Google Gets 'Edge' From This Tech, BofA Says

In a report published Friday, BofA Merrill Lynch analyst Justin Post maintained a Buy rating on

, with a price objective of $650, following the start of the company's developer conference. Google announced the launch of the new Android M OS scheduled for the fall as well as Android Pay, Android Wear, Android TV, Google Photos, Google Play, Google Now and a new OS platform for the Internet of Things. "While the event wasn't splashy and lacked a near-term product catalyst, we continue to be impressed with Google's technology platform and Internet of Things (IoT) initiatives, which should help Android maintain its market share leadership," Post said. Android devices and Google Now are becoming "increasingly more intelligent," Post mentioned, while explaining that Google Now is adding features that can understand context and improve the user experiences. For instance, if you receive a message enquiring about the location for a dinner meeting at 6 PM and another message to pick up dry cleaning, then the feature recommends restaurants near the dry cleaner, while offering a route map for both that avoids traffic at 5:30 PM. "We think features like these will differentiate Android devices over the long term. Machine learning is very computational, and Google's massive capex spend could prove to be a long-term competitive advantage for Google apps and Android," Post wrote. The Android ecosystem remains strong, with Google indicating that there are more than 1bn Android active users, 50bn app installs in the past 12 months, and that 8 out of 10 phones that were shipped last year were Android based.