Google’s mysterious invite: new Android due?

A mysterious invitation sent to media outlets could provide some clues as to what the search giant left out of its I/O conference earlier this year.

A breakfast briefing, it will be hosted by Sundar Pichai, Google’s head of Chrome, Android and other initiatives. Pichai took over Android after Andy Rubin, the father of the platform, was moved onto other projects, a move rumoured to have been prompted by internal disagreements.

The flagship I/O conference earlier this year left a lot of people disappointed. Unlike previous years there was no new hardware, and no new versions of Android, something this event, slated for Wednesday US time, could address.

The latest version of Android, Jelly Bean, has seen some incremental changes to the way Google distributes its operating system. Instead of monolithic updates, which are often held up by carriers, the company has released modules of functionality, available from the Google Play store, which allow customers to get new features without the need for a complete OS update.

This approach is in contrast to Apple, which has more leverage with carriers. Apple generally releases a new version of its OS every year, allowing customers to directly download and install it over the air. The latest version, iOS 7, which brings some major functionality and interface changes, is expected to be released in September.

The next version of Android will be named after a desert, Key Lime Pie, but details about its updates and improvements remain sketchy.

Other speculation about the event concerns a possible new version of Google's 7 inch Nexus tablet, or the rumoured Motorola flagship “X” phone, which has been spotted in the wild glued to Google chairman Eric Schmidt’s ear.

Google bought Motorola Mobility in 2012 for $US13 billion. Until rumours of the X Phone began to emerge, industry watchers had generally seen the acquisiton as a misstep. Motorola was cited as a drag on Google's disappointing Q2 results.