Android 4.4 Named 'KitKat'

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Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday September 3, 2013 @06:33AM from the because-who-doesn't-love-branding-tie-ins dept.

Today Google revealed that the next major version of the Android mobile operating system will be called 'KitKat.' The naming convention has always used sugary snacks in alphabetical order — Jelly Bean (4.1 - 4.3) followed Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0), which followed Honeycomb (3.1 - 3.2), which followed Gingerbread (2.3), and so on. Unlike the previous releases, KitKat is named after an actual product, rather than a generic treat. Thus, Google contacted Nestle, who was happy to jump on board and take advantage of the cross-marketing opportunities. According to an article at the BBC, the Android team was originally going to use 'Key Lime Pie,' but they decided it wasn't familiar enough to most people. After finding some KitKat bars in the company fridge, they made the choice to switch. Nestle was on board 'within an hour' of hearing the idea.

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Oh, just great ... by gstoddart · 2013-09-03 06:36 · Score: 5, Interesting

Android 4.5, brought to you by Pepsi can't be far from here.
Screw you and your cross marketing opportunities.

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1. Re:Oh, just great ... by jones_supa · 2013-09-03 06:49 · Score: 2
  
  Android 4.5, brought to you by Pepsi can't be far from here.
  Screw you and your cross marketing opportunities.
  As the cute code names for software releases have gained some popularity during the recent years, I wonder if some OSS project could also use the "KitKat" trick and get some sponsor money to accelerate development.
2. Re:Oh, just great ... by rvw · 2013-09-03 06:59 · Score: 2
  
  Android 6 is Pepsi
  by then its going to be a new generation of people using it who are now kids, and everyone knows that Pepsi is the Choice of a new Generation
  Can't wait for Tipsy Android. Although, Android Screwdriver seems quite attractive as well.
3. Re:Oh, just great ... by ackthpt · 2013-09-03 06:59 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Android 6 is Pepsi
  by then its going to be a new generation of people using it who are now kids, and everyone knows that Pepsi is the Choice of a new Generation
  be sociable, drink a pepsi. be young and fair and debonair, have a pepsi. pepsi for those who think young -- such as vice president nixon and premier khrushchev
  
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4. Re:Oh, just great ... by gstoddart · 2013-09-03 07:00 · Score: 2
  
  We always made damned sure our development code names weren't ever something the sales and marketing weasels would latch onto, and that weretotally unrelated to what we were doing. In fact, that was the entire point of them.
  If it sounded cool or interesting, they'd start selling it before it existed. To me the code name is to allow you to talk about it without people knowing what you're talking about or co-opting it for marketing material.
  It's not supposed to be cute or catchy. It's to keep the sales guys at bay. They won't get excited about 'project garden slug', because they're not meant to.
  
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  Lost at C:>. Found at C.
5. Re:Oh, just great ... by The+Grim+Reefer · 2013-09-03 07:19 · Score: 2
  
  Android 6 is Pepsi by then its going to be a new generation of people using it who are now kids, and everyone knows that Pepsi is the Choice of a new Generation
  be sociable, drink a pepsi. be young and fair and debonair, have a pepsi. pepsi for those who think young -- such as vice president nixon and premier khrushchev
  More like "Android 6 Pepsi"
  Brought to you by Carl's Jr. - Fuck you, I'm eating
Meh by Niris · 2013-09-03 06:38 · Score: 5, Insightful

That's fine and all, but I really don't care about the OS name. There's multiple articles out there and people going crazy _just for the name_. I want to know what's new in the OS for developers, not what their next marketing strategy is.
1. Re:Meh by rwa2 · 2013-09-03 07:05 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  That's fine and all, but I really don't care about the OS name. There's multiple articles out there and people going crazy _just for the name_. I want to know what's new in the OS for developers, not what their next marketing strategy is.
  Also, the Android OS version apparently doesn't really matter anymore... they moved all of the critical API stuff to "Google Play Services" which auto-updates every week or so, and pretty much supports everything back to Android 2.2
  http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/09/balky-carriers-and-slow-oems-step-aside-google-is-defragging-android/
Re:Alphabet by Valentinial · 2013-09-03 06:40 · Score: 5, Informative

No turns out I'm just dumb and can't read.

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@Valentinial
"KitKat"? by idontgno · 2013-09-03 06:41 · Score: 5, Funny

Give me a break!

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Re:Alphabet by geminidomino · 2013-09-03 06:45 · Score: 2

What the hell is a "Froyo", anyway? It makes me think of a hobbit, not a dessert.
Re:Alphabet by jodosh · 2013-09-03 06:46 · Score: 5, Informative

Froyo is slang for Frozen Yogurt
Advertising Company by TheNinjaroach · 2013-09-03 06:50 · Score: 4, Insightful

This is the result of what happens when an advertising company makes an operating system.

