14 DAY TRIAL // As new handsets arrive on shelves and handset vendors push out updates for existing devices, Google’s latest mobile operating system flavors are starting to gain more ground on the market.
At the end of November 2012, Android 4.1 and 4.2 platform versions were loaded on no less than 6.7 percent of active Android devices, data collected in the two weeks ended December 3, 2012, shows.
5.9 percent of all Android handsets that accessed the Google Play store in the timeframe were powered by Android 4.1, while 0.8 percent of them were running Android 4.2, said data unveiled.
The figure shows an impressive growth when compared to the end of October, when Android 4.1 Jelly Bean was present on only 2.7 percent of devices.
The year-old Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system version was present on 27.5 percent of devices, up from only 25.8 percent a month ago, Google unveiled.
However, it seems that the older Android 2.3 Gingerbread platform is still in the lead, accounting for 50.8 percent of the devices, down from 54.2 percent at the end of October.
The Android 2.3.3 - 2.3.7 flavors of the OS are used on the largest number of devices, namely 50.6 of all Android-based products.
Android 3.1 and 3.2 Honeycomb, the tablet-exclusive OS versions, were present on 1.2 and 0.4 percent of all active devices, in the two-week timeframe, Google unveiled.
As for the Android 2.2 Froyo, Android 2.1 Éclair, Android 1.6 Donut and Android 1.5 Cupcake platform releases, they were loaded on only 10.3%, 2.7%, 0.3% and 0.1% devices, respectively. Soon, Google might announce them as obsolete and remove them from the platform distribution charts.
Developers interested in learning more on how these Android OS releases are being used today should have a look at the charts attached to this article or head over to the Android Developers website for additional details.
