There's some potentially sweet news about the street name for the upcoming major Android OS release, at present referred to only as Android L.
Documents are turning up in which Android L is also called Android LMP. Based on Google's prior predilection for adding chocolatey goodness or other confections to its Android releases, the smart money is on Lemon Meringue Pie as the appellation for the out and about version of Android L.
Back in the frontier days of Android L, many assumed that the L stood for Lollipop -- which does, after all, roll around on the tongue a lot better than lemon meringue pie.
Those in the lemon meringue pie camp point to a Wi-Fi certification document for an upcoming HTC tablet called Volantis. The certificate references a firmware version as L LMP. So there's that. There is also documentation that lists the preview builds for the Nexus 5 and 7 as "lmp-preview-release," detailed in the latest Android SDK.
A review of the storied and sugary evolution of Android names begins with version 1.5 "Cupcake," released in 2009. We then move down the patisserie counter to Doughnut, Éclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, and Honeycomb, until we arrive at Ice Cream Sandwich, known to number geeks and diabetics as version 4.0 through 4.0.4. Android really hit its stride with the release of Jelly Bean (4.1-4.3.1). The current piece of candy is known as 4.4 KitKat, which is the first version to perhaps have sold its soul to the dreaded naming rights practice, as Google is by intent or serendipity allowing Nestlé to promote its snappy chocolate bar by attaching the product name to an operating system, a pairing that is, after all, found in nature all the time.
Over at Apple, which is already a sweet enough name with crunch and chewy texture, naming conventions for mobile operating systems do not really exist. There is nothing inspiring or folksy about iOS 5, 6, 7, and 8. Looking ahead, the boldest prognosticators have placed their reputations on the line, predicting iOS 9 will follow within a year after iOS 8. Strategically, if Apple had named iOS 8 Apple Pie, Google would be burning the midnight oil baking a new name for Android L.
Then we have Microsoft. Windows. That's it. Windows. Not even going way out on a limb with edgy sub-monikers such as XP, Vista, 7 and 8 matters. The OS is named Windows. Deal with it.
As for Google, it has not commented on the rush to judgment about the new Android release name. It is likely that it has real work to do instead of putting inquiring, small minds at ease.
We will soon know for sure if Android L becomes the gooiest version of Android ever. Until then, maybe we can turn our attention to matters that really, well, matter.
