Android11 Beta Release Event Pushed Back in Light of US Protests

Android11 Beta Release Event Pushed Back in Light of US Protests

Google had planned to announce Android 11 in a few days on June 3, but the company decided to postpone the event.

The company did not give a clear reason, but it is not hard to read between the lines of the 187-character tweet announcing the postponement.

"We are excited to tell you more about Android 11, but now is not the time to celebrate. We're postponing our June 3 event and beta release, and we'll be back soon with more details about Android 11."

There are essentially two possibilities here, and given that the original date was specified well after the coronavirus containment began, we can safely rule out one of them. This is probably a direct response by the Minneapolis police to the protests taking place across the country in the wake of George Floyd's death. The protests, which initially began across the country in response to the death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, have spread across the United States, including to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Google is not the only tech company affected. The incident marked the second time in three days that Twitter has taken action against President Trump. After seeing a fact-check link to the president's own tweets on Tuesday, the company hid one of Trump's tweets behind a warning about "glorification of violence," earning the president's ire.

Against this backdrop, Google's decision to drop Android from public view may not come as a surprise. Not only would it be hard to get coverage outside of the tech press, but as the company suggested in a tweet, going ahead with the celebration under these circumstances would seem rather tone-deaf. Given that there is no telling how long the country's turmoil will last, it is no surprise that the company has refused to announce a new date.

However, we do know what the virtual announcement will include: a one-hour keynote (discussing "new features coming in the next release of Android 11 and updates for developers to get the most out of the latest Android development") and a #. As well as a virtual Q&A using the AskAndroid hashtag, the company planned to simultaneously release the 12 talks originally scheduled for Google I/O 2020. They are as follows:

We'll let you know when Google will reschedule them as soon as we get any information, but until then, check out the latest Android 11 rumors to see what to expect from the latest OS.

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