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Google: Not Evil, Just Cosying Up With Evil by Blue+Stone · 2013-09-03 06:50 · Score: 5, Informative

From Nestlé's Wikipedia page alone:
Chocolate price fixing: "Nestlé recently agreed to pay $9-million, without admitting liability, in a settlement subject to court approval in the new year. But a massive class-action continues in the United States". Nestlé CEO Robert Leonidas is under threat of a criminal charge for his role in the price fixing of chocolates in Canada when he was at the helm of Nestlé Canada from 2006 to 2010.
Marketing of formula: One of the most prominent controversies involving Nestlé concerns the promotion of the use of infant formula to mothers across the world, including developing countries – an issue that attracted significant attention in 1977 as a result of the Nestlé boycott, which is still ongoing. Nestlé continues to draw criticism that it is in violation of a 1981 World Health Organization code that regulates the advertising of breast milk substitutes.[34] Groups such as the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) and Save the Children claim that the promotion of infant formula over breastfeeding has led to health problems and deaths among infants in less economically developed countries.
Ethiopian debt: In 2002, Nestlé demanded that the nation of Ethiopia repay $6 million of debt to the company. Ethiopia was suffering a severe famine at the time. Nestlé backed down from its demand after more than 8,500 people complained via e-mail to the company about its treatment of the Ethiopian government. The company agreed to re-invest any money it received from Ethiopia back into the country.
Melamine in Chinese milk: In late September 2008, the Hong Kong government found melamine in a Chinese-made Nestlé milk product. Six infants died from kidney damage, and a further 860 babies were hospitalised. The Dairy Farm milk was made by Nestlé's division in the Chinese coastal city Qingdao. Nestlé affirmed that all its products were safe and were not made from milk adulterated with melamine. On 2 October 2008, the Taiwan Health ministry announced that six types of milk powders produced in China by Nestlé contained low-level traces of melamine, and were "removed from the shelves".
Greenwashing: A coalition of environmental groups filed a complaint against Nestlé to the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards after Nestlé took out full-page advertisements in October 2008 claiming that "Most water bottles avoid landfill sites and are recycled", "Nestlé Pure Life is a healthy, eco-friendly choice" and that "Bottled water is the most environmentally responsible consumer product in the world". A spokesperson from one of the environmental groups stated: "For Nestlé to claim that its bottled water product is environmentally superior to any other consumer product in the world is not supportable". In their 2008 Corporate Citizenship Report, Nestlé themselves stated that many of their bottles end up in the solid-waste stream, and that most of their bottles are not recycled. The advertising campaign has been called greenwashing.
Zimbabwe farms: In late September 2009, it was brought to light that Nestlé was buying milk from illegally seized farms currently operated by Robert Mugabe's wife, Grace Mugabe. Mugabe and his regime are currently subject to European Union sanctions. Nestlé later stopped buying milk from the dairy farms in question.
Palm oil use: Rapid deforestation in Borneo and other regions, in order to harvest hardwood and make way for palm oil plantations, releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In particular, where peat swamp forests are cleared, destroying the habitat for many threatened species of animals such as the orangutan, much public attention has been given to the social and environmental impact of palm oil and the role of multinationals such as Nestlé in this.There is ongoing concern by various NGOs including Greenpeace.
On its

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1. Re:Google: Not Evil, Just Cosying Up With Evil by bill_mcgonigle · 2013-09-03 08:04 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  The guys at Apple are having a good day today. The Boycott Nestle folks (I know many, and they're not the political types, mostly educated moms) may boycott any Android device running this version, just to send the message that those who build associations with Nestle get the same treatment.
  
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2. Re:Google: Not Evil, Just Cosying Up With Evil by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-03 08:21 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Yup, I'm sure Apple's really excited that perhaps 0.00000001% of the population (that probably are pretentious enough they use iPhones already), might not buy an Android phone. And they'll share the news among themselves on their blogs.
3. Re:Google: Not Evil, Just Cosying Up With Evil by barc0001 · 2013-09-03 08:49 · Score: 2
  
  These would be the same people whose Apple products are made in factories with anti-suicide nets installed on them? Something something, pot kettle.
4. Re:Google: Not Evil, Just Cosying Up With Evil by Dogtanian · 2013-09-03 22:51 · Score: 2
  
  If you cut the chaff (Marketing infant formula? What the Fuck? That's supposed to be "evil?")
  Yes, it is. In fact, it's probably the biggest reason many people dislike (and boycott) Nestlé by far, and something that goes back almost 40 years.
  
  Nestlé promotes powdered formula as being superior to breast feeding to poor mothers in countries where they know very well that (a) there's insufficient access to clean, uncontaminated water and (b) people often lack the ability to maintain the standards of hygiene required.
  
  Under such circumstances, both these significantly increase the risk of disease and infant death compared with breast feeding (which would normally have been the method used otherwise). (*) Nestlé clearly knows this, and has been the subject of fierce criticism from countless charities and health bodies, but continues promoting its formula this way.
  
  (*) There's also the fact that such poor mothers are more likely to over-dilute the formula to save money, leading to the risk of malnutrition
  
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Re:Alphabet by geminidomino · 2013-09-03 06:58 · Score: 2

Ah, that makes sense now. Thanks.
And now I don't imagine it being pronounced "froy-o" (rhymes with "boyo") instead of "fro-yo."
Not sure that's relevant enough to count as my "something I learned today" but at least it's one less incongruity messing with my brain. :)
Re:Alphabet by X0563511 · 2013-09-03 07:01 · Score: 5, Insightful

... and yet they thought "key lime pie" was too unfamiliar?

