Android 5.0 Release Date? 'Jelly Bean' Launch Reportedly Hinted At By Google Chief

Do you have a sweet tooth? Because you're about to get a Jelly Bean fix.

As reported by TechCrunch, a Google exec may have hinted that the company's next version of the Android operating system is coming this year.

Hiroshi Lockheimer, vice president of engineering for mobile at Google said the following to Computerworld at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain: "In general, the Android release cadence is one major release a year with some maintenance releases that are substantial still."

This would mean that since Android 4.0, nicknamed "Ice Cream Sandwich," came out in November 2011, the next iteration of the Android OS (unofficially called Android 5.0 and rumored to be nicknamed "Jelly Bean") could be expected for fall 2012.

It seems surprising that Google could be readying another major Android release, considering Ice Cream Sandwhich's slow rollout. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which debuted alongside ICS last year, is the only device currently available to consumers that runs Android 4.0 right out of the box. Many popular devices from Motorola, HTC, Samsung and Asus have yet to receive their upgrade to ICS, and a few won't ever get it.

According to Matt Burns at TechCrunch, "Ice Cream Sandwich is still in its very early stages of life [...] Hell, most flagship handsets from late 2011 won’t even get Android 4.0 until late spring or early summer -- just months before Android 5.0 is said to launch."

Although Lockheimer's statements far from confirmed an exact release date for Jelly Bean, his words were not the first time in recent weeks that a 2012 Android OS upgrade has been teased. Earlier this month, Taiwanese publication DigiTimes claimed that Android 5.0 will launch as soon as April 2012 and will be a tablet-oriented OS. Digitimes said Google hoped to rush Jelly Bean to market because of slow ICS adoption and Google's desire to beat Microsoft's forthcoming Windows 8 OS to market.

Comments

[jcblevins1]

02:04 AM on 11/02/2012

How can you be so rich and still be such a nobody!

[Brandon IchooseYou]

01:58 AM on 03/01/2012

These comments boggle my mind. Has anybody ever asked themselves one question. Doesn't apple every year always launch another version of their OS at the very end of the year? Yet nobody jumps down their throats? Is it because they only have ONE PRODUCT from ONE MANUFACTURER? oh god no that might not be the reason at all. You people have absolutely no idea. You blame google for the fragmentation because that's all you can see from the narrow minded idealistic mindset you have. Yes not all phones have been updated yet due to several issues mainly hardware, the OEMs decision to actually put a skin over the base android system, and last but not least the OEMs decision on whether or not to actually update the device. Don't blame google for the manufacturer's issues with updating. The releases to android 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 where for the most part patches more so then actual different iterations to the operating system. But again I'm pretty sure most of you don't care about that. You read too much into rumors and not enough into facts about it. It's sickening at the lack of understanding most of the comments have. So if you have an issue do your research before bashing an operating system you probably have no idea about.

[anchises868]

06:26 PM on 02/29/2012

Perhaps it might behoove Google to hang back for a little bit and wait for the phones' and tablets' wireless providers to catch up with the current OS before preparing to release another one...

[papau]

12:18 PM on 02/29/2012

CM 9 Alpha 2 is Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 on the HP Touchpad - a nice Ipad clone that is same display size as the Ipad and which I have running at 1.75 - a little faster than the Ipad.

Android 4.0 seems like a nicer OS than iOS but is still being tested and improved as the very few - and unimportant to me - apps that break are reviewed. Pity HP stopped making them and chose to only put WEBOS - a nice system to be sure - on them. I really like the dual boot.

This article appears to ignore the very large group of folks that have ICE running on their devices via free software groups like CM. It would be nice if the article gave some detail as to changes between Android 4.0 and 5.0.

[Ryan Webster]

06:30 PM on 02/29/2012

Good points!! and high five to a fellow hp touchpad owner running CM 9 alpha 2

[jsarets]

09:59 AM on 02/29/2012

Google has completely lost control of the Android release cycle. The only thing they can do to rein in the device vendors is to engage them in a rapid development race in which they have no hope of keeping up with Google's Android releases on the official launch devices.

In other words, they have to bring the next launch device (perhaps a Motorola Droid Nexus?) to market in short order with a significantly improved Android 5.0 Jelly Bean, while the other device vendors are still struggling to ruin Android ICS with their skins and bloatware.

Google has to make the case to consumers (and indirectly to the device vendors and carriers) that they should choose a Nexus device with the latest Android from Google and stay away from the outdated Android mods from vendors who value their brands more than their customers.

[Jeff Borup]

09:23 AM on 02/29/2012

I'm going to go ahead and start an even newer rumor. Yes, you heard it here first ladies and gentlemen... Step right up...wait for it... ANDROID 6.0!!!!!!!

[Drama Llama]

10:14 AM on 02/29/2012

hmmm

Gingerbread.... Ice Cream Sandwich... Jelly Bean.....ummm I say they go off the map.....

