Despite
the fact that Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is only found on a handful of
Android devices — Ice Cream Sandwich penetration currently sits at 1%, just as it did more than one month ago — a new report suggests Google is
preparing to launch the next major build of its mobile platform as early as
next quarter. Citing unnamed sources within Taiwan-based component
suppliers, DigiTimes on Thursday reports that Google is
likely to launch Android 5.0 (Jelly Bean) in the second quarter. While
details are still limited, the report claims Android 5.0 will again focus on
tablets and introduce an interesting new feature. Read on for more.
Seemingly
wary about the potential threat from Microsoft’s Windows 8 platform, Google’s
next-generation Android OS will feature a new dual-boot function according
to DigiTimes. Jelly Bean will reportedly be optimized
for tablets and it will “integrate [Google's] Chrome system functions to push
dual-operating system designs.” Google is supposedly planning to encourage
vendors to build dual-boot devices, which would be able to run both Android 5.0
and Windows 8.
The
report also suggests Google may be eying the notebook and netbook markets with
Android 5.0. Android 3.0 Honeycomb was a tablet-only OS, and Google then
unified its mobile platform with Android 4.0, which is optimized for both
smartphones and tablets. This new report seems to suggest Google is shifting
the focus of Android 5.0 back to tablets and maybe even to notebooks in light
of Chrome OS’s slow adoption.
Android
5.0 may already be facing challenges, however, as the report claims Google’s
Android partners are “turning conservative about Android 5.0″ due to Android
4.0′s slow adoption thus far. A number of vendors are currently working on
updating their recent devices to Android 4.0, and several Ice Cream
Sandwich-powered smartphones and tablets will be unveiled later this month at
Mobile World Congress.
If DigiTimes’s report
turns out to be accurate, Google could be pushing Android fragmentation to new
heights with Jelly Bean. Vendors like Motorola plan to roll out Android 4.0 updates for their devices
over the course of the second and third quarters, and Ice Cream Sandwich may
already be obsolete by the time it finally arrives on these smartphones and
tablets.
