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Google Android

Android 4.4 Named 'KitKat' 247

Posted by Soulskill 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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Android 4.4 Named 'KitKat' More

Android 4.4 Named 'KitKat'

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  • Oh, just great ... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gstoddart ( 321705 ) on Tuesday September 03, 2013 @01:36PM (#44748949) Homepage

    Android 4.5, brought to you by Pepsi can't be far from here.

    Screw you and your cross marketing opportunities.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by alen ( 225700 )

      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

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by rvw ( 755107 )

        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.

      • Re:Oh, just great ... (Score:4, Funny)

        by ackthpt ( 218170 ) on Tuesday September 03, 2013 @01:59PM (#44749305) Homepage Journal

        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

        • 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

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mcl630 ( 1839996 )

      Will only happen if Pepsi changes it name to something that starts with the letter L.

    • 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.

      • 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 guy

    • And Android 4.5 will be named... (Score:5, Funny)

      by GPS Pilot ( 3683 ) on Tuesday September 03, 2013 @02:41PM (#44749811)

      Mountain KitKat

    • It's not like they're trying to rename classic ballparks or changing gene names to corporate sponsors. It's their thing, it's been going on for, what, a few years, and so few people even know what android OS they're using, I'm not sure where the anger is coming from. I find "kit kat" more fun than iOS 6. And it's less crass than "McDonalds Kit Kat Flurry" or something like that.

    • "Android 4.5, brought to you by Pepsi can't be far from here."

      I agree. This is bullshit.

      While past releases might have been named "after an actual product", none of the prior releases have been named after a trademarked product. They've always been generic.

      Google, this was a bonehead move. When are you going to stop putting your foot up your own ass?

    • Android 4.5, brought to you by Pepsi can't be far from here.

      Screw you and your cross marketing opportunities.

      It should get interesting towards the end though. Can anybody think of a well know sugary snack whose name begins with 'x'? I suppose Xylitol qualifies even though it is an artificial sweetener but it is also a laxative so... umm... not the best choice.

    • It'll be 'L' for LifeSavers.

  • Meh (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Niris ( 1443675 ) on Tuesday September 03, 2013 @01:38PM (#44748973)
    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.

  • You mean they didn't want to turn down a free opportunity to have their trademark splashed all over the world in marketing blurbs for the next couple of years on someone else's dime? Shocking!

    • Wait until they find out that KitKat is a steaming pile and it'll be too late. Don't try to associate your product with something that's completely out of your control. Murphy's Law will get you. Same goes for Android, as they can't control what people think of KitKats.

  • "KitKat"? (Score:5, Funny)

    by idontgno ( 624372 ) on Tuesday September 03, 2013 @01:41PM (#44749021) Journal
    Give me a break!

  • Advertising Company (Score:5, Insightful)

    by TheNinjaroach ( 878876 ) on Tuesday September 03, 2013 @01:50PM (#44749153)
    This is the result of what happens when an advertising company makes an operating system.

  • Google: Not Evil, Just Cosying Up With Evil (Score:5, Informative)

    by Blue Stone ( 582566 ) on Tuesday September 03, 2013 @01:50PM (#44749163) Homepage Journal

    From Nestlé's Wikipedia page [wikipedia.org] 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

    • Re:Google: Not Evil, Just Cosying Up With Evil (Score:5, Interesting)

      by bill_mcgonigle ( 4333 ) * on Tuesday September 03, 2013 @03:04PM (#44750119) Homepage Journal

      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.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        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.

      • These would be the same people whose Apple products are made in factories with anti-suicide nets installed on them? Something something, pot kettle.

        • factories with anti-suicide nets installed on them?

          That's interesting - Foxconn already had a suicide rate below the population average, and then they did something which has apparently saved lives. Yes, we shall chastise them for doing so.

  • Crashes upon hearing the news.

  • Coincidentally, just the other day I was watching Aziz Ansari's stand-up special, Deliciously Dangerous, in which the comedian covers the topic quite succinctly:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIXl1e0d5QI [youtube.com]

  • Don't forget Kit Kat (played by David Caruso) from Hudson Hawk -- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102070/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 [imdb.com]

  • Real Chocolate... (Score:3)

    by David_Hart ( 1184661 ) on Tuesday September 03, 2013 @02:40PM (#44749793)

    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...

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by mirix ( 1649853 )

      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.

  • They should have named this release after Kent Cigarettes, then they could immediately follow it with Lung Cancer. Perhaps the successor to Kitkat could be Lard.

  • Ketchup :)

    Sweet condiment

    course then you'd have joked Android Ketchup more like "catch-up"

    so yea probably wouldn't work

  • It's not small. No no no!

    Honeycomb's got...a big big bite!

    Big big (taste/crunch) in a big big bite!

    At least, it USED to be, until the nutrition nazis ruined it, like seemingly everything else from our childhoods. :-(

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeycomb_(cereal) [wikipedia.org]

  • Key Lime Pie is less common than kit kats? Look, I enjoy kitkats, always have, but I've had way more key lime pie in my life. It's kinda sad that your country in general feels the reverse. Sad, and not unexpected.

    • 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, bu

      • All true. But I've never been to Florida, and none of my friends are anywhere near Florida. But we've been eating and making key lime pie for decades. Anyone who's ever made a pie, and has access to some kind of lime, key or otherwise, should have heard of key lime pie. It's nothing complicated. It's lime pie, no different in concept from lemon pie or pumpkin pie.

  • Comment removed (Score:3)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday September 04, 2013 @04:06AM (#44754363)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

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