 2560x1440 AMOLED display
• Snapdragon 805
• 3GB LPDDR3
• 32GB or 64GB internal storage
• 13MP rear camera / 2MP front camera
• 3,220 mAh battery
• WiFi 802.11ac | BT 4.1 | GPS/GNSS | NFC
• optional 4G LTE
• Motorola turbo charger (15 minutes of charging = 6 hours of use)
• 82.98 x 159.26 x 10.06 | 184 g
• starting price (off contract) = $649

The ASUS Nexus Player is a $99 Android TV device (game controller sold separately for $39). It's powered by an Intel Moorefield SoC with 4 Silvermont cores, a PVR 6 series GPU (limited to OpenGL ES 3.1, no AEP), and 1GB RAM. It has 8GB internal storage, and comes with a Bluetooth remote.

I was gonna get an iphone but hot damn that nexus 6 is sexy(might still get iphone)

Sexy? Maybe. Expensive as heck? A resounding YES.

Edit: Just noticed those renders don't show the Moto logo that is on the type left corner of the front of the phone.

Yeah, the price for such a device was bound to be higher for a number of reasons:

• Snapdragon 805 requires a separate modem which brings up the cost. This is why a number of manufacturers are still using Snapdragon 801 and/or holding off until Snapdragon 810 comes in Q1 2015 (both have integrated modems).
• Higher quality construction and materials (such as the metal frame), things not found on the previous Nexus 4 and 5.
• Additional hardware such as the 5.98" AMOLED display, that's going to cost more than the LCD displays used in previous devices.
• Motorola has no sister device for the Nexus 6. The Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 had the LG Optimus G and LG G2 as sister devices. This likely allowed for LG to lower the manufacturing cost.
• Availability of the Nexus 6 (on every major US carrier), is higher than the Nexus 4 and 5. So a lower cost might undermine the carrier pricing, or the pricing of other Motorola devices such as the Moto X (2014).

The result is still a nice device (too large for my tastes), but it comes across as a bargain in the premium-phablet segment (compared to higher costing devices such as the iPhone 6 Plus or Galaxy Note 4).

Speculation: When the Snapdragon 810 becomes available, Google might consider launching a smaller / lower priced (64-bit) Nexus phone.

I'm hoping they consider that, these phablets are too big for my tastes.

iPad Air 2 is looking to be the most powerful current mobile SoC on the market right now and even faster then the Tegra K1 64 bit SoC if rumors and leaks are true about the Air 2 having 3 cores (tri core Enchanced Cyclone cores) as opposed to 2 in the Plus and 6.

I love the new Nexus lineup from Google though now, very great specs and awesome build quality now with high quality part's and with metal now, it is very tempting

Yawn. iPad Air 2 just came out. That tablet is DOA like every other android tablet

The tablet costs too much in UK, £319 for 16GB and £399 for the 32GB and I don't want to pay that much, I knew it would cost more than the Nexus 7 but I thought it would be less than the Nexus 10. As for the phone I am still happy with my Nexus 5 so won't buy that either not for a while anyway.

I don't typically care about price in a discussion like this, but to nearly double the cost of the Nexus phone line is pretty shocking. They aren't going to sell any of those. OnePlus calls the OnePlus One 'the 2014 flagship killer', they forgot to add the words, "android" to that. This Nexus puts the android enthusiast market up on a tee for OnePlus.

And android's tablet support is still to poor to make the Nexus 9 much more than an android hobbyist/enthusiast distraction, especially since it's been handily out-done by the iPad Air 2 in raw performance, media coverage, exclusive features, and in available software and hardware support.

Why Google would want to release hardware that competes in a market with which they have little to no success is so baffling. What trained monkeys are pulling the strings out in Mountain View? Everything they release is done so with a depth of thought akin to that of a kiddie pool.

Edit: And more new screen sizes! What a mess.

Increased cost for the reasons listed above, but that doesn't take away from the Nexus 6's value (especially when it will be low cost on-contract). I'm sure the device will sell just fine, but don't get me wrong, these are still Nexus devices, they've never been produced or distributed in a manner to allow for high sales numbers.

The OnePlus One is extremely inexpensive compared to just about ANY of the other 5.5" devices, it offered leading performance in H1 2014, and high price/performance in H2 2014. The successor should come in H1 2015 with Snapdragon 810 (to continue with an annual cycle).

