Rumors are rampant that Google is planning to launch the latest version of the Android operating system, Android 5.0 as early as this summer. However Google has not released any official statement confirming or denying these rumors as of now. The Vice President of Engineering for Mobile at Google, Hiroshi Lockheimer has indicated in a statement to Computerworld at the Mobile World Congress that the next release might be sometime this fall.
Lockheimer has said that the typical pattern for the release so far has been once a year though there are substantial maintenance releases throughout the year and this sets the time frame for any Android release in 2012 to be in around fall. However Lockheimer added soon after that the release dates are not rigid and are mode dependent on offering the users a great experience by repeated innovation. The name of the latest versions of the OS was not divulged by Lockheimer.
The success of the Ice Cream Sandwich or Android 4.0 was evident at the MWC which saw Google have their own large exhibit area. Many users and developers flocked to the venue to check out the ICS related applications developed by Google partners, the most popular of them being the Android Beam. Some of the most popular upgrades featured in Ice Cream Sandwich are the battery usage meters, data usage meters and the widgets on the home screen.
Though the main focus at Google’s booth was Ice Cream Sandwich, many users complained over the inability to harness the new features on devices which are still using the previous versions of Android. This concern was acknowledged by Lockheimer who said that the Android Upgrade Alliance was set up at the Google I/O conference last year for the very same purpose of making sure that all wireless carriers and phone manufacturers would ensure that the upgrades would be prompt in coming out to the market in the first 18 months at least.
ASUS has also gone ahead and let it slip that Android Jellybean is in the works. ASUS is well known for providing timely updates to its devices, and was the first manufacturer to launch Ice Cream Sandwich in the form of the Transformer Prime. In talking to TechRadar journalists, ASUS Corporate VP said that since Google and ASUS are quite close, the company will probably be one of the first to offer Android 5.0. Google’s both at the MWC also had a bowl of jelly beans, which lends further credibility to rumors that Android 5.0 will be dubbed ‘Jellybean’.
