Another to add the the list of rumors about what's next for Google has magically surfaced tonight. According to ex-WSJ reporter Amir Efrati, Kit Kat will focus on unifying Android and making the OS run better on low-end hardware.

Specifically, he says it was designed for devices with 512MB of RAM, like the millions of devices in the wild running older versions of the OS. Google using a phone with a Snapdragon 800 and 2GB of RAM — if rumored specifications are to be believed — as a lead device for software designed for devices with old hardware is a bit puzzling though. This would be best done using the Nexus S, which Google surely has access to.

Additionally, Google has provided support for sensors such as a step detector and step counter, and and added what they are calling a geomagnetic rotation vector. This would enable Android to run as a fitness tracker as well as have more accurate and detailed location reporting. Bluetooth HID over GATT and Bluetooth MAP are additional services that would seem to suggest better wearable support.

Finally, It's said that there will be native support for IR controllers, such as the types used for televisions. We've seen these on devices before, though without support at the OS level.

Really, there's nothing here that hasn't been rumored for months. We'll know how much of it all is true, and what is just rampant speculation soon.

Source: Jessica Lessin