Android 4.4 is finally official!

Google has officially taken the wrapper off
the newest version of their operating
system, Android 4.4 KitKat. The first device
to get KitKat will be the Nexus 5 announced
today by Google with owners of all Nexus 4,
Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 devices getting the
update over the next several weeks.
Google also indicates owners of the Google Play
Edition versions of the Samsung Galaxy S4
and the HTC One will receive KitKat as well.
One of the key benefits of KitKat we have
been hearing about is the attempt to make
the latest version of Android run on lower
and middle tier devices. Google confirmed
this effort is part of the release of KitKat
and is called Project Svelte. The memory
footprint and management of several
components of the operating system, all the
way down to the kernel, have been
optimized to be able to run “comfortably”
on as little as 512MB of RAM. These
optimizations even extend to specific apps
like Chrome and YouTube.
Some of the other benefits of Android 4.4
KitKat targeted at helping developers
produce better apps include:
a full-screen immersive mode that
will enable developers to make use of
the entire screen when creating apps;
a new transitions framework for
easier animations between user
interface states and a new web
content implementation based on
Webview built on Chromium;
a new, easier to use printing
framework;
a new storage access framework that
will work better with cloud-based
storage services;
access to new, low-power hardware-
integrated sensors like a step detector
and step counter that will work even
when the screen is off;
a new screen recorder utility that will enable the capture of high-quality
video directly from an Android device,
which can be combined with an
adaptive playback offering for better
streaming video;
Renderscript in the NDK for use in
native code;
and a new system-wide captioning
system.
Google is also releasing a new version of the Android NDK, r9b, for the use of
developers. They also updated the support package to r19.
Check back for more details about Android
4.4 KitKat and what it offers for both
developers and users.
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