Goodbye Keylime Pie, Hello Kitkat!

Communities Blog
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Android 4.3 has only just been released, a lot of high end phones dont even have the trim enabled bean yet, but google has already made a turn in the release setup of android.

So it seems today (as far as I have personally found) Google has decided to not pursue Android 5.0 Keylime Pie and follow a different path, Welcome Android 4.4 Kitkat.

Personally I prefer this move from the Android 5.0 update, 4.3 Jelly Bean is far from finished yet, I have noticed a battery decrease on my Nexus 7 since the update and cant fix it with a custom kernel.

So a minor update over a major upgrade maybe better as half of the locked devices have not got their 4.3 update yet. I have only just seen the Nexus 4 get update over here with locked devices.

So yeah, Google doing another sudden turn in the android lineup, impressive and I thank Google that they dont just ditch the 4 series yet.

I shall also leave you with this, a nice little parody video from Google which most likely seems aimed at the new series of Apple adverts with their whole 'Designed in California' style. And i have to say made me giggle on the inside.

www.android.com/kitkat/ - Android Timeline

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKOrkLxOBoY - Android Kitkat 4.4 - The Future of Confectionery

 

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They say it isn't about money changing hands, but this seems like a marketing move...

It just seems weird that they would name an OS off of a brand name snack.

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I find the whole fragmentation thing a bit confusing. Why cant Google control the lower stuff and Android-universal features(features that are on every phone) and leave OEMs to add in their own stuff? I mean, Google can add APIs and features but the OEMs are left to choose whether or not they want to use those APIs for their own features. Google can push updates, and the OEMs can push their own updates. I know that this is some-what the case with the Play Services but I think those should reach further than just the Google Apps and super low level software. 

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Like what then?

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They are actually starting to do that with google play services which are updated through the store and not with major os updates

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@Renfield - OEMs have all the power when it comes to phones, tablets not so much, My HTC Desire C was locked at purchase, I had to wait a few months for the ability to unlock my bootloader, and almost a year for cyanogenmod, Thanks HTC selfish dicks... anyways I digress.

People like vodafones install their own software to lock people to their services, and the standard android user has no idea what root is or bootloader, saying the average non tech person may not have an idea what linux is also that does not help much, and google cant technically stop them without stopping outsider devs such as XDA devs, if google stops the phone companies from making custom firmware, they have to stop all devs outside of google, or chances are the companies wont purchase android based phones, or they will go legal against google, they would possibly loose, but google is not immune to the law, no matter how hard they try.

If you wish to have a true universal android go for the nexus line, OEMs cant touch it with their crapware, its a pure google design, although Cyanogenmod is always around, they cant get updates directly via them, they have to release a new RC or nightly.

But I do see where you are coming from, Google play could have some power in the market, but not for firmware, it was not designed in such way. and again an unlocked bootloader for google access maybe required.

@Missxu - I to agree that it is a marketing move, and i suspect money may have changed hands, more so into kitkats than googles, and yes it would but i suppose its a tribute to their devs as it is their so called fav snack, i want to see a survey of this :) see if there is some truth into that :)