The search giant on Wednesday announced Android P, the next generation of its mobile operating system. And one of the biggest changes in the software is Google's catering to those cutouts. Because, well, the notches are coming. Asuslast month announced the Zenfone 5, complete with, yes, a notch. Both Huaweiand LG are also rumored to have phones with notches on the way.Android is the dominant mobile software on the planet, powering 85 percent of smartphones shipped globally, according to IDC. So Google's big focus on notches signals a change in where hardware design is headed.
Right now, Android P is still unfinished. It's only in preview mode and meant to give software developers a leg up before Google officially releases it.At this point it's anyone's guess what the P will stand for. Google typically names its new flavors of Android alphabetically and after something sugary. For example, the previous Android version was called Oreo. Before that was Nougat, then Marshmallow. So Google is hoping its newest Android version will make using your phone easy as ... pie?
Still, not every phone maker is going notch crazy. Samsung, the biggest Android device maker on the planet, has opted to avoid notches in its devices. Last year's Galaxy S8 -- which hit the market about eight months before the iPhone X -- featured a screen that stretched across the entire front of the display. And this year's Galaxy S9 is the same. "As always, there's no notch," Justin Denison, Samsung Electronics America's senior vice president of product strategy and marketing, said during the company's Unpacked Galaxy S9 launch in Barcelona.