The Android PDK Might Mean Updates for Your Phone or Tablet on Launch Day

One of the major complaints about Android has been fragmentation. Even now, it's easy to illustrate, only a small percentage of devices run Android 4.0 that was announced last fall, most run Android 2.3, which is more than a year old. This on the verge of the next major version, Android 4.1, being launched.

Google has said several times that it will address the problem, but may have finally done something practical about it.

During I/O Google announced that it would be making available the Android PDK, the Platform Developers Kit, to hardware manufacturers two or three months ahead of any major version launch.

Until now, partners only got access to the source code around the day a new Android was being made available.

Android 4.0 shipped on the Galaxy Nexus, but no other phone or tablet was able to do that for several more months as phone makers started working with the new Android and preparing updates or integrating it into their devices.

Having access to the source code several months in advance might mean that upgrades are available on launch day, or very close to it and, equally important, that several devices running the latest version are ready at the same time.

This is big, it is very big. Of course, the burden will still rest on device makers to start working early with the new versions and start preparing updates. But they'll have fewer excuses now for keeping users waiting six months or more.

Only some hardware makers will have access to the PDK, but it's safe to assume that all the big ones, Samsung, HTC, LG, Motorola, Asus and so on, will get it.

The first real-world test of the new PDK is with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean which is still not ready yet, despite being built into the Google Nexus 7, the latest Android halo device.

Via: The Android PDK Might Mean Updates for Your Phone or Tablet on Launch Day