Raspberry Pi to get Android 4.0

Eben Upton, founder of Foundation, has stated on the Raspberry Pi blog that development is underway to have Android Ice Cream Sandwich on a Raspberry Pi, instead of the Linux OS that is currently offered.

Unlike previous attempts at getting Android onto the Raspberry Pi, this one seems like it’s going to work. In the video it shows smooth media displays, which is an accomplishment, but no sound. That is because the AudioFlinger sub-system support has not been added yet.

This is the only aspect that has yet to be added, meaning that it is almost ready. It will be exciting to see the Pi running Android, because it will extend the usability and the customer base for Raspberry Pi. Gaming should be one of the key reasons that people will choose the Android OS over Linux.

Mobile operating systems are slowly being absorbed into computers that it’s not surprising that Android is going to be used as a fully functioning OS for a computer. Raspberry Pi may not even have as powerful processor as high-end smartphones (it’s only got an ARM single 700MHz processor), but you can still expect it to run all the programs you want, albeit a bit slower.

It’s still in development, but according to Liz Upton of Foundation, it should be ready in about a month’s time.