Report: Android 4.3 Will Be At Google I/O, Not 5.0

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We've already seen reports that Google will not reveal Android 5.0 "Key Lime Pie" at Google I/O in May. One source claimed that the company wanted device makers to get caught up with the Jelly Bean rollout on eligible devices before pounding them with an entirely new platform release. But that seems unlikely given it's never stopped Google before. Instead, Key Lime Pie simply may not be fully baked for mass consumption.

That said, what Google will likely reveal in a matter of weeks is even more Jelly Bean goodness: Android v4.3. Android Police reports that Android 4.3 JWR23B is showing up in server logs and is traceable back to Google's wide range of IP addresses. They're also linked to the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7, which likely means these will be the first to receive the next Jelly Bean update.

Backing up these server log records are several recent comments in the official Chromium bug tracker that lists JWR23B as a build number. The person who left these comments is a Chromium developer, the report claims. Version numbers typically are not assigned until weeks or a couple of months at the most before the platform is set to be unveiled.

The report points out that Android 4.3 started appearing on logs just recently whereas Android 5.x and K***** builds are nowhere to be found. If that's the case, Google may instead introduce enhancements to the current Jelly Bean platform at Google I/O that's not too drastic for developers, mirroring the transition from 4.0 to 4.1 and 4.1 to 4.2.

In addition to Android Police, Reddit user danrant has also provided evidence that Google plans to launch Android 4.3 in May including a webrtc bug discussing running Chrome on Nexus 4 JellyBeanMR2 JWQ71B, Qualcomm's WLAN driver source code repository with the jb-mr2-dev branch, and more. According to danrant, the focus of Key Lime Pie, which will likely arrive on the Galaxy Nexus and TF300T in a half-year, will focus on machine learning and a deeper integration of voice control.

Despite not launching Android 5.0 during Google I/O, Google reportedly has other surprises planned for the event including a reworked Qualcomm-powered Nexus 7 tablet, and an updated Nexus 4 smartphone with 32 GB of storage and LTE support. So far there's no sign that the Nexus 5 (LG) or the Nexus X (Motorola) will make an appearance.

Kevin Parrish
8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • rocknrollz
    I'd rather them spend more time on 5.0 then do what Apple does with iOS.
    Reply
  • vmem
    honestly, call it whatever they want, but seriously? they wanted to give manufacturer's "a break", then roll out with a new iteration of the OS anyway??? sounds like there's some issues with 5.0 that they still need to work out
    Reply
  • sundragon
    Better to get it right the first time!
    Reply
  • kenyee
    Disappointing....Android is about rapid evolution, not incrementals :-P
    If the manufacturers can't keep up, it's survival of the fittest :-)
    Reply
  • halcyon
    Just make sure whatever is released performs well on the majority of the kind of hardware its likely to be released on. Few lockups, few freezes...just smooth performance. Like what we see with the S3 and Note 2.
    Reply
  • zrobbb
    Please just allow apps to natively work on a proxy server, that is all I want.
    Reply
  • senupe
    This would be a bit dissapointing but it's also a good move, remember part of the Android OS it's the vastly fragmentation and hardware minimun requirements for some apps to work, AHQL should be nice combined with the progression of the OS.
    Reply
  • senupe
    This would be a bit dissapointing but it's also a good move, remember part of the Android OS it's the vastly fragmentation and hardware minimun requirements for some apps to work, AHQL should be nice combined with the progression of the OS.
    Reply