Despite the very limited usefulness currently for the technology, the big surprise from Apple during their iPhone 5S announcement was the inclusion of 64-bit technology in their newest A7 chip for the phone. This basically amounts to no more than bragging rights at the moment, since there is almost nothing which can take advantage of this tech. Still, it makes Android fans wonder when they will get a taste of the newly improved "future-useful" tech. A new report suggests it may be coming sooner than we thought.
According to a tiny bit of sound deductive reasoning, mixed with a healthy dose of "jumping to conclusions," several folks in the industry are speculating that 64-bit processing will soon be coming in Android, and may in fact show up in Android 4.4 KitKat. The pic you see above was snapped at an Intel Developer's conference in which Chipzilla was discussing their new Bay Trail mobile processor. As you can see, the Intel Bay Trail chip shown in the pic is certified as a "64-Bit" platform. Of course, Intel could simply have been pointing out that their chipset technology will already be 64-bit when it finally makes it to Android, but it is also possible that they know something we don't. Why would they specifically call out the 64-bit tech if it weren't even being worked on at Google for the Android platform?
It's tough not to jump to the conclusion that Google is working toward making Android 64-bit. It is after-all, the next logical evolution of Android, and the Linux OS, which is the core of Android, has already been 64-bit compatible since 2004. Maybe it won't be ready as early as Android 4.4 KitKat, but you can bet good money that some version of Android will include the 64-bit capabilities sometime in the near future.
Source: GigaOM
