On June 25, executives from Google took the stage in San Francisco for the I/O developers conference and revealed a slew of new products and services that fall under the Android moniker. While the Auto, Fit and TV systems really let the imagination wander, it is the new version of the tablet and smartphone operating system that have the enterprise as a whole excited.
This is because the company is making its hardest push yet into the business landscape with Android L. The biggest place that this can been seen is in the security features that were added, specifically the Knox security capabilities.
Known as "Android for Work," it will be possible to partition personal data from work data. This makes it much easier for IT professionals to monitor apps and information that is housed on an employee's personal smartphone or tablet that is used specifically for work purposes.
Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Android, Chrome and applications for Google, said that no one wants to carry two phones and L will come with a set of APIs to unify the work and home experiences while proving enterprise level security.
"This is the first time that Google seems to be catering directly to enterprise concerns for Android, which has the lowest level of security among the major platforms," Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates, told Computerworld.
With Google making this push, the bring-your-own-device marketplace is going to get more convoluted than it already is. With the right IT support service, any organization will be able to more effectively manage any mobile devices.
