It's been a while since we've heard any rumors about the next major version of Android, but today that's come to an end. A report out of Digitimes claims that "Android 5.0 (Jelly Bean)" could launch as soon as the second quarter of this year, a rumor that comes from the site's Taiwan-based supply chain makers. The article continues by alleging that the OS will be further optimized for tablets and integrate Chrome system functions for "dual-operating system designs" that could allow for things like letting users switch between Android and Windows 8 on the same device without having to shut down. Lastly, Digitimes says that Google could use Jelly Bean to try and get back into the notebook and netbook market.

So there's your latest Jelly Bean rumor. Will it actually launch in Q2? Only Google knows for sure, but I'd be pretty surprised to see the new OS actually be released that soon. Heck, some manufacturers may not even begin gearing up to release Ice Cream Sandwich to a majority of their devices until then. What we could see is Google announce the new version of Android at Google I/O in the late June, much like it did with Ice Cream Sandwich at last year's I/O. As for what features Jelly Bean will include, much of that will likely remain up in the air until the OS is actually announced, but tweaks like increased tablet optimization would definitely make sense. For now, we'll just take all of this with a few grains of our favorite salt and go back to counting down the days until I/O. You may want to do the same.

Via Electronista, Digitimes