Android 8.0 Oreo is here!

As expected, Google today decided to finally unveil the moniker of the next iteration of Android. Known simply as "O" for the past few months while a few Developer Previews and public betas went out, it now officially has a full name.

It's Android 8.0 Oreo.

So yes, the most rumored name actually turned out to be what Google chose to call its latest sweet treat. It's only the second time in Android's history when there's a commercial partnership involved - for version 4.4 KitKat Google teamed up with Nestle (which owns that brand), and this time around the search giant managed to get Mondelez on board the co-branding train.

Android 8.0 Oreo's code will be uploaded by Google engineers to the Android Open Source Project today, while software updates for the supported Nexus and Pixel devices are due to arrive "soon". Of course the final build will be sent to those devices enrolled in the Android Beta Program too.

Google also says that by the end of the year you should expect devices from Essential, General Mobile, HMD Global, Huawei, HTC, Kyocera, LG, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp, and Sony to either launch with or be upgraded to Android Oreo.

The latest version of Android comes with picture-in-picture support, notification dots, fully redesigned emoji (including over 60 new ones), Google Play Protect built-in, limits to background overuse of battery by apps, faster boot speeds, autofill system-wide, and support for Android Instant Apps.

Nokia 8 announced: its dual camera boasts Zeiss lens and OZO audio

“With the Nokia 8 – we wanted to create the ultimate tool to tell our story”. That’s what HMD told us and we think is a perfect description for this dual-eyed Finn. Any story that stars Carl Zeiss is one we’ll listen to, but let’s start at the beginning.

The Nokia 8 has a 5.3” IPS LCD display on the front with QHD resolution and a blinding 700nits of max brightness. 2.5D Gorilla Glass 5 curves into the phone’s metal shell, which is milled out of 6000 series aluminum. The phone measures 7.9mm at the thickest point and has basic resistance to the elements with an IP54 rating.

The optical engineers at Zeiss helped make the lens for both the rear and the front cameras. The main camera features two 13MP sensors (color + monochrome) with 1.12µm pixels and an f/2.0 aperture. The color camera has optical image stabilization (OIS) and there is Laser autofocus and a dual LED flash to help in the dark.

The selfie camera is one-eyed, but otherwise similar – 13MP sensor (1.12µm pixels) with an f/2.0 aperture and phase detection autofocus. The phone can livestream split-screen footage from the front and back cameras to YouTube and Facebook, something HMD calls Dual-Sight.

OZO – Nokia’s camera division – co-developed the 360° spatial surround audio recording, which will capture sound with a quality to match the sharp 4K video imagery. A rare feature, binaural audio, will give your viewers and even more immersive experience. The powerful Snapdragon 835 chipset handles all the necessary processing.

HMD partnered with Google to make Google Photos the default gallery app on the phone. You’ll get unlimited photo and video storage in the cloud, to bolster the 64GB built-in memory (there’s a microSD slot if you prefer to keep things offline).

The Nokia 8 will start selling globally in September at a price of €600, which is steep but par for the course on a flagship smartphone. Pure Android (7.1 at launch) will allow HMD to breeze through major software updates, though the time frame for Android O is still under wraps.