Android is currently the most popular mobile OS in the world. This has been an indisputable fact since last year when Android finally overtook the iron grasp of iOS onto the world smartphone market. Although back then the lead wasn’t substantial, it became all the more obvious with each remarkable upgrade that Android has gone through since then.
The continued improvements of the top-of-the-line smartphones being built to run it also contributed greatly to swaying the popularity of the Android smartphones. The Google-powered OS currently holds dominion with Samsung as the world leader in mobile devices, ranging from the usual phone to specialized devices like cameras that actually run the OS for instant social media posting.
Hungry for Android
As Android continues to develop in terms of OS performance and quality thanks to the combined efforts of every company that isn’t Apple, it undergoes several upgrades. One of the more amusing nuances in the tech world is figuring out what tasty treat Google will name their OS after. Android started out as 1.0, but everything past API 2 got itself named after a different snack:
– Level 3 – Cupcake
– Level 4 – Donut
– Level 5, 6, 7 – Éclair
– Level 8 – Froyo (Frozen Yogurt)
– Level 9, 10 – Gingerbread
– Level 11, 12, 13 – Honeycomb
– Level 14, 15 – Ice Cream Sandwich
– Level 16, 17, 18 – Jelly Bean (the current OS)
At this point, the latest incarnation of Android is Jelly Bean 4.3. A lot are expecting the next one to be named Key Lime Pie because tech insiders have been referring to it in that name for quite a while. In a very bold move, however, Android signed a deal with food company Nestle in order to name their latest, as-of-yet-unreleased baby as “Kit Kat”
The Big Snack Deal
By all accounts, it’s strange and unheard of. If you go to the Android website for the latest version, you will find that the description of the OS is a grandiose merging of Android OS terminology interspersed with how to eat a Kit Kat. In fact, standing outside Google’s offices is a huge Android mascot seemingly comprised entirely of giant Kit Kat bars.
It seems to be an ex-deal between both Android and Nestle. According to Google, there was no money involved; merely both sides promoting one another. Nestle gets the big promotional wave by Google naming the OS after its candy bar, while Android gets to put Nexus 7 vouchers and Google Play cards inside particular Kit Kat bars. There’s also an interesting redirect from Android to the Hershey company (because Hershey’s technically still has the right to license the name, although Nestle produces the candy bars for most of the world).
A deal “breaker” or a promotional boost?
According to John Lagerling (Android’s global partnerships director) in a BBC report, Google simply wanted to do something fun and unexpected as they usually do. Everyone had expected that the next incarnation of Android is Key Lime Pie, but they set that aside since not everyone knew the treat. Everyone did know Kit Kats, though, and it’s certainly an interesting approach to make in trying to appeal to Android users.
We here expect, however, that this new version will create waves in Japan, where it is an insanely popular treat. The name “Kit Kat”, when spoken in the Japanese way, sounds a lot like “Kitto Katsu”, which roughly translates to “sure win” and is considered a lucky treat to the Japanese. Around 200 flavors of Kit Kat exist in Japan, many of which are given as treats to students before big university exams. One would wonder how big an Android surge would come from Japan following this.