Google Babel is a name that has disappeared from the Android spotlight for some time now: designed to be a Whatsapp chat killer, it was originally believed to have been one and the same as the new Google Hangouts, but was later confirmed by Hugo Barra (before he left Google for Xiaomi) that it is still being developed as a separate service entirely, but hasn’t been heard from since. Today, it’s finally been spotted again running as an app (above) and in a log file from a Nexus 5 running Android 4.4 KitKat, along with information that confirms some of the sensors available in the Nexus 5 and its display resolution. One thing to note about the screenshot above of what is reportedly Babel running on the Nexus 5 is that the notification symbols are white, which possibly contradicts the leaks we’ve seen, though would be a moot point if this colouring is customizable.
As you can see in the above log snippets, the build name drops that all too familiar ‘KeyLimePie’ nomenclature, which we know to be Android 4.4 KitKat now, as well as the build number itself, KRS74H, which confirms the build of Android with its first letter, K. The other snippets confirm that it is running on a Nexus 5, as well as the Google Babel process running in the log as well. From the information here, it looks like Google Babel will be alive and well running on Android 4.4 KitKat, so hopefully we’ll see it unveiled whenever the Nexus 5 is.
Of course, that’s not all the interesting information in the log; the log also confirms that the display resolution of the Nexus 5 will be 1080p (though contradicts the leaked FCC information with a full resolution of 1080×1920 as opposed to 1080×1794) and also the sensors available to the Nexus 5, as provided by Qualcomm. While this is very rough information, it does start to fill in the picture regarding Android 4.4 KitKat and the Nexus 5; we know we can’t wait to see it announced.
What do you make of this information? Do you have any expectations of what Google Babel should be like? Let us know what you think about this in the comments.
Source: myce.com (1), (2)
