Most Android users are aware, that the market still has plenty of devices being launched with older versions of the Operating System.
However, this could change soon if a leaked Google memo is genuine.
Mobile Bloom, posted the leaked memo on their website and
This is what the memo which was sent to “at least one major Android OEM partner from the Android Team” says,
“Starting February 2014, Google will no longer approve GMS distribution on new Android products that ship older platform releases. Each platform release will have a ‘GMS approval window’ that typically closes nine months after the next Android platform release is publicly available.
GMS refers to Google Mobile Services , i.e, apps which make use of the Google Play Services Framework, such as Maps, Hangouts, and the Google Play Store itself.
So what could this mean? In my opinion, this could well impact entry level devices, as KitKat’s system requirements, are considerably higher than what most low cost phones and tablets currently ship with. Most of the basic Android phones available today, run on just 256 MB RAM, and are powered by weak processors, incapable of running Android 4.4 KitKat.
While this could be a bane for manufacturers, it could be a boon for users , as entry level phones could be of better quality. Of course the manufacturers could turn to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) which do not have Google Services, and have to rely on third party apps and app stores, but they certainly won’t appeal to users sans Google’s apps.
Drop a comment below to let us know what you think about this move.
via: GSM Arena and Pocket Lint.
