Google I/O is coming up soon and the speculation is now higher than ever before. Will Google announce a tablet or show off those whacky AR glasses? More importantly, will we get our first look at Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)? Well, we might have already gotten our first look thanks to the Google I/O Companion App.
One of the major things about this year’s Google I/O is that the company really wants to get everybody watching the conference no matter where they are. That’s why they made the Google I/O Companion App which lets you search for sessions and watch live streams of the events all from your Android device. The Google Play page for the app reveals one screen that’s not like the others, and it could be a hint towards Jelly Bean. Here’s the offending screen that’s still up on Google Play:
As has been pointed out by many others, what you see is more small tweaks than radical redesign. Ice Cream Sandwich was a huge leap over Gingerbread so there’s no need to completely reinvent the wheel this soon. There always is, however, a need to make small changes towards a better aesthetic cohesiveness. That’s what this sneak peak seems to offer.
You will notice that the search bar is the most obvious change as it moves away from the Holo theme in ICS. It’s now transparent while retaining the flat look of the original bar. It could also just be a custom search bar and we’re looking far too deeply into this.
Speaking of looking far too deeply, Android Guys seems to think the screen’s time being listed as 25:10 is a hint towards Jelly Bean’s release date. They figure that since 25:10 is not a real time that Google must be hinting that Jelly Bean will be launching on October 25.
Until Google I/O officially commences next week, we won’t know anything. That’s not going to stop the rabid Android fans from trying to figure it all out though. Google may have been crafty with this one and gave us an intentional leak. We’ll let you know if this really is Jelly Bean once Google I/O kicks into full swing.