Teams with Nestle for new version of operating system
Google has announced Android 4.4 KitKat, named in partnership with the chocolate confectionary's maker, Nestle.
Google has stated that no money has changed hands in the deal to name the operating system, and that the idea came from Google and is purely for fun. It was widely believed the new platform would be called Key Lime Pie.
Following in the footsteps of KitKat's predecessor, Jelly Bean, and all the previous candy-focused versions, from the first Cupcake, to Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, and Ice Cream Sandwich, KitKat is the first name to be already trademarked by another business.
Nestlé's branding partnership with Google is the company's latest move in its ambition to move into the digital technology and online content world in order to get closer to its consumers.
Earlier this year, Nestlé acquired its first ever piece of online content property, the Petfinder website in the US. The online database, which links prospective adopters with adoptable pets, is visited by more than 100 million pet-lovers annually.
To mark the launch, Nestle has produced and will distribute 50 million specially wrapped KitKat bars offering the chance to win prizes including a limited number of Google Nexus 7 tablets, and credits to spend in Google Play, Google's online store for apps, games, music, movies, books and more. The special bars will be available in 19 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, Dubai, Russia, the UK and US. A number of Android-shaped KitKat bars will also be made available in some countries.
'We're excited to announce this partnership with Android, the world's most popular mobile platform, which will help us to enable even more KitKat fans to enjoy their break,' said Patrice Bula, Nestlé's head of marketing.
The confectionary maker has additionally produced a tongue in cheek website with Google illustrating the spec for KitKat as an operating system. Examples include: 'No matter what kind of break you're looking for, with 2 mega-bites, 4 mega-bites or a chunky-bite option, we've got it covered,' and 'Diamond sharp bevels machined to salivatingly tight tolerances help transform the chocolate bar with the long history into the chocolate bar of the future'.
KitKat 4.4 is expected to hit the streets in October this year.
Smart Chimps thinks: This is an unusual move from Google, but if anyone is up for trying something different and a tad risky, it's going to be this company. The deal is set to be a massive marketing coup for Nestle, which is bound to reap the rewards of being tied to such a huge brand and popular, wide spread product. Smart Chimps is completely<span style='font-family: 'Century Gothic'; color: red; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;'>confused as to what Google will get out of this though; if no money has changed hands, what is the point of tying an established, far reaching, rather cool brand to a little chocolate bar, which, let's face it, isn't that popular. We don't know.
