So, Gingerbread has finally dropped below 50% of devices accessing Google Play. Ice Cream Sandwich has almost hit the 30%, and after six months, Jelly Bean (4.1 and 4.2) almost hit the 10%. Google's page listing these numbers is like a trainwreck in slowmotion.
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Member since:2005-11-13
It means that ICS being over a year old and only on about 30% of devices is pathetic. I have a Nexus 4 myself and am quite fond of it, but I feel sorry for the devs that have to code for this trainwreck of an OS and its myriad of devices. And don't start with the 'but it's the carriers fault' bullshit either. If that were the case, most Android tablets not sold by carriers would be running at least Jellybean 4.1 by now.
Edited 2013-01-04 02:20 UTC
Member since:2008-08-19
It means that ICS being over a year old and only on about 30% of devices is pathetic. "
Note that this isn't talking about new phones purchased - it's about *all* Android phones in use today. And because not everyone buys a new phone every week, that means there's a *lot* of old-model phones that simply aren't capable of running newer OS versions...
Member since:2010-10-29
I'm a developer and have developed for many (mobile) platforms, and I can tell you Android is my favorite to program for. The fragmentation problem is very much exaggerated, it's hardly worse than on iOS.
It doesn't matter if only a small percentage of users are on iOS 4, you still have to be backwards compatible. So you have the same problems on iOS.
Backwards compatibility for Android 1 was a pain in the ass though. But since Android 2 it's easy to handle. And everyone programs for Android 2.2 or higher anyway now.
So the way I see it:
- Android developers are fine with Android fragmentation.
- Average Android users are fine with Android fragmentation (don't even know what an OS is, don't care about updates).
- Advanced Android users that do care about updates can get a Nexus device.
It seems the only people whining about it are non-Android users/developers.
Member since:2007-11-11
Well suck it up and take it, its either this or the Apple and MSFT walled gardens...sigh. Anybody else feel like 2013 is gonna be the "year of suck" when it comes to tech?
As for why its dropped below 50% the answer is simple, the ARM chips capable of running Android 4 are now cheap enough to be in those $70 tablets. if it makes you feel any better they were showing $50 dual core tablets at the Hong Kong expo a few months back so by this time next year ARM chips will be cheap enough that they'll be able to sell Android 6 on the $50 tablets and $70 smartphones so the previous versions will die out fairly quickly.
Personally I'd rather have Android where I get a choice of devices and price points than a "choice" of an insanely overpriced Apple or a grossly insanely overpriced MSFT.
The third and final WWDC product I want to talk about is - of course - OS X 10.9 Mavericks. While iOS 7 was clearly the focus of this year's WWDC, its venerable desktop counterpart certainly wasn't left behind. Apple announced OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the first OS X release not to carry the name of a big cat.
We already talked about iOS 7 yesterday (after a night of sleep, it's only looking worse and worse - look at this, for Fiona's sake!), so now it's time to talk about the downright stunning and belly flutters-inducing new Mac Pro. As former owner and huge, huge, huge fan of the PowerMac G4 Cube - I haven't been this excited about an Apple product since, well, I would say the iMac G4. This is the Apple I used to love.
Apple held its big keynote event thing at WWDC earlier this evening, but since I was away with friends I've had to read up on it later in the evening. The company announced iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and they gave a preview of the new Mac Pro. Especially the Mac Pro impressed me, and while iOS 7's new Holo/Metro-inspired theme looks messy and garish to me, I do commend Apple for finally breaking the mold. This news item will focus on iOS 7 - I'll dive into the Mac Pro and OS X 10.9 tomorrow (it's late here now).
And yes, the PRISM scandal is far, far from over. More and more information keeps leaking out, and the more gets out, the worse it gets. The companies involved have sent out official statements - often by mouth of their CEOs - and what's interesting is that not only are these official statements eerily similar to each other, using the same terms clearly designed by lawyers, they also directly contradict new reports from The New York Times. So, who is lying?This story is getting bigger and bigger. Even though most Americans probably already knew, it is now official: the United States government, through its National Security Agency, is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large companies in technology, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on. Interestingly enough, the NSA itself, as well as the US government, have repeatedly and firmly denied this massive spying on Americans and non-Americans took place at all.Ah, patents - the never-ending scourge of the technology industry. Whether wielded by companies who don't actually make any products, or large corporations who abuse them because they can't compete in the market place or because they're simply jerks, they do the industry a huge disservice and are simply plain dangerous. According to The Wall Street Journal (circumvention link), president Obama is about to take several executive actions to address patent trolls - which may seem like a good idea, but I am very worried that all this will do is strengthen the positions of notorious patent system abusers such as Apple and Microsoft.
With version 13.05, the developers of the Genode OS Framework take measures to ensure that Genode continues to scale well with a growing number of users and the steadily broadening platform coverage. Further highlights are the improved SoC support for Exynos 5, OMAP4, Raspberry Pi, i.MX, and new components for realizing headless systems.At the D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook once again took the stage to be interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. While most of the interview can be replicated by picking and reading 10 random Apple fanblog stories - there were still a number of very interesting things that warrant some closer scrutiny.
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
Member since:
2005-09-10
Huh? What does "trainwreck" even mean?