Android 2.1 picks up steam in latest platform stats, 1.5 and 1.6 still contenders
By Chris Ziegler 
posted June 16th 2010 10:33PM
posted June 16th 2010 10:33PM
[Thanks, Drew]
posted June 16th 2010 10:33PM
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
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@AaronX As it stands now, Froyo isn't finished. So your left with three options, 1.5, 1.6, and 2.1. My guess is, when Froyo officially comes out, 1.5 will finally be pushed aside and 1.6 will become the new 1.5, if that makes sense. It's still supported by many developers anyway, for the moment.
Hope that made sense. All I know is the 1.x updates by their version numbers.
Why does every single engadget android post end with some kind of plea for froyo? Every new phone: "now if we could just get some tasty froyo on this..." or some very close approximation of that. Yes, we get it - you want 2.2 on everything. Point made. Do you have any other witty comments?
when there is android on the market, how come apple & att's websites are crashed w/ iphone 4 orders??? i can not understand
@patrick73
Because not everyone likes the same thing, and not everyone has the same needs.
i just USB teathered my laptop to the EVO using PDANet for free... this Rocks!! Sorry, im excited and wanted to share with the "world." :)
@benchase7
..thank God for unlimited data!! :) :)
@hated one
Troll.
@hated one
I have not used engadget for very long, but i've noticed all of your posts are pretty stupid.
I wonder how many of the 50% sporting 2.1 are using custom ROMs...I took the plunge a couple of weeks back (surprisingly matching the timing of the reports), and rooted my G1, and am now running 2.1 via cyanogen. It really added new life to the G1, although the ROM is a bit unstable. Moreover, with all this talk of fragmentation, does anyone have fixed numbers in the different versions of iPhones running out there? Are the first and second gen fully compatible with the third and now fourth gen iPhones coming out?
@jok Compatible in what way? The first iPhone ran/runs solely on EDGE (2G), the second phone onwards added support for 3G but as the builds progress Apple's antenna technology improves (which should equal better speeds and improved voice quality if the network it's on is up to the task).
@DBG I meant compatibility in the sense of OS and apps. Much as the discussion of the android platform, where the fast evolving nature of the OS is giving rise to concern of fragmentation - i.e. newer apps don't run on phones that have an older OS, I'm wondering what is the current state of the iPhone OS. I know that the iPhone 4 has much higher screen resolution than the previous generations, so apps meant specifically for the improved resolution of the new iPhone will probably have to have some type of lower res version for previous generations, or exclude them altogether. Or apps using the new gyroscope in the iPhone 4 will need to have work around for iPhones not having that feature.
Not having ever owned an iPhone, I'm wondering what is the current state of that platform, and how the first and second gen phones are standing up in terms of compatibility with new apps, missing features from newer phones, etc., and what percentage of the iPhone community has 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gen.
@DBG,
Speaking about network... I used ADP1 (HTC Dream) on AT&T EDGE since ADP1 was released, I'm using Nexus One on AT&T 3G since March and don't even know what is a dropped call or a bad voice quality. Is it so different because AT&T service in DC area is really good, or because iPhone antenna is so bad?
@jok, I'm second on your questions! Is there such thing as iPhone fragmentation? What statistics do we have on it?
@jok
Every app runs on every generation of the iPhone. Only time that an app wouldn't be able to run on a 2G or 3G is if it was specifically made for the 3GS (before iPhone 4).
Or in most cases the app would work on all devices w/ the latest software. But certian features of the app wouldn't be available because of the hardware limits.
All apps work on all the devices because there is no delay in availabilty of the latest OS. You plug your iPhone into iTunes, iTunes tells you a newer version is available for download.
Out of all the iDevices only the first gen iPhone and first gen iPod touch will not have iOS4. 3 years of major updates isn't bad at all. Plus if you have a 1st Gen iPhone or iPod Touch man, yea. You're due an upgrade.
@EagleyeSmith
Many 1st gen iPod touches never upgraded because it was a PAID upgrade.
when iOS 4 is out an iSO developer will have to write (at least) three versions of it´s app:
- for the iPhone 4 / iPad
- for the 3GS a low res version
- for the 3G a low res version + removing the multitask components
@vkelman 3.1.3 on my first gen ipod touch and it runs all available apps (for me games) since almost over 3 years now. :)
@EagleyeSmith I see, thanks for the nice reply. So basically, once the iPhone 4 comes out, there will be 1st gen iPhone, 2nd gen through iPhone 3GS, and then iPhone 4? With most 1st through 3GS phones being able to run pretty much everything.
