Google I/O

Version numbers do not really mean anything. 🙂
 
I think they do. With 4.3 we can expect an incremental update with 3-4 added features. Whilst 5.0 can provide an overhaul, change in UI & lot of new features. Like they did with 2.0 to 3.0 to 4.0.
I am bit skeptical because I saw this.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/04/26/google-is-working-on-and-testing-android-4-3-its-still-jelly-bean/
And there really hasn't been any test units spotted running 5.0
And symbolically four clicks on 'I' & three clicks on 'O' also points out to 4.3
https://developers.google.com/events/io/
This is just my imagination of that I/O doodle.
 
From what I see, that is not really going to happen. Android has finally reached a stage where we have a definitive user interface guidelines available and followed by a lot of developers. There is not much point overhauling it all over again and break everything.
Also, Android has another problem. If they do a major update (which essentially is not required at this point of time), it would take another two years for manufacturers to catch up. It would be a good strategy to stick on the 4.x series for at least another year. Maybe even two.
Roll out incremental updates. Make it easy for manufacturers to catch up at a faster pace. Improvise on what you have. They do not need to overhaul the user interface. They just need to improve upon the ecosystem to respond to emerging competition better.
Ice Cream Sandwich was not a major update over Honeycomb. It just updated the platform to support smartphones. Gingerbread was a major update from Froyo that could have been rolled out as a major version number update.
 
No disagreement here. What I see is that they need to protect Android. With most of their market share is coming from Samsung which is seen migrating more & more from Android to their own proprietary OS. Google has Motorola & LG up it's sleeve. But I'm afraid that it should not come to the point where Google is only left with nexus devices while other major OEMs have moved on from Android.
And to get Android only nexus devices is the only remaining option. In ideal world, this scenario would be better for pure android experience pov with no shitty layers of touchwiz or sense. But lack of competition affects innovation.
 
errm. people do not care what software they are getting on their phones. we only complain because we keep track of the latest things and when we do not get it we get upset.
samsung is innovating. whether it is something i want? nope. but the software enhancements they are shipping on s4 (and previously on s3 and n2), those are real things that people have access to and i would imagine a lot of them enjoy them too.
nexus is an option for me. because i prefer a simpler and cleaner android. but i do not see why samsung's innovation or LG's innovation or Sony's innovation are bad for either android or the consumers.
 

After rooting I only care for the hardware in the phone. Like this Note 2, where the battery and processor are amazing.For normal consumers, as pointed out above, the features that are advertised and those which are available on stock ROMs are the ones they'll base their decision on. That's why we see the S4 as an incremental update, while others will see it as 'revolutionary'.... Coming to 4.3, I feel its good that it's only gonna be in the 4.x series with a few updated features like babble.
 
babel better not be an android 4.3 specific feature. you know it, it would be stupid to make it a feature specific to android 4.3 devices only.
 
I meant launching it with 4.3, and making it available as an app from the Play Store.
 
Even if 4.3 look the same doesn't mean it will be minor update, internal changes which improves performance and battery can be major like butter project in jelly bean
 
That is of course the other most likely thing to happen. LTE might not happen because of the issue with carrier compatibility and shit like that.
 

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