Posted by Jerry Miller on Jul 25, 2013 in News, Tech |
Android 4.3 shines as a medium sized update on the new Nexus 7, but it’s not the ‘droid most users were looking for. Android users will have to wait awhile for the Key Lime Pie 5.0 software update, as Google prepares to release yet another Jelly Bean update next week. As far as consolation prizes go, Jelly Bean 4.3 update is not a bad one. In fact when the beta build of 4.3 was first discovered it was thought to be Key Lime Pie based on the significance of what it brings to the table, until the code letters of its build name revealed it to be yet another Jelly Bean release. Now the question is just how many current Android phones and tablets will be compatible with 4.3 upon its release.
By the middle of the Jelly Bean 4.2 era, the update managed to find it way onto about twenty-eight percent of Android devices in use. That includes some obsolete devices that are three and four years old, and while still in use, not realistically expected to be capable of running circa 2013 system software. But it still points to the majority of current model Android devices either not shipping with 4.2 or not being hardware-compatible with the update.
Android 4.3 will seek to improve upon that, with full compatibility with Google’s own new Nexus 7 next week. And if vendors are serious about moving beyond the fragmentation era, Samsung and HTC will announce that their Galaxy S4 and One, respectively, have also been built to be forward compatible with the new Jelly Bean release. But while which fraction of Android users will be able to take advantage of the 4.3 update is still in question, it does serve up a decent set of improvements for an x.x release. It’s just no Key Lime Pie, whose features are still unknown but whose 5.0 designation means it’ll bring a significant overhaul to the platform.
Jerry Miller covers various topics for Stabley Times.
Android 4.3 shines as a medium sized update on the new Nexus 7, but it’s not the ‘droid most users were looking for. Android users will have to wait awhile for the Key Lime Pie 5.0 software update, as Google prepares to release yet another Jelly Bean update next week. As far as consolation prizes go, Jelly Bean 4.3 update is not a bad one. In fact when the beta build of 4.3 was first discovered it was thought to be Key Lime Pie based on the significance of what it brings to the table, until the code letters of its build name revealed it to be yet another Jelly Bean release. Now the question is just how many current Android phones and tablets will be compatible with 4.3 upon its release.
By the middle of the Jelly Bean 4.2 era, the update managed to find it way onto about twenty-eight percent of Android devices in use. That includes some obsolete devices that are three and four years old, and while still in use, not realistically expected to be capable of running circa 2013 system software. But it still points to the majority of current model Android devices either not shipping with 4.2 or not being hardware-compatible with the update.
Android 4.3 will seek to improve upon that, with full compatibility with Google’s own new Nexus 7 next week. And if vendors are serious about moving beyond the fragmentation era, Samsung and HTC will announce that their Galaxy S4 and One, respectively, have also been built to be forward compatible with the new Jelly Bean release. But while which fraction of Android users will be able to take advantage of the 4.3 update is still in question, it does serve up a decent set of improvements for an x.x release. It’s just no Key Lime Pie, whose features are still unknown but whose 5.0 designation means it’ll bring a significant overhaul to the platform.
Jerry Miller covers various topics for Stabley Times.