You know it, I know it, just about everyone knows it, Nexus devices are not made to take on market leaders and flagships. They serve the purpose of offering a vanilla Android platform to display some of the latest advances in hardware/software. Stop pretending otherwise.

As for performance? You have nothing to base your claim off of. The 'supposed' GeekBench score is not running in AArch64, and the single-sample GFXBench score doesn't tell us anything. This is still an unreleased device running unreleased software. The only thing we do know, is the GPU inside Tegra K1 is far more capable in terms of API/feature support than the PVR inside the A8X, and like I said to you previously, Tegra K1 PC ports are proof of those capabilities.

Aside: Just about every ARM tablet in the 10" to 12" range is well behind x86-64 Windows/Core M devices in terms of performance and capabilities. So a fight for second would be more appropriate.

@NVIDIATI: I just don't think Nexus devices are all that interesting. It's the same SoC as every other flagship, it's now the same price as every other 805 flagship, it's got a wonky screen size with a resolution too high for its own good, and it doesn't have any outstanding or unique features that make it any more appealing than any other random android flagship phone. I think it's just dull.

Those benchmarks you're referring to also don't take into account Apple's new graphics API, but preliminary results have the iPad Air 2 doing a real number on the competition, especially in terms of the CPU performance. We'll have to see how things shake out once we get results you'll be satisfied with. I'd love a surprise. One thing that won't come as any surprise is that Apple's ecosystem is much, much, much better equipped to take advantage of that power potential.

All in all it just looks like more mobile flattery on Google's part with the ways in which they choose to evolve android and the policies surrounding it.

Keep in mind, unlike every other company, Apple keeps 99.9% of what they're doing under wraps until they're ready to release it. If I were a betting man and I wanted to make a fortune, I'd bet you that there is a hidden version of iOS that's been running on x86 processors since the very beginning. Apple's believes their processor roadmap is the best roadmap, otherwise they wouldn't be using what they're using. Because of their immense wealth and influence, greater than that of any other tech company, they're privy to just about whatever they want. So far, they've proven that they know what they're doing.

@musicalmac The Nexus devices aren't for everyone, but they help act as reference devices (in their respected segments) for Google's Android. The screen size is also nothing new, older devices such as the OPPO N1 has a 5.9" display. The Nexus 6 off-contract is the least expensive Snapdragon 805 device, and it still has high quality build, display, camera, and other aspects that would be found on premium flagship devices. Of course there is also the benefit of owning a Nexus device from a software point of view (latest updated without carrier interference). The on-contract price is also said to be closer to a mid-range device than a flagship.

True, the benchmarks don't take Metal into account, but they also don't take OpenGL 4.x or upcoming OpenGL NG (DX12 equivalent) into account. As for being able to utilize those features/performance, I'd argue Android is very well prepared for that. Something is being done right when a developer can port their entire OpenGL 4.x based PC engine to Android in roughly 1 week, and have it running with little to no errors.

Flattery? In what sense? Android L does a lot of things Apple's iOS has not (and likely will not, at least for sometime). Android L is about as big as an update for Android as Ice Cream Sandwich (version 4.0).

Just to give you a taste of the UI and animations, I found a video showing Android Lollipop Developer Preview @1920x1080 running on a Nexus 5 next to the iPhone 6 running iOS 8 @1334x750:

@NVIDIATI: Whoa! I've been running the Lollipop preview on my Nexus 7 and I gotta say that I've been taking it for granted. Seeing it running side by side with iOS8 really telling. Crazy that last years Nexus is running a more feature filled pre-release OS as well as this years retail iPhone.

it feels like Nexus 5 is being phased out what a pity

Hardly, Nexus 6 is a phablet, Nexus 5 is the smartphone. I suspect Google will announce the new Nexus smartphone and maybe a new Nexus intermediate tablet sometime in the near future.

@chaplainDMK: I know but the nexus 5 has been out of stock for awhile. I was hoping to get it till I'm at a point where I can afford an iphone

Is the nexus player even worth getting for some retro gaming, or android games on the big screen?

Assuming you have a tablet already, get a chromecast and that controller, its cheaper.

Yeah I do have a tablet, though I was wondering how the controller works with games on the tablet since most of them are touchscreen games.

Angry birds as just 1 example works very well from my friends experience.

Good, thanks for help