Google I/O Rumors Include Android 4.1 ‘Jelly Bean’ Release

With Google’s already sold-out I/O Developer’s Conference set to begin in San Francisco on June 27, the rumor mills are churning online that the splashy event will be the place where the next version of the next Android operating system€”Android 4.1€”is unveiled.

The likely successor to the current Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android is being called “Jelly Bean” and is carrying version number 4.1, according to a report by The Verge.

And because the leak came so close to the debut of Google’s major developer’s conference this week, news of the apparent update “should be a lock for Google I/O,” the site reported.

The Google I/O Conference runs from Wednesday through Friday at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

The leak of the name and version number came from Google itself, the site reported, in an online listing in The Google Play Store listing for the Galaxy Nexus smartphone. The story included a very fuzzy photograph of the phone in a Google Play Store shopping cart with a caption that described the phone as using the new, not-yet-released Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system.

The photo of the phone with the Jelly Bean screen shot shows “a couple of visual tweaks to the [user interface]: a slightly altered search bar and a new background image,” The Verge reported. “Admittedly, it’s all very low-res and tells us little of substance, but we’ll take all we can get until we can savor the full Jelly Bean experience.”

The rumor got additional credence when it was also reported by the Wired Gadget Lab, which also ran a story on the apparently erroneous early Google news of the pending Android release.

“If there was ever any debate about what the nickname of Google€™s next version of Android would be, those questions can be put to rest,” Wired reported. “According to a posting in Google€™s own online storefront, Android 4.1 will be called Jelly Bean.”

Jelly Bean has been a code name for months, but now it appears to be finalized as the name for the release of the new Android OS, the site reported. And since Google announced its last version of Android back at the last I/O conference, it’s a good bet that the company will launch the new version at this week’s show, Wired reported.

These rumors, of course, follow earlier rumors this year that suggested a coming release of Android 5.0 in the second quarter of this year that ultimately failed to come true, according to an earlier eWEEK.com report.

“We’ll Believe Android 5.0 Is Coming in Q2 When We See It,” read the headline of that story in February. Of course, that didn’t happen and the rumors about the next Android OS continue.

And just in case you really want to keep up with all the latest Android rumors, the next version of Android after “Jelly Bean” €“ whenever that may be, of course — is already rumored to be named “Key Lime Pie,” according to a March report from The Verge. By then it could even be the rumored Android Version 5.0 release.

“We don’t have any guidance on when we might see Key Lime Pie officially unveiled or what the version number may be €” we haven’t even seen Jelly Bean yet, after all €” but it’s reasonable to think that it could be a 2013 deliverable, particularly as Google has slowed down Android’s iterative pace over the past couple versions,” the site reported.

A Google spokesman declined to comment on the Android speculation.