Android 6.0 BAGEL WITH A SHMEAR

[vadar]

08:02 AM on 02/29/2012

Right now I am so over Android!! I mean this marketing strategy is great for the company and phone companies, but for the consumer it is an absolute joke!! I mean how in the world a company would want to come out with a new OS when the last one hasn't been fully implemented to existing phones!!! The consumer is in a constant catch up by having to suck it up or buy a new phone!! Mind you I understand the need to be innovating and continue to and be a step a head of the game but, all of this at some point will alienate your consumer base...i.e. ME!!
I can only say if this, if Iphone5 is 4g LTE...See Ya Android!!

[Drama Llama]

10:20 AM on 02/29/2012

To me the fact that the iPhone 4S even released without 4G is a slap in the face to all iPhone users.. 4S was a joke of a release. We all wanted and expected a 4G iphone by now.

[vadar]

12:13 PM on 02/29/2012

Oh I totally agree!! That is why I didn't make the leap.

[Rich Phitzwell]

04:20 PM on 02/29/2012

You dont need to upgrade in most cases and ICS is geared more toward a different logic of phones with no physical buttons.

With that said in most cases 2.1 works for most people just fine even today. In any case if you are complaining about Annual OS releases you do realize IOS also does annual releases right? In fact older iphones have the same issues with inability to upgrade to the latest ios. I'm really not sure what your rant is about being both platforms follow a similar timeline . It is true that Android hardware is on a faster timeline just do to multiple vendors but I can say that my original droid was just fine and dandy for 2 yrs until I broke it.

[vadar]

09:47 PM on 02/29/2012

While both Apple and Android follow the same timeline, Apple tends to ensure that upgrades generally works on older models with the exception being siri( i think it only might be for one generation back). Also as new OS are released, developers of apps tend to move in that direction and given there are no standards or control in app development in the Android arena the chance of getting left behind is all too prevalent.

[kcwookie]

11:20 PM on 02/28/2012

Android updates are jokes. They announce them, then the phone companies have to rebuild them and add their crap on top. With only one version of iOS, updates are neat and clean, the upgrade to 5.1 will probably take a week or two, depending on bandwidth and it's done. I believe a lot of app are already updating. Updates to iOS are a non-store, updates for Android are non-existant.

I might have an update for my HTC by the end of the month.

[StopCensoringMe]

09:41 PM on 02/28/2012

ASUS has pushed ICS out to the Transformer. For me, I have to say, please wait for a loooonnnggg time before you push out JB. I'm not liking ICS.

[katwright]

08:55 PM on 02/28/2012

The sad part is that the fake Ipads in China now running ICS.
I find it hilarious. Why cannot the phones get it in the US finally?

[Dallas May]

08:32 PM on 02/28/2012

I don't know that this is worth the over reaction here, but it is probably time for Android to start falling back to a 12 month cycle a most. Actually 18 months would probably be better. Manufacturers would probably be quicker to update their phones if they knew that they weren't just going to have to update them all over again in 3 months.

[nobodyzhome]

09:52 PM on 02/28/2012

If J.B. comes out fall 2012, then that is about a 12 month cycle. ICS was announced Oct 19, 2011.
But yeah, 18 months would probably be good.

[vadar]

08:03 AM on 02/29/2012

totally agree!!!

[J0E1]

06:05 PM on 02/28/2012

Hard to get excited about 5.0 when 4.0 will take a year to roll out to every device.  Google needs to start releasing some Motorola Nexus devices.

[AxisV]

05:54 PM on 02/28/2012

Who is proof reading this?

Ice Cream Sandwich: ICS. Where are they getting ICE?

[nobodyzhome]

09:53 PM on 02/28/2012

It's Huffington Post. They only really know how to spell Apple.

[jackbond]

04:38 PM on 02/28/2012

Android 5 will be like every other version of Android, a complete pile of garbage. Hey google, when you figure out to include a NTP server with your OS, give us a call, until then, you're a pathetic joke.

[nobodyzhome]

09:55 PM on 02/28/2012

Really? NTP server? Why?

[jackbond]

10:30 PM on 02/28/2012

I actually meant client. And not having a way to sync a computer's clock in 2012 is beyond pathetic.

[jsarets]

10:06 PM on 02/28/2012

You must mean an NTP client. I like this solution even better:

http://blog.jh-lim.com/2011/07/getting-gps-time-on-android/

Highly accurate time service from geosynchronous orbit.

[jackbond]

10:32 PM on 02/28/2012

Yes, meant client. I actually don't care where the time comes from, there's no way to set the Android device's time once you have it. That's beyond pathetic.

[JackHoffman]

04:00 PM on 02/28/2012

First World problems.

[J0E1]

06:06 PM on 02/28/2012

Here in the first world we just call them "problems".