The Key Lime Pie is the next big Android thing coming our way. However, the question is when? Analysts believe it could happen during the Google I/O conference in May itself with Motorola X Phone likely to be the launch device. After all, it was during the last years I/O conference that Google had launched the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. However, there is another school of thought that is claiming Google might not yet be ready with Android 5.0. Further, what is even more significant is that it is being rumored there might not be an Android 5.0 in the first place as Google might go for incremental update which makes something of an Android 4.3 of greater possibility than Android 5.0 outright. Furthermore, there also are reports, though unconfirmed, that it might be the Nexus 5 that could be the Android 5.0 launch device and not Motorola X Phone.
While we got to wait till more information as regards its release date is made available, here are some of the features that we expect to see on the newest Android version. Like Google Babel might be seen for the first time on Android 5.0. Babel is Google’s answer to the likes of BlackBerry Messenger or the iMessage and can be considered a combination of diverse Google chatting services such as Google Talk, Google+ Messenger, and Google Voice. Google Babel though is reported to be compliant on all Android devices running Android 2.3 and above which does make sense considering as bigger an audience for Babel as is possible.
Another interesting addition to Android 5.0 could be a new service that is akin to the iOS Games Center. This comes in the wake of a tear down of the Google Glass app MyGlass by Android Police which revealed codes that does not pertain to functionality of the Google Glass. What the tear down had revealed included support for ‘real-time and turn-based multiplayer games, in-game chat, achievements, leaderboards, invitations and game lobbies.’ So something of the sort of Google Games or such does seems a possibility on Android.
While these are just some of the features that we expect to be made part of Android, here are some other features that wish Google considers for inclusion to its Android Key Lime Pie version. Like the inclusion of special modes such as the Blocking Mode that Samsung has introduced in the Galaxy Note 2 and the Galaxy S3. The Blocking Mode’s functionality can be expanded to make for a low power mode to be activated during night time that will see the least battery drain. This would automatically set several actions such as turning out sound, activating airplane mode, turning off data and so on. A Reading Mode too will be an interesting option, one that will invoke an ultra low backlighting along with less intrusive data connections.
Another nice idea for Google will be to go for better integration of the various popular social integrations apps for Android Key Lime Pie. Interestingly, it’s only Google+ that is better baked almost as an integral Android feature, which incidentally is not the case with perhaps the more popular social apps such as Facebook or Twitter. That is left to the various manufacturers to accomplish though seeing the same being a core feature of Android will be really nice.
Similarly, an inherent video chat app will also be a nice option for Google to consider as part of Android features. In fact, it’s quite surprising Android does not include its own video chat app even though there are hundreds of tablets running Android boasts of front facing camera to enable video chats. The most viable option right now is to download Skype to get along with video chatting though something that’s part of Android will definitely be more convenient.
Let’s hope Google is listening!