The tech industry has been talking about the next version of Android, Android 5.0, since before Android 4.0 was launched in October of last year. One of the aspects of Android 5.0 that people have been speculating about is the name. Android follows a very specific naming scheme: Google names the versions in alphabetical order with a dessert theme. Starting with Android 1.5, the names for previous iterations of Android are: Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich.
We first got wind of the Jelly Bean moniker back in September. Chris Ziegler from The Verge cited a source that said 'Jelly Bean' is next on the Android menu over at Google. This past weekend, the Jelly Bean codename was confirmed by Asus. TechRadar reports that during Mobile World Congress, Asus said that it hopes to among the first to get Android 5.0 and name-dropped 'Jelly Bean.'
"Asus is very close to Google, so once they have Android 5.0 I think there will be a high possibility that we will be the first wave to offer the Jelly Bean update," Asus corporate VP told Benson Lin.
So now we know that it's called Jelly Bean, what we don't know is if the additional information from The Verge's source is true. Last September Chris Ziegler reported the name Jelly Bean and cited a trusted source in reporting that several of the "game-changing features" planned for ICS had been delayed until Jelly Bean.
The latest rumors say that Android 5.0 Jelly Bean will launch later this year. According to some reports, this version of Android will feature Google's answer to Apple's Siri voice-activated assistant.