Android 5.0 Jelly Bean Will Definitely NOT Come Before Fall

[dgstorm]

A few weeks back we shared a crazy rumor that Google could be readying Android 5.0/Jelly Bean for an early summer release. It seemed like a highly unlikely scenario, although there were some fairly logical arguments made in favor of it. Ultimately though, this almost silly speculation has been "put to bed" so to speak. Hiroshi Lockheimer, Vice President of Engineering for Mobile at Google, recently intimated that the release of Jelly Bean will not happen until the fall of 2012 (or later). He further elaborated that the release time for Android 5.0 has not been set in stone yet. Here's a more direct quote from him,

"After Android 4 comes 5, and we haven't announced the timing yet, which we're still sorting out. There's a lot of engineering work behind it still, and there's also just the question of how to time it. In general, the Android release cadence is one major release a year with some maintenance releases that are substantial still. Having said that, we're flexible. The [timing of releases] is not what drives us, but what does is innovation and offering users a great experience."

So, there you have it from someone "in the know". This is actually good news. It means that Google has no intention of rushing Android to market, and will instead keep things at a moderate pace. It also means that we could see Android 5.0 this fall.

Source: Android.net via PhoneArena

 

[LegalAmerican]

I don't understand how they can release 5.0 when there's one phone currently on 4.0. That's like releasing a 2013 model of a car before the 2012 is out.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[13th angel]

I don't understand how they can release 5.0 when there's one phone currently on 4.0. That's like releasing a 2013 model of a car before the 2012 is out.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

Not really. Google has no control over when manufacturers update their phones. All they can do is put it out there and let them update as they see fit.

Sent from my D2G

 

[tgyberg]

My guess is ICS to JB wont be quite the jump like GB to ICS was. Could be a 4.1.0 deal instead of 5.0

 

[LegalAmerican]

Why wouldn't manufacturers WANT to update to it? I mean i can understand that an update takes a while, but recent unveiled phones are still going to have gingerbread. It makes no sense why they wouldn't want ics on their phone when jellybean is already almost ready.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[drice72]

Its not as easy as merely pushing software to a device. After Google develops a new operating system, the device manufacturer's need to make changes to the OS in order for it to be compatible with their device hardware. Then you have the Carriers, they also add their own little changes to the OS. VZW for instance changes the OS so that your WiFi hot spot uses 'different' data, that you can be charged for in addition to your regular data plan. The amount of changes a device maker, wireless provider need to make will ultimately determine the release date of 'our' version of the OS created by Google.

 

[dezymond]

My guess is ICS to JB wont be quite the jump like GB to ICS was. Could be a 4.1.0 deal instead of 5.0

I'm thinking this too. If it's a completely revamped OS again then that would be very surprising, though it could be a real treat.