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Ice Cream Sandwich Is Slowly Becoming The Norm

Android fragmentation is a multi-tiered problem. There’s the multiple devices and multiple versions of the Android OS that has many developers unable to effectively develop for all of them. Goog...
Ice Cream Sandwich Is Slowly Becoming The Norm
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  • Android fragmentation is a multi-tiered problem. There’s the multiple devices and multiple versions of the Android OS that has many developers unable to effectively develop for all of them. Google has been working hard on the Android OS problem and it seems to be paying off.

    The latest numbers in regards to Android distribution shows that Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) is still the most popular version of the OS with 63.6 percent of the market. Most consumers are still on their two-year contract with their current phone (like me) and our carriers/device manufacturers refuse to move us to Ice Cream Sandwich.

    That being said, there are a few carriers/OEMs who are pushing out Ice Cream Sandwich to various devices. Couple with that the explosive growth of Android and you have ICS moving on up through the ranks. The latest numbers show the latest version of ICS as having 10.7 percent of the market. It’s the third largest section of the Android market after Android 2.2 (Froyo) at 17.3 percent.

    With Jelly Bean coming out in the middle of July, it will be interesting to see the adoption at that point. The only devices that are getting Jelly Bean out of the gate are the Nexus 7 and Galaxy Nexus. Unfortunately, the Galaxy Nexus has been banned in the U.S. thanks to the efforts of all the seeing eye of Sauron Apple, so that leaves the Nexus 7 to carry the weight of bringing Jelly Bean into the world of rankings.

    It’s also important to note that many carriers have delayed or won’t be delivering ICS to devices until later this year. The majority of people on Android 2.3-powered handsets will be able to get their hands on ICS at some point which should help drive ICS adoption up. It will still be a while, however, until Gingerbread is dethroned from the top spot.

    The rest of the data includes interesting stats on the relative rise over time of various Android operating systems and a breakdown of screen sizes. It would appear that most Android devices (57.5 percent) are equipped with a normal hdpi screen.

    The increased adoption of ICS is only a good thing for Google and Android OEMs around the world. The sooner they can get everybody on board with ICS, the sooner Android can evolve to the next level. Google might also want to slow down on the new versions until everybody can catch up.

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