Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie Release Date: OS Discovered In Chromium Bug Tracker; Testing For Nexus 4 And Nexus 7

With Android 4.3 Jelly Bean rolling out onto Nexus devices, many are already looking forward to the next iteration of the Android operating system, and some believe they have already found it.

Australian tech blog Ausdroid was the first to discover clues to the existence of Android 5.0, which will likely go by the nickname Key Lime Pie, within the Chromium bug tracker. Often a common locale for clues of unreleased systems to pop up, the bug tracker indicated that the build KRS36B is currently being tested for the Nexus 7 tablet and the Nexus 4 smartphone.

Google has a long and delicious history of naming its operating systems alphabetically after desserts or sweets. With the current dessert name being Jelly Bean, it only makes sense that the next name would start with a K. The name Key Lime Pie was circulating in rumor mills as early as November 2012, and at one point many believed that it would be Android 5.0 that would be released in July instead of Android 4.3, which actually was. In step with its dessert names Android is also known for having its build numbers start with the same letter as the first letter of the Android version name. We have seen previous operating systems follow the same pattern, with all of the Jelly Bean build numbers beginning with J, the Ice Cream Sandwich build numbers beginning with I, the Gingerbread build numbers beginning with G, and so on. The K, in the recently discovered build number could very well be a smoking gun toward the next Android system.

We recall that Android 4.3 Jelly Bean was discovered in a similar way; reports in late April just prior to Google’s I/O conference indicated Android 4.3 was on the way, which quickly replaced longstanding rumors about the release of Android 5.0. During that time we saw the build number JWR23B show up in the Chromium big tracker, then Android Police founder Artem Russakovskii discovered the same build number within Google’s internal server logs, which sparked a barrage of rumors about Android 4.3. Ultimately, neither Android 4.3 nor Android 5.0 was unveiled at Google I/O, but Android 4.3 was later unveiled during a press breakfast event alongside the new Nexus 7 tablet. Rumors have proposed that Android 5.0 will be unveiled in October alongside a smartphone likely to be called the Nexus 5. Rumors following Google’s latest unveiling also suggest that there may be a new Nexus 10 tablet to be manufactured by Samsung in the works, which may also be unveiled with Android 5.0.

Currently, there is nothing other than the aforementioned build number to decipher from the bug tracker. However, with this first clue released, we may see more information on Android 5.0 surface very soon.

Do you think the recently discovered Android build number KRS36B is actually for Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie? Let us know in the comments below.

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