2 Confirmed Google Nexus 6 Killer Features: Android Lollipop’s Ambient Display & Gmail 5.0
Reasons are aplenty why the giant Nexus 6 is a good buy on its early November 2014 release date but two more killer Android Lollipop features have emerged that should convince shoppers to include the phablet on their Black Friday and Christmas shopping lists.
Ambient Display
Thanks to Android 5.0 and Motorola, would-be Nexus 6 users are sure to enjoy a popular Moto X feature called Active Display. According to 9to5Google, Lollipop is replicating Active Display and will call Ambient Display.
It is expected that all devices compatible with the feature will be able to implement it but needless to say the first handset to showcase Ambient Display is Google's 2014 flagship phone.
With the feature activated, the Nexus 6 is always on call - ready to prompt into action with a simple tap pattern or soon as a user picks it up. Other Android devices will surely reconfigure the service but the Nexus 6, the function is pretty much that of the second-gen Moto X.
The device after all is the repurposed and scaled up Motorola flagship, only running in the natural sweets of Android Lollipop.
Gmail 5.0
With Android jumping soon to version 5.0, so is Gmail, per a report by Android Police. And the app upgrade will happen as soon as both the Nexus 6 and Lollipop are out.
Naturally, Gmail 5.0 will flash all the Lollipop signatures so far revealed by Google, including the dominant touch of Material Design. That means Gmail for the Nexus 6 and all the other Android devices is minimalistic in design and functions.
But the most notable change, added Android Police on its report, is the new application will permit access to non-Google email accounts. A clip include included in the report somehow proved that Yahoo and Outlook can be easily accessed from the enhanced Gmail mobile app, indicating that the Nexus 6 will only require one app to check and work on emails.
Android Lollipop preview
Now while waiting for both the Nexus 6 and Android 5.0, users can choose to have a taste of what the new mobile platform experience is all about. Courtesy of XDA Developers, the Lollipop-inspired of the following apps are now ready for download and installation:
- Google Now Launcher
- Google Keyboard
- Google Play Store
- Google Play Services apps
- Plus enhancement on UI elements such as wallpapers, fonts, boot animation and media audio files
BGR is clear on its warning though that testing Lollipop this way comes with risk so Nexus and Android should proceed with caution.
As mentioned above, Google and its distribution and retail partners will start selling the Motorola-made Nexus 6 this coming November.