Google has officially launch Android for Work, a move aimed to bring the operating system closer to the corporate world. The company first unveiled a preview of the project during its I/O developer conference last year.
The idea behind Android for Work is to allow employees to operate their personal devices at work, and be able to use both their personal apps and business apps on the same device while keeping data secured in both worlds.
More than a billion people are bringing smartphones in their pockets to the workplace, Rajen Sheth, a director of product management at Google, said.
On devices running Lollipop, this is done by creating dedicated profiles. But Google said that it also wants to make Android for Work available to older handsets by releasing an Android for Work app that brings the same kind of security and account separation to devices running older version of Android.
The company also said that it created a new version of Google Play marketplace, which lets IT personnel release and manage apps, as well as purchase apps on behalf of the employees in mass.
Google’s partners for the launch include companies like SAP, Citrix, Samsung, Sony, Box and Adobe, BlackBerry and device manufacturers like LG, Sony and HTC.
Apple is Google’s direct competitor in the corporate world, as the company also inked a deal with IBM to bring apps to the enterprise environment last year.
We want to change and redefine the concept of mobility at work, said Sheth.
Full press release here.
