Google's new Android Auto links your car and smartphone

New York: Google is finally bringing Android, the world's leading mobile operating system, into the car. This mean if you're going to the office, Android Auto will offer the route, including an estimated travel time, and your favorite music playlist.The new OS is slated to arrive this fall, and Google says the first cars that support Android Auto will follow by year's end.All of the apps run on the smartphone, meaning it's easier for developers and users to ensure their favorite services are up-to-date. Driverless cars, Google Glass, smartwatches and thinking thermostats are just some of its more far-off bets.On the home front, Google's Nest Labs -which makes network-connected thermostats and smoke detectors- announced earlier this week that it has created a program that allows outside developers, from tiny startups to large companies such as Whirlpool and Mercedes-Benz, to fashion software and "new experiences" for its products.Integration with Mercedes-Benz, for example, might mean that a car can notify a Nest thermostat when it's getting close to home, so the device can have the home's temperature adjusted to the driver's liking before he or she arrives.Nest's founder, Tony Fadell, is an Apple veteran who helped design the iPod and the iPhone. Experts expect that this so-called "Internet of Things" phenomenon will change the way people use technology in much the same way that smartphones have changed life since the introduction of Apple's iPhone seven years ago.In March, Google released "Android Wear," a version of its operating system tailored to computerized wristwatches and other wearable devices. A third one, Motorola's Moto 360, is coming later this summer - an announcement that drew groans from the audience, which had hoped for an earlier date.Intent on reaching the billions of people who don't have a smartphone or even Internet access, Google also unveiled an initiative called Android One, designed to help manufacturers build low-cost smartphones for emerging markets such as India.The company also showed off features of the next version of Android, which goes by the temporary code name "Android L." It's been designed to work across all devices as long as the gadgets are running the operating system, so a user can check email on a smartwatch, answer the message on a smartphone and then delete it on a computer, for example.Android L will also look different, include more animation, colors and a feature called "material design," which lets developers add shadows and seams to give visuals on a phone's screen the appearance of depth.