SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google's next version of its Android operating system will boast new ways to fetch information, pay merchants, and protect privacy on mobile devices as the Internet company duels with Apple to make its technology indispensable.

The upgrade will give Android's personal assistant, Google Now, expanded powers of intuition that may be greeted as a great convenience to some and a tad too creepy for others.

The Android renovations unveiled Thursday at Google's annual developers' conference won't be available until late summer or early fall. That's around the same time that Apple is expected to release the latest overhaul of the iOS software that powers the iPhone and iPad.

The annual changes to Android and iOS are becoming increasingly important as people become more dependent on smartphones to manage their lives.