Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA series of handsets are getting the Android 2.1 Éclair treatment with updates for the X10, X10 Mini, X10 Mini Pro already out –though the update is not yet available in the UK. Many predict that the Local release of the X10 updates will be done by the end of the year or possibly till early 2011. In any case, this marks the last set of high end current generation handsets moving onwards from the older 1.X Android systems to the newer updates.
The Android OS is considered to be one of the most fragmented mobile platforms due to the fact that so many devices from so many manufacturers use the system. While this has proven to be quite the advantage for Google in terms of being able to spread the OS around, this also has been a source of many issues ranging from feature incompatibilities to even delayed updates (such as the case for the XPERIA series).
But in the end, Android fans have shown that regardless of which version of the Android OS is available, there will always be a strong and solid market for the Google platform.
Speaking of solid markets, the Android app store is continuously growing and is getting a good share of pretty decent games. With the release of the Samsung Galaxy Tab and other Android tablets, expect to see large scale game apps to be released soon.
Currently, the Android 2.2 Froyo holds an astonishing 38% of the Android market –that means that plenty of devices have already been updated. 40.8% are still using Android 2.1 Éclair while the remaining amount is split between the Android 1.5 Cupcake and 1.6 Donut.
According to Google, the next Android OS, Gingerbread is already in the works and we might be able to expect a major launch of the operating system early this coming 2011.
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