Following a report that stated Google’s next major Android updated could launch as early as the second quarter this year, the Internet giant is now said to be prepping Android 5.0 Jelly Bean for a third-quarter release. DigiTimes cited unnamed industry sources on Thursday in claiming Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich-powered smartphones will finally begin to proliferate in the second quarter this year. Read on for more.
After a slow start, Google’s latest OS will soon launch on handsets from Samsung, HTC, Sony and a number of other phone vendors. HTC has already announced its first three Android 4.0 phones — the One X, One S and One V — and Sony announced a pair of devices that will be released with Gingerbread but will be updated to Ice Cream Sandwich soon after launch. Samsung is expected to unveil the Android 4.0-powered Galaxy S III in April or May.
Then, just a few short months later in the third quarter, DigiTimes claims Google will unveil its next major OS build, Android 5.0 Jelly Bean. “The rapid shift of OS may not be healthy for the development of the Android ecosystem,” according to the site’s anonymous sources.
Ice Cream Sandwich is currently found on between 2% and 3% of Android smartphones according to DigiTimes, though Google’s own online version tracker puts the figure at just 1.6%.
