Android KitKat: Seven Features That Make It a Big Deal
Author: Jim Lundy
Date: December 12, 2013
Topic: Mobile
Research Note Number: 2013-50
Issue: What are the trends impacting mobile computing?
Summary: Google Android 4.4 was announced on October 31st, 2013. It has seven major features, such as memory management for low-end devices, which make it a more significant release than many had anticipated.
On October 31st, Google announced the release of Android 4.4, code-named KitKat. Since then, Google has added two minor releases: 4.4.1 was quickly replaced by 4.4.2. KitKat, the new 4.4 version of Google’s Android mobile operating system, is finally here. It has taken a while. Earlier this year at Google I/O, the annual event where it has made its major announcements, Google said very little about Android. There were more announcements about the new Hangouts, into which Google has now rolled its separate messaging solutions such as Google Talk and Google+ Messenger. This research note summarizes the seven key features in Google Android 4.4 that make it more of a complete release for use by consumers and enterprises (see Note 1).