Android Key Lime Pie coming soon; tailor-made for low-cost phones

While Android has been stuck on version 4.2.2 since last year, we have been hearing about a possible Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update coming before version 5.0 or Key Lime Pie, as it is likely to be called. While we have no inkling as to when the update will come, a new report today says Google is in the final stages of development of the updated OS, which will be the ‘K-release’.

Buried within a bigger report about future Android-based devices in the Wall Street Journal is a nugget that reveals the next version of Android is expected to be released in the Fall. The paper goes on to say that the new OS version will be customised to suit low-cost smartphones, and not just high-end devices. Google has been making a lot of noise about bringing affordable Internet connectivity to the billions that currently don’t have a proper Internet connection.

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Hungry for some pie?

The importance of perfectly-running Android in low-cost smartphones, priced much lower than Rs 10,000 for example, cannot be overstated. Already this category has grown popular in overcrowded markets like India and China. Bringing a version of Android that’s tailor-made for even more low-end devices will boost Android’s market share considerably.

Google is also said to be working on low-cost Android smartphones, which will fly under the company’s banner, with an eye towards emerging markets. Alongside this, the next release will remedy the issue of RAM restrictions for older devices, which have not been able to get the more recent versions of the OS. The ‘K-release’ is also said to allow developers the freedom to optimise their apps for fewer versions of the software, instead of the wide range they have to support currently.