Google may introduce Android 4.2 at event with LG next month

It's that time of the year again. According to a precedent set in the past, Google usually tends to announce a new Nexus device along with a new version of Android, and according to a report by Android And Me, this year may be no different. According to sources, Google will be co-hosting an event next month with LG and will introduce the next version of Android – version 4.2, rumoured to be named Key Lime Pie – along with a new phone, presumably a Nexus phone based on LG’s recently announced Optimus G.

Along with this, the report also states that the Google’s Nexus flagship device concept is going to undergo a major overhaul. Now, any manufacturer will be able to release a smartphone under the Nexus banner, but they will have to adhere to some strict rules set by Google. According to the rules, manufacturers must use stock Android and have 64 MB of secure memory for media streaming. Custom UI skins like HTC’s Sense UI or Samsung’s TouchWiz will be allowed in the new customization center. There are also some hardware requirements that must be met so that the devices will be able to run Android 5.0, which according to the report, is scheduled to arrive by fall 2013.

A successor to Jelly Bean may be announced next month

Last month, it was rumoured that the next Nexus device will be made by LG and based off of the company’s upcoming Optimus G.

Here is a quick look at some of the main features of the LG Optimus G:

• 4.7-inch True HD IPS+ display with a resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels
• LTE, 3G, EDGE/GPRS and Wi-Fi capabilities for net access, NFC
• GPS, A-GPS
• Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0
• 13MP camera with LED flash and 1.3MP secondary camera up front
• 32GB Internal memory
• MHL, DLNA

Although Google seems to be about ready to show off the next version of Android, devices that run on the operating system are still heavily fragmented. According to a recent report, only about 23.7 percent of all Android devices are running on Ice Cream Sandwich, with 1.8 percent running Jelly Bean.

The figures have shown some growth since last month, though; the number of devices running ICS grew by almost 3 percent from last month’s 20.8 percent, while Jelly Bean gained a measly 0.6 percent. The number of devices running Gingerbread (Android v2.3) is at 55.5 percent, a 1.7 percent fall compared to last month’s 57.2 percent. The number of devices running Froyo (Android v2.2) is now at 12.9 percent, down from last month’s 14 percent. All of these figures are based on the number of Android devices that have accessed Google Play over a 14-day period.

The slow growth in the number of Jelly Bean devices is not so surprising considering the low number of devices compatible with the operating system, but the snail’s pace at which Ice Cream Sandwich adoption is growing indicates how big a problem fragmentation is for the Android platform. Unlike Apple, there is too much of a variation in the hardware Android devices run on for manufacturers to simply push an update once Google makes it available. It also seems that casual users aren’t too bothered with updating their devices either.