14 DAY TRIAL // Tablets powered by the MediaTek platform will soon start getting the Android 4.4 KitKat update, as the Taiwanese chip manufacturer will be making available the necessary tools that are essential for jumping onboard of the chocolate bangwagon.
Due to pressure from the community but also from the competition, MediaTek is expected to comply and provide the necessary modifications, so its supported devices can receive the latest Android update, reports TabTech.
MediaTek processors are usually found in many cheap tablets and smartphones which usually run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. There’s an entire plethora of chips, ranging from dual-, quad- and octa-core covering all price ranges.
That’s probably why MediaTek offerings continue to attract a lot of interest from consumers and in the process, a relatively large community has been constructed.
While Android 4.2 Jelly Bean was acceptable last year, it’s common sense to expect from most manufacturers to update to the latest OS build, provided they have the tools. But the transition seems to be a slow one.
Even some brand vendors have been pretty sluggish at providing this. For example, LG has barely started rolling out the Android 4.4 update for its popular G Pad 8.3
Now sources familiar with the matter claim MediaTek is gearing up to provide the necessary drivers for all the circulating processors (be it smartphone or tablet) starting the end of April or beginning of May.
Anyway, even if MediaTek does its part, it doesn’t mean the updates are going to immediately start flowing our way. The manufacturer has something to say on the matter as well, because after all they will be rolling out the update.
A lot of budget slates like the ASUS Memo Pad HD7 would really benefit from the Android 4.4 KitKat update, as performance would surely be bumped up.
Last month, we've been telling you low-cost chip makers are really starting to make waves in the chip business.
A recent report coming from IDC claimed that Allwinner has managed to sell a whopping 18 million tablet chips in Q4 2014. The puzzling fact is the number represents 3 times more chips as Intel has managed to push onto the market.
And as we told you, it’s not just Allwinner getting the glory, but other low-cost player like Rockchip and MediaTek. The processor makers have recently introduced octa-core chips and have upcoming ARM v8 64-bit processors in the pipe-line, so their appeal is on the rise.
So the addition of Android 4.4 support is part of MediaTek’s plan to expand its grasp of the market.