Google has unveiled Android 4.4 KitKat. The main focus is to reduce Android’s memory footprint across the board, allowing KitKat to run comfortably on devices with 512 MB of RAM.
OEMs building the next generation of Android devices can take advantage of targeted recommendations and options to run Android 4.4 efficiently, even on low-memory devices. Dalvik JIT code cache tuning, kernel samepage merging (KSM), swap to zRAM, and other optimizations help manage memory. New configuration options let OEMs tune out-of-memory levels for processes, set graphics cache sizes, control memory reclaim, and more.
In Android itself, changes across the system improve memory management and reduce memory footprint. Core system processes are trimmed to use less heap, and they now more aggressively protect system memory from apps consuming large amounts of RAM. When multiple services start at once – such as when network connectivity changes – Android now launches the services serially, in small groups, to avoid peak memory demands.
In addition, Google unveiled the Nexus 5 – quite possibly the most leaked device in human history. It’s only $349 off-contract. Insanity.
At least in Canada.
White and black 16GB and 32GB models are available in the Google Play store in the USA, shipping November 8. The link to the T-Mobile page (http://www.t-mobile.com/nexus5) leads to a 404, though.
Looks like an incremental upgrade to the Nexus 4, which I got on fire sale recently for $150 less. The improved screen size and resolution is certainly nice. The other feature I miss with the 4 is LTE.
I wonder when Kit Kat arrives on the earlier Nexi?
Hard to see how the 5 isn’t a huge win for those of us who avoid cellular contracts and thus prefer reasonably priced smartphones straight up.
Probably not today:
http://android-developers.blogspot.de/2013/10/android-44-kitkat-and…
It won’t be arriving on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus…the bastards!
My wife owns one of those, and is disappointed.
But 4.4 isn’t a radical upgrade, so the practical impact is probably minimal.
And if not, there’s Cyanmod.
The bastards. I bought it on the belief they would support it until the OS went to 5.x.x
Yeah, but to be fair, the last two releases have been point releases, but in the Apple world they would have been significant milestones. Android would be on 6.0 otherwise.
In the apple world the device would still be supported on the latest release. The Galaxy Nexus is not even 2 years old and already they are dropping support! So much for Nexus devices being well supported.
I read somewhere that that’s because Texas Instruments is no longer in the mobile – game and the Galaxy Nexus is powered by an OMAP – processor — TI laid off all the devs responsible for driver development and all.
I’ve got three Samsung Galaxy Nexuses that I’m using at work for testing. Looks like we’ll need to get some new devices in
Edited 2013-11-01 10:34 UTC
That there’s no glorious cyan in Nexus 5 accessories. Terrible, just terrible. /s
Alas more improvements for WP to catch up with. WP8 still can’t print emails or SMS.
I’m sorry I haven’t really followed Android as close lately.
They seem to be using a kernel closer to mainline these days.
But my guess is, they don’t develop in the open like a proper open source project, do they ?
I heared it’s getting more closed than before, because how it’s tied into the Google “cloud” APIs.
Edited 2013-10-31 21:30 UTC
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-android…
tl;dr:
The OS itself is still open, but everything user-facing is moving to closed-source, and being pushed onto the play store.
The keyboard, SMS app, email client, music player, etc. etc. all require the use of closed-source software from the play store.
They’re even moving the launcher soon.
The upside is that you’ll not have to root/flash to get a vanilla experience, but IMO, it’s not worth moving to closed-source and closed-platform.
If you use cyanogenmod and F-Droid, you can get quite a reasonable experience completely google-free, though.
Correct Android is not developed in the open. Today is the first day that the code for the newest version is available. In an open development model, the code is available to the public as its written and decisions about the project are discussed and debated on public mailing lists with community members.
More when its pushed to the public repository. I am not aware of any project working with collaborative tools that “push while written”. I am well aware of many coders using a local repo, not public, and only push once the work is in a reasonable state.
Would be nice if that would always be the case.
Yeah, that’s kind of what I meant. There is typically an unstable branch that you can checkout and play around with.
Was hoping Kitkat would inherit the dynamic notifications and hands free voice features that the Moto X has.
Secure NFC alone is worth it; my bank will finally be able to make use of inbuilt NFC in their app without requiring carrier assistance.
Aside from that, the printing and storage are sweet, as are the low-ram and low-power optimizations. Too bad all the low-specced phones already made will never see this without flashing.
The things you mentioned can be built into google now or the launcher, which are updated/will be updated via the play store instead of as part of the OS.
They’ll probably roll stuff like that out as app updates instead of tied into the OS.
Edited 2013-10-31 22:07 UTC
It pretty much eliminates the problem of updates by circumventing the carrier and manufacturer. Once you have Kit Kat you can effectively get the latest Android experience.
Not quite. You’ll only get some of it, like the launcher, keyboard, and Google Play APIs. Any carrier or OEM mods will remain in place such as custom settings and/or lock-outs of said settings, and OEM bloatware will still be installed. That mess is far from over.
No thanks. That’s just a bit too creepy.
Wow! This is the first Nexus after the Nexus One to have 32GB of storage (the Nexus One could take sd cards of up to 32GB). At last, the 16GB taboo has been lifted by Google (it was intended to push people to the cloud). I always considered the 16GB of internal storage found on Nexus phones (without MicroSD expansion) a bit too restrictive. It’s what held me off nexus phones.
For example, on my Galaxy S3, the 16GB of internal storage are barely enough, despite the fact I use them only for games (everything else is on the MicroSD).
Edited 2013-11-01 14:54 UTC