Technology
Google delays the 11 Android Beta release as US cities rush to protest
Google plans to disclose new features on June 3rd in Android 11, but decided to postpone it. In a tweet on Friday night, Android's account developer said that "We're excited to tell you more about Android 11, but it's not the time to celebrate now." Google claims it will "be back on Android 11 with more soon,' but didn't say when.
While Google doesn't say why explicitly, the reason is obvious. The announcement comes with protests, looting and fires filling many American cities. The reply to George Floyd 's death in Minnesota went far beyond the Minneapolis conflict.
In both San Jose and Oakland the evening when Google called its event the Bay area where Google and most of its employed people are based saw major conflicts. Here in the Bay area, it's a brutal night.
As our sister site Vox.com explains:
Protests have been fired around Minnapolis, Denver, Los Angeles, Louisville, Columbus following the death of George Floyd, a Black unarmed man who has been arrested on allegations of forgery by police officers in Minneapolis , Minnesota, and has been arrested on charges of excessive force by law enforcement agencies. Later, at a regional hospital he was pronounced dead.
The incident follows a series of fatalities in her Louisville, Kentucky house in March by police in her home, and in the Atlantean neighborhood, Ahmaud Arbery, who had been jugging before being fired by two white men in Feb this year, including a 26-year-old Breonna Taylor.
The revolts and the government's reaction to them in the last few days have become incredibly serious. The President's tweet of looting not only led Twitter to warn of an unarmed PREDACTOR drone over Minneapolis, but to launch a chain of events that concluded with an Executive Ordinance that would fundamentally change the nature of the entire net if it had a chance to survive courtroom challenges.
At a practical level, Google certainly realized that few people in Android would be happy to hear new features. On the human side, it was just the right thing to delay the launch.
