Have a Break, Have an Android 4.4, KitKat

Android platform is widely known as one of the big boys in the mobile industry since it has been running literally on hundreds of devices. Android 4.3, Jelly Bean was just released recently this 2013’s late July; it got the Jelly Bean even sweeter. Who would’ve thought that the next version of Android OS is going to pop freshly this September in just less than two months’ time?

Excitement starts to circulate in the rumor mills, and some even tried to guess what would be the next platform to be released by Google that will be running on smartphones and other devices. Since Android platforms are in chronological order of alphabets, people tried to guess all the sweet treats that started with “K” including Kale, Key Lime Pie, and the list goes on. But even before 2013 started, Manu Cornet, Google employee, even confirmed that the next Android (5.0) version would be named Key Lime Pie. There was even a drawn comic of Android mascots that shows the evolution of Android in which the last one holds Key Lime Pie.

But, sorry, Key Lime Pie; it looks like the day’s limelight won’t be yours now. It turns out that the next version of Android 4.4 is going to be called “KitKat” instead of seeing “Key Lime Pie” displaying its glory under the LCD screen protector, which has already been expected. Google just knows how to surprise, eh? The idea of the Android’s version name originated with Google itself, and that John Lagerling, the director of Android global partnership, claimed that there is no money-changing-hands deal happening. Patrice Bula, Nestle executive vice president of marketing, said that the partnership was finalized at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February of 2013. Even the employees of Google have had no idea of the new name of the next Android version. All they knew all along is that it would be named as Key Lime Pie—as what Manu Cornet confirmed before the year 2012 ended.

However, a branding expert has pinpointed the potential pitfalls of this partnership.  Simon Myers, a partner at the consultancy Prophet, said that, “If your brand is hooked up with another, you inevitably become associated with that other brand, for good or ill.” And “if that brand or business has some reputational issues that emerge, it would be naive to think as a brand owner that your good name, your brand equity, would not be affected."

True enough, it will be completely impossible for Nestle and Google to not be associated to each other whenever one of which will have a reputational issue since the latest operating system of Android has now been named as a licensed name of chocolate bars. Nevertheless, Google wants us to be prepared for a sweet new treat with their latest mobile operating system, Android 4.4, KitKat. If Android Jelly Bean boasts that it has a fast and smooth buttery graphics, then Android 4.4, KitKat says that it’s their goal to make an amazing Android experience available for everybody. There are no words yet about the official release of Android 4.4, KitKat, but a lot of Android users are expecting a great deal with Android KitKat.