@hated one Do I agree? Not really. The iPhone is obviously very attractive to many people and for good reasons. It has good set of features, the largest number of 3rd party applications of any mobile device provider and you are getting the cow and the milk from the same place (i.e., the hardware and OS).
It's just something I've never been interested in for various reasons (although I did rent one for a week the last time I was in Japan and thought it was neat). I might be interested by the time LTE is rolled out in the majority of cities (I'm still betting LTE will win out over WiMAX... or maybe the correct word would be "hoping") but by then Android will probably look even more attractive to me, just as it does now =).
So, looking at the chart, there is no such thing as Android 2.2? 0.o
@aliendude5300 It has not been officially released for any device yet, so correct, there is no 2.2.
Considering Froyo isn't exactly done baking - literally, I can imagine 1.6 would still be used for the time being. Hopefully when 2.2 is finally done 1.5 will be pushed aside, finally. At least this shows that the fragmentation is being handled now that 50% of all phones now use 2.1 at least.
@hated one Your username speaks the truth.
Android 1.5? That's a lot of ATT MOTO backflips sold!!!
Android sucks. iPhone, Nokia, RIM rules.
@jckchn lol
@jckchn
enjoy oblivion by the way
Fragmentation is a buzzword used by Apple fanboys. No one else cares.
@Shooter McGavin
Except Developers
@Wesscoast
Sorry, you fall under that Apple fanboy category, thus your opinions about android are null and void as you've demonstrated many times in the past.
Good day.
@Wesscoast
I'm a developer and I don't care. The api level system makes it easy to appropriately target apps to phones that have the features to support them.
The only reason I care (as a consumer) is when some slutty manufacturer makes a phone then forgets about upgrading it (when it could obviously support the new stuff) as it's more profitable to sell new ones. These companies will eventually succomb to competitors who aren't so short sighted.
OMFG!! ANDROID HAZ 100 PURCENT MARKETSHARZ!!!
Android is fragmented android is fragmented android is fragmented. Maybe if we say it enough it will come true :P
But really, I'm more inclined to believe that the manufacturers being different is more of an issue than 1.5 and 1.6 OS issues. I mean, legitimately, they are legacy devices and they will and should be upgraded shortly via buying a new phone, that is unless they are running rooted ROMS in which case its a non-issue.
all of 1.5 users are on galaxy i7500 which will never get updated beyond this point. thanks samsung, you're the best and we appreciate your support
Those numbers seem far too neat....
Fragmentation os always going to be an issue, as it is for the iPhone and others. Perhaps Google needs to release updates less often - perhaps once a year. If they also set minimum benchmarks for upcoming updates and also let manufacturers know of these minimums well in advance it would help. I also think they need to set an expiry on older versions of Andriod so that manufacturers aren't releaseing outdated versions would help.
@hated one
rest assured that YOU will be looked down upon no matter what phone you have.
Part of the problem is that Google is still allowing manufacturers to use the Android name, Google binary apps and other Google IP on brand new devices (phones and otherwise) just now hitting the marketplace but including 1.6 (or worse 1.5).
Google needs to say "Anyone shipping a device and wanting to use our IP must ship a 2.x build".
@hated one
"where I work"
The kids at McDonald's can be pretty cruel.
This chart doesn't make sense, it makes up to 100.1%
All iphail fans lol get os
upgrade black or white
man I dont get this Chris guy... he is so hypocritical about this whole Android fragmentation. And he' keeps on doing it over & over again! Annoying. I might have to boycott reading his articles or some shit.
Why all this talk of 2.1 being the end of the line for a lot of phones? I'm no developer, but if 2.2 brings such big performance boosts, wouldn't it be ideal for those older phones? Then again, considering how long it's taking everyone to get the various 2.1 updates (Blur, Sense, etc.) I can see why some companies may just push out that last update and get to work on whatever needs to be done for the newer 2.1. phones that people are expecting a 2.2 update for. That sucks for consumers though.
On another note, why can't Google just stop making 1.5 and 1.6 available, or at least mandate that any phones shipping after x date must use at least 2.x version of Android? It seems like that would curb this issue a good bit.
@mamoore1982
Yep, AFAIK there's no real reason that a phone that can run 2.1 shouldn't be able to run 2.2.
It's faster and uses less resources, is more memory efficient and can store components on the SD more easily, so it's just down to how long manufacturers will bother to maintain upgrades for.
If they would all stop with their slutty interface mods this would be much less of an issue. Personally I won't buy a phone with a custom interface unless i know it can be easily rooted and removed.
Android, it's not human that thing... but at least it plays flash.
Neither sits well with my haircut and clothes, and my fancy shoes.