Next Version of Android to be 'Previewed' at Google I/O on Wednesday

Google's Senior VP for Android, Chrome and Apps, Sundar Pichai, has indicated that the next major release of the mobile and tablet operating system will be previewed at this year's annual developers' conference I/O, scheduled for June 25 and 26.

Bloomberg Businessweek in a report has quoted Pichai who said, "I want the world to understand what we are doing sooner," when speaking about how the latest Android source code is only available after the build's release. Hence, a preview is expected at the I/O 2014 event on Wednesday.

This year, Pichai will preview the next release (Lollipop? Lemonhead?) for the first time at I/O, rather than waiting until the fall. It's a significant shift toward greater transparency. "I want the world to understand what we are doing sooner," he says.

Following the usual alphabetical order for Android updates and naming them after desserts, the successor to Android KitKat is widely expected to be starting with letter 'L', though nothing has been confirmed by Google.

A leak on Tuesday showed two screenshots that were said to have been taken from Android's 'L' build - what is being called the Android KitKat successor.

The report also suggests that Google will finally release its much-awaited Android Wear, which is a software project that extends Android to wearable devices. Notably, ever since Google announced the Android Wear; details regarding the new OS have been coming out slowly and steadily. Pichai was quoted saying, "You obviously need to be able to measure these things so many more times and then apply more intelligence to it."

Along with Android Wear, we can expect the wearable devices running Android Wear to be launched at the Google I/O event this year. Motorola's Moto 360 and LG's G Watch are the first two devices to run Google's new Android Wear and were announced in March.

LG has already confirmed that it would introduce its G Watch in the second quarter, while Motorola revealed that its Moto 360 Android smartwatch would be available by summer.

Recent reports suggested that Samsung, leaving no stone unturned for its smartwatches, might also reveal a new Android Wear smartwatch at the Google I/O event.