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Re:Seriously? Android Bounty? Android Twix? by xaxa · 2013-09-03 07:03 · Score: 2

I'm not sure I buy the "not familiar with" story.
I've not heard of a Key Lime Pie before (I'm British). Wikipedia has a page, and it looks like a lemon meringue pie with a particular variety of limes rather than lemons.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_meringue_pie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_lime_pie ("Key lime pie is an American dessert...")
However, it probably is just marketing. An unknown (to me) American dessert was already used: froyo.
Re:Alphabet by bill_mcgonigle · 2013-09-03 07:22 · Score: 3, Interesting

... and yet they thought "key lime pie" was too unfamiliar?
The Florida Key Lime Growers Association made a lower bid?
Seriously, though, I won't break my sugar-free 'diet' for a KitKat, but wave some key lime pie in front of me ... what an opportunity to educate the masses and help farmers instead of a company that is famous for marketing infant formula as superior to breast milk in areas with unsafe drinking water.
Is it really worth being associated with baby killing?

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Re:Alphabet by khellendros1984 · 2013-09-03 07:29 · Score: 2

Android 1.0 and 1.1 didn't have special dessert names. Apparently, Android 1.2-1.4 were internal-only versions. Cupcake (Android 1.5) began with C, being the third publicly-released version of the OS.

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Real Chocolate... by David_Hart · 2013-09-03 07:40 · Score: 2

Maybe now Nestle will sell the same KitKat bars in the US as they do in Canada. KitKat bars in the US have a candy chocolate coating. In Canada, and in the rest of the world, they use milk chocolate. Plus, they have a KitKat chunky... more milk chocolatey goodness...
1. Re:Real Chocolate... by mirix · 2013-09-03 11:11 · Score: 2
  
  I thought the ersatz chocolate they use in Canada was bad enough. You're telling me it's even worse in the US?
  I guess that figures. Just like American "cheese", frozen dairy desert, edible oil product and so on.
  
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Re:Alphabet by Applekid · 2013-09-03 07:40 · Score: 4, Funny

Re:Alphabet (Score:5, Informative)
No turns out I'm just dumb and can't read.
Dang, you're cold /.

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And Android 4.5 will be named... by GPS+Pilot · 2013-09-03 07:41 · Score: 4, Funny

Mountain KitKat

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That that is is that that that that is not is not.
Re:Alphabet by Soluzar · 2013-09-03 07:54 · Score: 2

With the trademark holder's permission, involvement and enthusiastic cross-marketing? I imagine terrible problems will result. What have they done?!
Re:Alphabet by bill_mcgonigle · 2013-09-03 08:00 · Score: 2

These are people who keep KitKat bars in the fridge, what can you expect?
The part that surprised me is that the people at Google couldn't think of another 'k' name until they happened upon a candy in the fridge when they could have Googled it:
http://www.google.com/search?q=list+of+candies&btnI
It doesn't sound like the whole story. Also, 'kiwi' would have been a healthier option.

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Re:Alphabet by mu51c10rd · 2013-09-03 08:19 · Score: 2

Re:Alphabet (Score:5, Informative)
No turns out I'm just dumb and can't read.
Dang, you're cold /.
He should just be glad it wasn't modded "Insightful"...
.. or Butthead Astronomer by goombah99 · 2013-09-03 09:04 · Score: 4, Informative

Apple once famously code named new version "Sagan", but Carl Sagan objected. So they renamed it BHA, for "Butt head Astronomer". Sagan sued.
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/03/butt-head-astronomer.html

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1. Re:.. or Butthead Astronomer by Kittenman · 2013-09-03 10:15 · Score: 2
  
  Hadn't heard of that one ... another good reason to look down my nose at Apple.
  
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Re:Alphabet by oodaloop · 2013-09-03 10:50 · Score: 2

I seem to remember reading that the first versions were before Google bought it, and Google switched to dessert themes.

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Re:Seriously? by Miamicanes · 2013-09-03 12:12 · Score: 2

Nobody outside the US, or who's vacationed in Florida (or at least the southern US) has any idea WTF "Key Lime Pie" is, especially people in China & India.
Hell, I *GREW UP* in Florida, and was in HIGH SCHOOL before I had any idea what Key Lime Pie is. I'd be shocked if a random developer in Bangalore or Hong Kong, let alone Mumbai or Beijing, would have had the slightest idea what it was without researching it on Google.
Kit Kat, in contrast, is a global brand. Not necessarily a #1 item like M&Ms, but it's known. And it sounds like a halfway-reasonable word to people whose native languages are Hindi or Mandarin.
Re:Alphabet by noh8rz10 · 2013-09-03 16:40 · Score: 2

they paid money for the developer team that made the open source stack, and to keep others from aquiring said developer team.
Worst idea ever by greggman · 2013-09-03 21:06 · Score: 2

If I was Nestle I'd want searches for "KitKat" to go to sites about the candy bar not sites about phones. It will probably be 4-5 years before a search for "KitKat" will lead to a page about or selling the candy bar after this