Like it does at the beginning of every month, Google this afternoon updated its Android distribution numbers to reflect a 7 day period ending today, July 7th. The most recent version of Android, 4.4 KitKat, saw a modest increase from 13.6 percent to 17.9 percent. Jelly Bean, for the first time ever, saw a decline as a whole in usage by 1.9 percent.
Jelly Bean (Android 4.1 on) has overtaken Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.x) for the first time, with 28.4 percent of active Android devices now using it against 27.5 percent for ICS …
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The latest numbers from Android’s Current Distribution page reveal somewhat exciting results for the folks in Mountain View. Android 4.1 – 4.2 Jelly Bean has now crossed the 10 percent threshold for all Android devices on the market. It now sits at 10.2-percent. Additionally, Gingerbread has dropped below the 50 percent mark for the first time in over a year, as Ice Cream Sandwich made gains to get close to 29.1-percent total share. Maybe this is how things should have always been. But, at any rate, sales from the Samsung Galaxy S III, HTC One X, and more seem to be paying off.
Verizon confirmed today on its website that its variant of Samsung’s Galaxy S III would begin getting access to the latest 4.1 Jelly Bean update starting Dec. 14. While not all users will get access to the update right away, the carrier said it would roll out 4.1 in phases starting tomorrow and users that wish to download the update manually will be able to do so from the Settings menu within a week.
While we heard previously that Samsung was beginning to roll out Galaxy S III Jelly Bean updates in Poland, the carrier confirmed today users in the United States would see the update in the “coming months.” We still do not know exactly when to expect it, but Samsung said Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and U.S. Cellular will announce specific timing for the over-the-air updates separately. We will of course notify you when they do. Samsung’s full press release is below.
With tons of rumors regarding the upcoming Jelly Bean-powered LG Nexus, other LG device owners will be happy to know an update to Android 4.1 is coming to their device as well. While we do not get confirmation for all of LG’s U.S. devices, but we do get word that the company will begin rolling out Jelly Bean updates as early as next month.
LG issued a press release today giving a bit more information about when to expect Jelly Bean updates for a few different devices. The LG Optimus LTE II will be the first to receive the update in November followed by the Optimus G in December. Other devices confirmed in the release include the Optimus Vu and Vu II. They will both receive updates sometime in Q1 2013.
Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus is the first smartphone at Verizon to get Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, announced the leading 4G LTE carrier today, with the software upgrade rolling out over Wi-Fi now.
Those interested in getting the latest, buttery-smooth version of Android can go to System Updates under the “About Phone” Setting’s menu. As noted, a Wi-Fi network is required to complete the download. The update comes to Verizon more than three months after Jelly Bean was released on the GSM version of the Galaxy Nexus.
“The interface on Jelly Bean is also the most responsive Android OS to date,” said Verizon in its announcement. “Customers can interact with messages, photos, emails and event details from the notification screen, allowing them to directly access important information without navigating their phone.
HTC plans to push Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to its popular line of One smartphones. HTC Global Online Communications Manager Jeff Gordon issued the following statement to The Verge:
“We know HTC fans are excited to get their hands on Google’s latest version of Android. At this point in time, we can confirm that we have plans to upgrade our HTC One X, HTC One XL and HTC One S to Jelly Bean. Please stay tuned for more updates regarding device upgrades, timing and other details about HTC and Jelly Bean.”
It is worth noting the One V is missing from the company’s update list.
The Google Play store abruptly removed the Galaxy Nexus earlier this week for unknown reasons, but Google just confirmed that it pulled the device from the Android marketplace due to Judge Lucy Koh’s recent decision to not lift the injunction against the smartphone.
The device will continue sales on Google Play next week, according to ABC News, with Jelly Bean preloaded as the operating system to solve the contending issues within the dispute:
Google confirmed to ABC News that the Galaxy Nexus had been pulled from its Google Play store as a result of the judge’s decision, but said it would begin selling the device again next week running the latest version of Android — Android 4.1, known as Jelly Bean. The updated version of Android would address the issues in dispute, Google said.
The Galaxy Nexus is currently listed on Google Play as “coming soon,” and visitors have the option to receive an email notification for when the smartphone becomes available.
Update: As The Verge reports, this afternoon the Court of Appeals has suspended the ban on the Galaxy Nexus until a formal response is given from Apple. From there, the Court will decide if the ban should go in effect or not.
With the rollout of Jelly Bean to a number of new devices just around the corner, Google updated its platform statistics today on the Android Developers website. After having been released for nine months, Ice Cream Sandwich was able to post an increase. However, it remains at just under 11 percent of total Android devices. That is an increase of approximately 3.8-percent for ICS 4.0 and 4.0.4, and it definitely highlights the fragmentation issues Android continues to face. Jelly Bean is not included in the platform stats, because it has not launched on any devices available to consumers.
Google also released updated information about the number of devices currently utilizing a particular screen configuration. The graph below shows the majority of Android devices are still running what Google classified as “Normal/hdpi,” which is a configuration that includes devices roughly 3.5-inches to 4.5-inches with at least 470dp-by-320dp:
Google’s Chris Yerga is on-stage now to announce Google Play numbers: The marketplace boasts over 600,000 apps and games, roughly 1.5 billion installs every month, and 20 billion total app installs to date.
The executive also said magazine subscriptions and television rental options are coming to Google Play. The magazine-reading experience is premium, Yerga touted, while explaining new interactive aspects to magazine thumbing on the newly unveiled Nexus 7. Television viewing is also exceptional due to download options for offline access. A few of the big television partnerships, Yerga said, include Disney, ABC, Sony, and Paramount.
The 2012 Google I/O Developers Conference starts today at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco, Calif., with events continuing until June 29 at 4:30 p.m. PST.
A picture gallery is below.
The above leaked image is of the widely rumored Nexus 7.
Reports about the Google tablet have circulated for months, but now we have solid evidence of its existence through a first look on Google’s Play Store servers. The live image surfaced just ahead of Google I/O this morning, and it only begs more questions to be answered.
The 2012 Google I/O Developers Conference starts today at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco, Calif., with events continuing until June 29 at 4:30 p.m. PST. We should have some more information about the Nexus 7 within the next hour during the event’s opening keynote.
The Asus-branded Nexus 7 tablet might run Jelly Bean, which is the latest version of Android expected to unveil at some point today. The user-interface in the leak resembles a tweaked Ice Cream Sandwich layout. The dock looks familiar, but notice it houses six apps now instead of four.
[tweet https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/217751034037141505]
Twitter is abuzz with folks spotting Sergey Brin donning a pair of Google Glasses at Google I/O this morning. There are no pictures of the Google co-founder with the headset yet—but stay tuned.
The 2012 Google I/O Developers Conference starts today at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco, Calif., with events continuing until June 29 at 4:30 p.m. PST.
Gizmodo AU claimed this morning to have reviewed a training document related to Google’s upcoming tablet that is set to be unveiled at Google I/O this month. While we have had several leaks in the months leading up to the event, today’s report —if legitimate—provides us with some exact specs for the Nexus-branded, Asus-built slate. According to Gizmodo, the tablet will hit at least Australia in July and be the first to run Jelly Bean with the following specs:
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DroidLife just posted the above screenshot that confirms “Jelly Bean,” otherwise known as Android 4.1, as the next candy-flavored version of Google’s mobile operating system.
The website first spotted the news in the XDA Developers forum, where a user posted a similar image for the unlocked Galaxy Nexus available on Google Play. One cannot help but wonder if Jelly Bean will unveil at the Google I/O conference that is just around the corner.
