The next version of Android, Android O is expected to be arriving soon enough, and a new web-based mobile game from Oreo and Google would seem to back up a hint dropped by Android head Hiroshi Lockheimer about the possibility of the name being Oreo. Developed with the help of Google, the game uses Google Maps to let Oreo buyers scan their cookie, then throw it as hard as they can and watch it sail across the globe. The goal of the game is to throw your Oreo cookie from space into a glass of milk back on Earth. The game uses a menagerie of different mobile web and augmented reality technologies together to achieve the most realistic spacefaring cookie chucking experience possible, many of which are provided by or at least partially developed by Google.
While somewhat similar teases about Android Nougat being Nutella were dropped by Lockheimer previously, Google helping to launch an augmented reality mobile game alongside Nabisco centered around the Oreo brand is pretty significant. Google provides the Google Maps overlay and a good bit of technological consideration for making the game possible through mobile web apps and APIs. Add in the fact that Google’s in-house advertising and marketing outfit, dubbed The Zoo, was involved, and we may be looking at something big. Still, this could all be one big trick, much like the Nutella business was.
It’s quite likely that we will know fairly soon what Android O’s name will be; if it follows the same schedule that Nougat did, the first developer preview should be coming out some time before this year’s Google I/O, and the event has already begun pre-registration. The first developer preview for Nougat dropped in March of last year, and the name was officially revealed in June. The final version of Nougat hit, ready for manufacturers to begin building updates around, in late August. Given the heavy teases that have been going around the net, there is no reason to believe at this point that Android O won’t follow a schedule very similar to the pattern carved out by Android 7.0 (Nougat).