Will the rumored 3Q12 arrival of Android 5.0 "Jelly Bean" be too early given that v4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" resides on less than 4-percent of current phones?
For a while there has been speculation that Google will launch Android 5.0 "Jelly Bean" in 3Q12 even though v4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" is just now starting to saturate the market. But unnamed industry sources seem a little worried about the possible 2012 launch, claiming that the rapid shift of OS may not be entirely healthy for the development of the Android ecosystem. So far little, if not next to nothing, is known about the next installment save for that it could make its debut on Google's rumored Nexus tablet this fall.
Right now Android 4.0 only accounts for 2 to 3 percent of all Android phones in use. Most of us fondling Gingerbread-based devices are still waiting (im)patiently for the upgrade, some of which have already received the frosty love and some of which are on indefinite hold. Google blames the slow rollout on the incredible number of different hardware configurations. Manufacturers say it's also a carrier issue as they seemingly each determine if a specific smartphone is worthy of upgrading.
Presently smartphones shipping with Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box are few in number, but the sources claim that will change in 2Q12. The supply will reportedly increase substantially by then with mid-range to high-end models coming from HTC, Samsung and Sony Mobile. This really isn't new to our ears, but they also said the entry-level market will be addressed by China-based handset makers with models based on Qualcomm's 7227a solution and MediaTek's MT6565 platforms.
That said, the Ice Cream Sandwich ratio will shortly begin to grow. That in itself brings up the question as to whether a Jelly Bean launch in 3Q12 may be somewhat too early. If it resides on one flagship device for a while, that's one thing. But if Jelly Bean upgrades appear shortly after the debut while Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades are still being dished out, wouldn’t that cause a headache for developers? As Mika Mobile pointed out in a blog earlier this month, Android is fragmented enough as it is, enough so that the studio decided to drop Android development altogether.
Most dont give a damn about their "old" phones my Galaxy S is on 2.2
I have played around with ICS on the Asus Transformer Prime. It is a good bit better than previous versions of Android. I now have the latest build of Cyanogenmod 9 Alpha 2 loaded on my HP Touchpad and haven't looked back to WebOS since. Little buggy at times but works pretty good for the most part. Looking forward to taking a look at JB although I wish Cyanogen mod would finish ICS first.
2.2 Froyo
2.3 Gingerbread
2.4 Honeycomb
2.5 ICS
2.6 Jellybean
Then people who don't know anything about software development, packaging and versioning anyways would stop complaining about being 3 versions behind... That, is their mistake, not rapidly developing an already best-in-class product.
Connect to Kies and get 2.3.3 already.
oops wrong person
@jurassic512:
Have a Linux on me. I've got plenty
Depends, if you got Samsung then better don't, 2.3.3 has some problems bith battery life.. I hope they will release an patch to fix that.
But if this news turn out to be true. I'd like to say " Wake up Google, this isn't Chrome".
But I don't trust these roms for my new Galaxy Note.
And its likely the next OS will be on older handsets earlier then ICS. ICS was a "first", a major update so all the developers had to adjust their development leading to a long release cycle. With JB, the same developers have fresh experience, and most likely will be able to get the new os out faster.
I dont see any reason to wait with JB just to use older software for more then 3 months before the next update. Its not like it cost any money...