Is Google delving into the food market with KitKat partnership?

October 11, 2013 at 11:15

Is Google delving into the food market with the KitKat partnership? Google recently announced their partnership with KitKat(R) for their next version of Android – Android 4.4 KitKat. As early as last year, the rumour mill had it that the next version of Android after Jellybean would be called Key Lime Pie. This would be in keeping up with Google’s style of naming their Android versions using dessert names in alphabetical order. At the last minute, Google surprisingly announced their partnership with KitKat in the next iteration of Android. They then confirmed that the next iteration of Android would be named Android 4.4 KitKat. The Google mascot Andy with the KitKat design is already featured outside the Google Headquarters next to the Jellybean mascot. Rumour has it that KitKat will be launched sometime towards the end of October 2013 in time for the Christmas holiday season. A new version of the Nexus flagship to succeed the Nexus 4 will also likely be announced, running the KitKat version of Android.

This gets me wondering: could we be seeing Google getting more directly involved in the food industry in the near future? Could we be seeing “Google Food” added to the list of Google products soon? Instead of just data centre farms, could we soon be seeing similarly massive-sized agricultural farms implementing Google technology for highly mechanised, highly efficient farms? I can imagine tractors and combine harvesters equipped with the technology behing the Google self-driving car doing rounds on the Google farms.

If this does become reality, what could it mean for the farming industry (initially at least in the U.S. where most Google products are first implemented)? I think this could be a positive addition to the farming/food industry which could see the competition driving prices down, like what happened to the high speed internet prices when Google Fiber was launched. Admittedly it’s not as simple as it sounds on paper because of issues like the farm lobbies, price regulations, and subsidies for farmers.

What do you think of the possibility of Google going into the food industry? Leave your comments below.

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