The growth of Google’s Android operating system on cell phones over the past two years has been phenomenal. The product is always evolving and always receiving new features. As 2012 gets into gear, let’s take a look at what Android might have in store.

Ice Cream Sandwich, or Android 4.0, is the most recent version of Android. It launched in early December with the Galaxy Nexus phone by Samsung, and featured several overhauls to the user interface. Sometime in 2012, it’s safe to assume that the next version of Android will be released. With an expected name of Jellybean, it’s safe to assume that the refinements we saw in Ice Cream Sandwich will be improved further. Expect to see further moves to create a true button-less interface, something that was advanced towards with Android 4.0.

In addition, tighter integration between Google’s services seems like a natural step for Android. The company recently revealed a new unified privacy policy for all of its services. Among the benefits of this unified policy that Google mentioned was the ability for Android to intelligently connect functions such as a user’s Android GPS location and their Google Calendar. With Android being able to intuitively look at more of a user’s data, a more fluid integration between Android and other Google services will be a natural step forward.

One final thing that we can expect to see from Android in 2012 is a true Siri competitor. A rumor broke in mid-December that the Android team was working on a Siri competitor named Majel. While Android has incorporated Google Voice Actions into its interface for years, it’s not as fluid as Siri and the rumored Majel would fill that void. By introducing a full-fledged competitor to Siri, Google would protect its Android operating system against potentially losing users in the future to Apple’s popular voice assistant.

Android gets better with every release, and Google is committed to its continued improvement. Between these updates, it’s also expected that the company will debut improvements to Android services such as the Market and Google Music streaming service. For Android, the future looks brighter than ever.