Key Lime Pie is dead. Long live the KitKat!
Commentators have been referring to the next version of Android as Key Lime Pie for well over a year now, but in a surprise move, Google has announced that it will be calling the latest version of its operating system Android 4.4 KitKat in a tie-in with Nestle.
"This is not a money-changing-hands kind of deal," John Lagerling, director of Android global partnerships, told the BBC. He added that Google had initially planned to call the next version of Android Key Lime Pie -- an American dessert made from key lime juice, eggs, condensed milk and pastry -- but were concerned that people didn't really know the taste of it. Following a cold call to Nestle's switchboard, the Google team met with the Swiss company at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to finalise the deal.
"We couldn't imagine a better name for our Android K release than the tasty chocolate that's been a favourite among the team since the early days of Android," said Marc Vanlerberghe, Director of Android Marketing in a press release. The launch of Android KitKat will be celebrated with 50 million specially branded bars that will be made available in 19 countries including the UK and the US.
The earliest version of Android, nicknamed Cupcake, was released in 2009, since which Google has worked through the alphabet of sweet treats (Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich) all the way up to the latest version, known as Jelly Bean, which first popped in July 2012.
Initially several new versions of the operating system were released every year, but the pace has slowed more recently, amid criticisms that manufacturers were failing to keep up and offer regular updates across their product ranges. The latest Android update to version 4.3 was announced at the end of July and introduced incremental changes to Jelly Bean.
It's not yet known if this partnership with Nestle is a one-off, or whether we'll see Android LionBar and Android Munchies in the future (although Nestle rather runs dry of suitably named treats between M and Quality Streets). Or perhaps Google will form major marketing contra-deals with different confectioners -- if so, be ready to see Lindor, Mars and Oreo pop up on your phones over the next few years.
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