14 DAY TRIAL // Google's Android 2.2 operating system is gaining even more share from the previously released flavors of the platform, the latest date from Google shows. The latest version of the OS is reportedly present on 36.2 percent of all active Android handsets out there.
The platform version is steadily increasing its share on the Android distribution charts, and is expected to soon account for the largest number of devices out there.
Its increase is determined both by the availability of new devices running under it, as well as by the roll-out of software updates for existing Android 2.1-based phones.
However, it would still take some time being this platform iteration claims the first spot on the Android distribution charts, where Android 2.1 is currently the leader.
This operating system flavor accounts for 40.8 percent of active Android-based devices, down from 41.7 percent it accounted for last month (when Android 2.2 was present on 33.4 percent of Android smartphones).
Combined, the two operating system versions are present on 77 percent of all Android-based mobile phones out there, which leaves only less than a quarter to other platform flavors.
Android 1.6 and Android 1.5 are the other two platform iterations still present on the chart, with 15.0 percent and 7.9 percent share each.
The rest of the handsets are those running under the first Android releases, as well as under Android 2.0 and 2.0.1 versions, or, as Google puts it: “Other: 0.1% of devices running obsolete versions.”
The data included in these charts was collected during the two weeks ended November 1, 2010. Additional info on this can be found at Android Developers here.
The Android 2.2 OS is expected to soon be followed by another version of the platform, dubbed Gingerbread, and rumored to sport the version number 2.3.
Unlike the currently available Android iterations, Gingerbread should arrive on shelves with optimizations for use on tablet PCs, a segment of devices that started to become increasingly popular among end-users after the launch of Apple's iPad.
