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Google to put new Android versions in all upcoming phones [Software & Services] [Times of India](Times of India Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) NEW DELHI: Smartphone market is flooded with low-end Android-powered handsets, most of them still running five-generation-old Android 4.0. Apple has time and again harped on this several times. But this may change soon. According to a recent Google memo as leaked by the technology website Mobile Bloom, the internet search titan will stop approving manufacturers' requests for Google Mobile Services (GMS) for older Android versions nine months after a new iteration of the platform is introduced. Google Mobile Services include popular products like Gmail, Hangouts, Maps, Chrome, Now, Plus etc. Though a few manufacturers like Amazon do not use these services in their devices, most of the popular companies (Samsung, LG and HTC included) put them in their products. This practice will come into effect from February 2014. In other words, the new smartphones will come preloaded with Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean which was released in July 2013) or the latest 4.4 (KitKat released in November 2013). Google's memo states, "Starting February 2014, Google will no longer approve GMS distribution on new Android products that ship older platform releases. Each platform release will have a 'GMS approval window' that typically closes nine months after the next Android platform release is publicly available. (In other words, we all have nine months to get new products on the latest platform after its public release.) The policy could only mean good things, especially for the smartphone user." This policy would put a stop to manufacturers pushing low-end smartphones with older Android versions in the market. They are able to do this as the newer operating systems can only be supported by better hardware. However, Android KitKat has been optimized by Google to ensure that even devices with low configuration (mainly 512MB RAM) run smoothly. According to data by Google, all three versions of Jelly Bean combined (4.1, 4.2 and 4.3) currently power 60.7% of all devices running on Android. Gingerbread, launched in December 2010, has the second biggest share at 20%. Third comes Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) with 16.1%, while KitKat is on just 1.8% of the devices right now. The May 2010 version of Google's operating system, Android 2.2 (Froyo), still powers 1.3% of the devices currently in use. (c) 2014 Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited |