Android 7.0 Nougat final release reportedly coming this August

The Android N developer preview gives us a sneak peek into what Android Nougat will look like when it officially arrives later this year. Of course, developer previews quite often contain features that won’t make it to the final release but there’s still plenty to get excited about, so let’s dive right in. Here are all the Android 7.0 Nougat features from the latest Android N preview updates as well as others we expect to see in future. Please note that some features have been officially confirmed by Google, while others, “confirmed” by the developer preview, could still disappear before Android 7.0 arrives in September.

Update: The fifth and final preview of Android N is now available. Android N developer preview 5 provides “near-final” system images, an emulator for devs testing apps targeted at API 24 and more. See below for the user-facing breakdown.

Google revealed the official name for Android N is going to be Android Nougat, not Android Nutella, as many had hoped (just check the comments under Google’s tweet for confirmation). Based on other clues from Google I/O and in developer previews, we already knew the next major Android version would be Android 7.0 but now we can confirm it is Android 7.0 Nougat.

At one point Sundar Pichai had said he’d ask his mother or let fans vote for the official Android N name and, true to form, Google did a Google Opinions Rewards poll on dessert names starting with the letter ‘N’. Android N was known internally as New York Cheesecake and during the I/O keynote, users were invited to suggest names for Android N.

All the screenshots and mockups featured at I/O showed the time 7:00 – Google’s traditional method of hinting at the next Android version number. The same time appeared in demo mode in Dev Preview 4.

Android Nougat discharge date 

As opposed to hold up until Google I/O 2016, Google chose to astound all of us by discharging the main Android N designer sneak peak on March 9, two entire months sooner than anticipated. The Android N sneak peak went live for the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Nexus 9 (Wi-Fi and LTE), Nexus Player and Pixel C on the Android Developers site. The primary beta discharge competitor showed up amid Google I/O on May 18, 2016.

Samsung's Gear 360 VR camera gets a release date

SAN FRANCISCO — Samsung is finally giving its consumer 360-degree VR camera a release date.

The Gear 360 camera, which Samsung first revealed in February, will go on sale April 29, Samsung announced at its annual developer conference Wednesday.

The company hasn't yet revealed a price, but one retailer already has it listed for $399.99. 

The Gear 360 is one of two virtual-reality cameras Samsung is working on, though it's the only consumer-facing one. Project Beyond, which Samsung first revealed in late 2014, is a sophisticated, drone-like camera for professional filmmakers. Samsung hasn't yet given Project Beyond a release date or price.

Samsung's Gear 360 joins an increasingly crowded market of 360-degree cameras for virtual reality, though its $400 price tag would make it one of the cheaper offerings we've seen. But, given that it's meant to complement Samsung's $99 Gear VR headset, the lower price makes sense. 

During the keynote at Wednesday's developer conference, Samsung executives spoke at length about the company's vision for the future of virtual reality, noting that there are still many areas they need to improve.

One such areas is the dizziness and nausea that many people still experience in virtual reality, While Samsung didn't address this during its keynote, the company has previously unveiled an experimental set of headphones meant to trick your brain into "feeling" motion to reduce the chance of motion sickness. 

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