NEWSANALYSIS

22 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news August 2014

G
oogle is remaining tight-lipped
about when the 64-bit version
of Android will be released, but
Linux development group Linaro has built a
version of the open-source operating system
so mobile applications can be written and
tested by manufacturers and developers
rushing to catch up with Apple.
Android smartphones and tablets could
be faster with 64-bit hardware and also carry
more memory. Device makers are feeling
pressure to catch up with Apple, which
jumped ahead of the competition by putting
its 64-bit A7 processor in the iPhone 5s
and iPad Air. Linaros Android builds arent
full-edged distributions of the OS, but they
are system builds meant for developers to
write and test applications.
The Linaro development group has tested
a version of the 64-bit OS based on the
32-bit Android 4.4, code-named KitKat on
actual 64-bit ARM chipsets,
which arent yet available in
Android smartphones and
tablets. However, since Linaros
64-bit developers version
of Android offers backward
compatibility, third-party
developers can run the OS
on existing 32-bit tablets like
Googles Nexus 7 and 10, and
an emulator can then be used
to test 64-bit applications.
Linaro is a non-prot
organization that includes
Linaro has 200 engineers and its
bankrolled by member organisations, which
has helped speed up contributions, Grey said.
The company has made contributions to the
Chromium browser for 64-bit Android, and
also to the Quick EMUlator system model
a special hardware emulator designed to
replicate a virtualised OS environment.
Linaro is providing monthly engineering
Android builds based on the 64-bit kernel
for developers to download. The group has
been working on code that Google and other
open-source developers have been putting
into the Android Open Source Project (AOSP)
repository. The engineering images are
based on the latest Linux 3.14 kernel and a
stable image is provided every three months.
AOSP provides early access to the next
version of Android, although it wont have
the functionality and user interface of the
nal product, Grey explained.
The emulator thats available on 32-bit
platforms isnt quite as versatile as testing
code as on actual 64-bit ARM hardware, but
its a lot better than nothing.
Obviously, the emulator is a little on the
slow side, but its still possible to complete a
lot of the Linaro development.
Intel has already demonstrated its own
working 64-bit version of Android 4.4, but
for its x86 processors. Only a handful of
smartphones and tablets use x86 processors,
and the Intel build is only an early preview
release of pre-alpha quality, according to
Intels open-source website.
J
top ARM-based chip makers Samsung,
Qualcomm, MediaTek, Allwinner, ZTE, Texas
Instruments, Advanced Micro Devices,
Cavium, Freescale, Marvell and LSI.
Other members include Facebook, Citrix,
Hewlett-Packard, ARM, Nokia Solutions and
Networks, Cisco, Red Hat and Canonical.
The nal release of 64-bit Android will
depend on Google, which will take the
available open-source code and make tweaks
before releasing the OS. Adoption of 64-bit
Android on mobile devices will be swift if
software, drivers and tools are ready before
the OS release, Linaro CEO George Grey said.
It seems to me, a lot of companies are
looking to push phones based on 64-bit
architecture later this year, Grey said.
Industry observers believe Google could
announce a 64-bit version of Android at the
Google I/O conference in late June, although
theres no guarantee this will happen.
Qualcomm, nVidia, Marvell and
MediaTek have announced 64-bit
mobile chips, but have declined
to talk in detail about the work
theyre doing to bring the 64-bit
version of the OS to those chipsets.
Linaros focus is on building
Linux-based software, tools and
drivers for ARMs 64-bit ARMv8
architecture. The organisation
initially focused on servers, but
mobile devices became a priority
with more ARM-based chip makers
announcing 64-bit processors.
Linaro has built a 64-bit version of Android 4.4 for developers to write and
test applications for ARM-based mobile devices. Agam Shah investigates
Linux group
builds 64-bit
Android KitKat
NEXUS 7
022_023 Analysis 64Bit Android 228.indd 22 04/06/2014 11:01