Goggle has announced the imminent roll out of Android KitKat for the Nexus 7 and 10 Wi-Fi tablets, while confirming that the roll out for the models with cellular radios will begin soon.
The update will be notable for reducing the footprint of the operating system compared to previous versions, as Google has made a conscious effort to streamline both the operating system’s key components and also move more of them to individual apps that can be used by all Android devices, rather than the previous model of integrating proprietary components into stock builds and siloing them to Nexus devices and builds.
Additionally, KitKat will begin the process of moving Android away from its Dalvik JIT Java compiler to the Android Runtime, allowing for the operating system to transition to native code execution for apps and system processes moving forward, compared to previous app and system performance with Dalvik and is included as a developer preview toggle within KitKat. Google also cautions that the ART developer preview is experimental and can cause unexpected effects on device performance and stability when enabled.
