It’s no secret that owners of Android devices love major OS updates, but hate having to wait 6-12 months to update their devices to grab the latest updates. In fact, while Google pledged a commitment that Android devices of all would get major software updates up to 18-months after the initial release, it hasn’t quite come to fruition as roughly a mere 7% of all Androids are featuring Ice Cream Sandwich as the latest OS. Google has re-thought its strategy and announced its Android Platform Development Kit (PDK). The brand-spankin’ new Android PDK is more or less a group of tools to help manufacturers port the latest Android software to their devices, faster of course. Here’s how it works: Google will release the PDK to developers a few months before it launches each new version of Android, in order to get a leg up on getting the new version to its devices. What this means is Android manufacturers will have a headstart on modifying the new version of the Android OS to reflect its branding, so they won’t have to wait for Google’s official announcements in order to begin modifying the software. Owners of devices will get to see that dolled up Sense, TouchWiz, Blur— or whatever else infused flavor of Android far sooner than before. Oh and in case you’re wondering, Google has already enacted the PDK by allowing select manufacturers to try out its new Jelly Bean 4.1 beta build… before the official Jelly Bean announcement.
While it will stay take some time for most (newer) devices to receive the ICS upgrade that seems so last year at this point, owners of Android devices can look forward to the future and the fact that it is quite possible that they will see major software updates to both current and future devices, without the latest software becoming obsolete. Let’s just hope the wireless carriers don’t mess anything up and prolong what will be the faster update process with tiresome certifications and all. But hey— here’s hoping we see the beginning of something special for Android owners everywhere. Keep your fingers crossed that this works out!
source: Gotta Be Mobile