September was like Christmas for Apple fans, as the company released both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus while also revealing the Apple Watch for the first time. October promises to be just as good for a month for Android fans, as they’ll get to use the highly anticipated Android L for the first time and they’ll be able to buy a ton of new high-end devices. Below we’ve listed all of the terrific goodies that Android fans can expect to get in what looks to be a killer month ahead.
Android L
The most obvious thing Android fans have to look forward to is the release of Android L. Much as iOS 7 remade iOS into a flatter, less skeuomorphic design, Android L promises to give Android a huge image makeover thanks to the addition of Material Design, a new design language that will make major changes to Android’s basic UI. The coolest and most obvious change Material Design will bring will be the use of physics-based animations that will make Android feel much less static and much more reactive.
However, Material Design isn’t just there to make your phone’s UI look better — it’s also there to make your phone more functional. Among other things, Material Design sill make switching between apps on Android L simpler and easier than ever before with a newly redesigned Recents option that uses a stacked cards-style interface to give you the ability to flip through all of your most recently used applications and tabs in Google Chrome.
Other great features in Android L include actionable notifications like the ones found in iOS 8, support for 64-bit architecture, and a bunch of different new features aimed at reducing battery consumption as part of Google’s Project Volta.
We still don’t know exactly when Android L will release but we expect Google will be sending out press invitations to a media event within the next several days.
The Nexus 6 and the Nexus 9
With the release of Android L, we also expect Google to unveil two new devices that will serve as showcases for the new platform. Based on previous leaks, we know that one device will be a huge Motorola-manufactured phablet that will be called either the Nexus 6 or the Nexus X and will feature a massive 5.9-inch QHD display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1440 pixels (498 pixels per inch), a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, a 3,200mAh battery and Android L.
But that’s not all: Google is also reportedly planning to show off an HTC-manufactured tablet called the Nexus 9 that will reportedly offer an 8.9-inch display, a 64-bit Tegra processor, MDM9x25 modem (the LTE version,) 4GB RAM, NFC, GPS and Android L. The device will also reportedly come with its own keyboard that will offer the best features of the iPad’s Smart Cover and the Surface Pro’s Type Cover.
Both devices will likely be announced to coincide with the launch of Android L.
The Galaxy Note 4
We already know everything there is to know about the Galaxy Note 4 since it was announced in early September. However, the device itself won’t be available in the United States until October 17th, a little less than a month after Apple released the rival iPhone 6 Plus phablet. The Note 4 is Samsung’s most beastly phablet yet and it features a 5.7-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels, a 2.7GHz quad-core processor, a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and 8x digital zoom, a 3.7-megapixel front-facing camera, 3GB of RAM, and a massive 3,220mAh battery.
The HTC Desire Eye/HTC One (M8) Eye
It’s no secret that the most disappointing aspect of HTC’s otherwise outstanding One (M8) flagship phone this year was its camera. With this in mind, HTC on Wednesday is going to take the wraps off at least one new smartphone that will feature a killer 13-megapixel camera that promises to be the company’s best smartphone camera yet. Reported specs for the device include a 5.2-inch full HD display, a Snapdragon 801 quad-core 2.3GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, a 2,400mAh removable battery and the aforementioned 13-megapixel camera.
