Contrary to
rumours that the next version of the largest smartphone operating system will
be called Key Lime Pie, reality has confirmed it will rather be a different
name, KitKat.
After the
announcement that Google Android OS has reached a billion activations by the
Senior Vice President of Android, Chrome and Apps, Google Sundar Pichai, he
released a picture on his twitter account showing the new face of the brown
chocolate KitKat in front of Google’s Mountain View Campus.
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| Android KitKat. Image: Sundar Pichai |
The new
version will also be called Android 4.4 rather than Android 5.0 which was
expected. Director of Android partnerships John Lagerling told BBC that the key
lime pie could have been used but “very few people actually known the taste of
a key lime pie”.
The KitKat is
a candy bar made by Nestle and an agreement was struck between the two
companies for the use of the name.
There have
been various rumours that Nestle paid Google to have the KitKat as the next
version of Android but that is not true according to Lagerling who claimed it’s
“not a money-changing-hands kind of deal.”
Nestle will
inturn produce 50 million specially branded KitKat bars which will allow
consumers of the chocolate bar to win a range of prizes including Nexus 7s and
Google Play credits.
Google has
always had it as a custom to name the versions of its Android Operating Systems
after desserts after popular versions like Jelly Bean, Ice Cream Sandwich,
Gingerbread, etc. and it seems the custom is set to continue.
I think this
is a very good move by Google though. Instead of just giving it a name, Google
also struck an advertising deal with it which has not been with previous
versions.
Google
Android operating system has come over the years to dominate the smartphone
market with its widely accepted Android Operating System. According to
International Data Corporation (IDC), 79.3% of smartphones sold in the second
quarter of 2013 runs on Android.
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Google Android now has a billion activations, next version revealed