We've been hearing for a while that the next version of Android will be called Jelly Bean, in accordance with Google's alphabetized and dessert-inspired naming scheme for the platform. Short of some none-too-subtle hinting, however, the company seems reticent to address the issue in public. Well, the cat may just have been let out of the bag courtesy of Asus corporate vice president Benson Lin, who had this to say to TechRadar:

"Asus is very close to Google, so once they have Android 5.0 I think there will be a high possibility that we will be the first wave to offer the Jelly Bean update."

If accurate, the comments would not only confirm the codename but also that the next significant update to Android will indeed be represented by a full version number jump up to 5.0. It's also good to see companies recognizing the demand for timely software updates — Asus was one of the quickest to push out Ice Cream Sandwich to its users, after all. The real question is the nature of Google's "very close" relationship with Asus, and if it actually has any bearing on how fast the company can release its updates.