In a May 28 update to its I/O 2015 schedule to announce “Android for Work Update” sessions, Google – seemingly accidently as the update has been removed – revealed that it plans to unveil the next iteration of its mobile operating system, Android M, at its annual developer conference next week.

Android M, like Android L which was released at I/O 2014, is likely to be a developer preview and deliver significant changes to Google’s mobile operating system.

As is the case with new products from key vendors, the rumor mill has been churning non-stop with bits and pieces of information that seemingly indicate what Google might include in Android M.

Below are two highly likely Android M features:

Native fingerprint authentication

Buzzfeed has learned – from unidentified sources – that Android M will include native fingerprint authentication to allow users to log into supported apps and services using fingerprint ID instead of passwords.

Ars Technica have also reported that Google was close to including native fingerprint support in Android Lollipop and, given that it has been in the pipeline for so long, it is likely to be included on Android M.

It is worth pointing out that a number of OEMs – Samsung and HTC, among others – have previously included fingerprint recognition in handsets with limited success.

Native fingerprint support in Android may open up numerous new opportunities for app developers and handset manufacturers, especially around Android Pay integration.

Android Pay

In March, Google confirmed rumors that it was working on Android Pay, a new payments API to power in-store and in-app payments for third-party Android apps.

At the time, the company said that Android Pay is an API that will let developers include mobile payment options in their Android apps and not a standalone mobile wallet app. Google Wallet will remain the company’s mobile wallet app and will also make use of the Android Pay API, Google said.

While Google did not reveal a release date for Android Pay at the time, it is widely expected that the search giant will take the wraps off the project at I/O 2015, possibly as part of the Android M release.

Photo credit: Brian Cantoni, Flickr, CC BY 2.0