Google Screenshots Tease Android 5.0? No, Not Really

Many tech outlets wrote today that Google might have teased Android 5.0 in a screenshot they posted on their Twitter account. We all know that Google likes to include subtle hints about their upcoming products and Android versions in their advertising materials, but you should also be aware that Google is equally likely to mess with us. Remember when they showed us a video of Bugdroid (the Android mascot) eating a key lime pie at Google I/O 2013?

But let’s see why everybody believed that Google teased Android 5.0 in the tweet showing that Google Now can handle World Cup match scores and schedules. The basic idea is that whenever Google releases a new product, especially Nexus devices, the clock shows the Android version that is running on the respective device. When Android 4.0 ICS and Galaxy Nexus were released, the smartphone’s clock read “4:00.” The pattern also applies for Nexus 7 and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean (clock was set at “4:10″), and Nexus 4 and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean (clock time was “4:20″). Furthermore, the Nexus 5, Nexus 7, and Nexus 10 devices in Google Play all have the clock set at “4:40″ which is the equivalent of Android 4.4 KitKat.

If you look at things from this perspective you might be tempted to believe that the Android 5.0 teaser is real. Well, not really. While the images posted on @android do match clock to Android version, the images posted on the @google account (which is the source for the above screenshot) often showed random times in the clock. Look at just two examples here and here.

Because the tech publications and Android enthusiasts are eagerly anticipating new releases from the Mountain View-based company they are reading too much into things. Remember last year’s teasers on KitKat when everybody started counting chocolate covered biscuits believing it’s the countdown to the Android 4.4 launch? We got caught in the KitKat teasers fever, too, but now we are more skeptical about Google’s so-called teasers.

Thoughts?