Google has begun teasing Android N, and no I’m not talking about Hiroshi Lockheimer’s tweets trolling users about the possible username for the OS.
This is a photo which mentions Android N. And there is something different too, something which sends mixed messages.
The Android team posted the following commercial on YouTube. It’s about a game called, Rock, Paper, Scissor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYxpX3N20qU&feature=youtu.be
The video says that “Rock, Paper and Scissors don’t have much in common, but that won’t stop them. Be Together. #NotTheSame”.
It could mean this:
There are hundreds if not millions of Android devices available in the World today, and many of them have unique hardware specifications. They run on different versions of the OS, and are sometimes heavily skinned (yes I’m looking at you MIUI and EMUI). It is not possible to update them with a single ROM. Yet they use the same Google Play Store and enjoy the plethora of apps and games available there.
Or is there a hidden message?
Is Google going to take control of Android OS updates, to end the fragmentation? If true, this is incredible. Google can surely provide a platform for all device OEMs to use, to submit their drivers/kernels etc, using which the Mountain View company can update any Android device directly, just like a computer running Windows can be updated by Microsoft.
Even though Android devices do not have the same hardware, they could run on the same version of the operating system. I’m not saying it is possible, but it is a dream.