The rapid pace at which Andriod OS’s have been developed of late has left many feeling dizzy. Starting with the unnamed 1.1 version in early February 2009, Google then rapidly moved to version 1.5, or Cupcake as it is called, in late April 2009. But Cupcake only lasted 4 and a half months before it was replaced in mid-September with Donut, version 1.6. And that one really didn’t last long as it was replaced about 45 days later with version 2.0/2.1 known as Éclair (getting hungry?).
The wait between 2.0/2.1 and Froyo, version 2.2 was a bit longer, going from late October 2009 to late May 2010. But that version wasn’t even released before they announced in February 2009 that they were on track to release one more version, Gingerbread (set to be version 2.6 or so).
Some have understandably expressed dismay at the ever changing landscape in the world of Android OS. App developers in particular are frosted that their apps can only be used with the most recent versions of the OS. Likewise with users who are creamed that they can’t get the app they just heard about because it’s not supported by the version of the OS that they currently have.
That said, as the OSs develop the features and benefits also increase. Users look forward to benefits such as:
· Increased performance capabilities
· Boosts in speed
· Faster browsing
· Ease of use
· Backups and restoring files
And despite the fact that some users are annoyed that the OS they have makes their phone seem obsolete after only 2 months, Google’s success is clear. It’s only taken Android 18 months to become the clear challenger to the iPhone. And perhaps this has been the reason for the constantly moving target that is the Android OS. As the two battle it out for dominance over the smartphone world (Androids have recently overtaken Apple’s iPhones in the North American market), the rapid fire developments aren’t likely to slow down significantly.
Sources: Virgin mobile USA
That said, Google’s VP of Engineering for Android, Andry Rubin, has stated that in the near future, Android OS development will switch to a yearly cycle rather than the haphazard schedule it’s currently on in order to be much more sustainable: “Our product cycle is now, basically twice a year, and it will probably end up being once a year when things start settling down, because a platform that’s moving — it’s hard for developers to keep up. I want developers to basically leverage the innovation. I don’t want developers to have to predict the innovation.”
One thing is for sure – by staying open to the web by opening up its software to as many handsets as possible, Google as positioned itself to reaching an extremely large audience with its search service. By maintaining its focus where it is already strong – in the world of search – Google is likely to continue to see success, despite its multiple dessert-like personalities.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Ryan Ogilvie, Techinfo-4u. Techinfo-4u said: Why So Many Android Operating Systems? http://goo.gl/fb/31jXv [...]
[...] you have to cater for multiple ones, some have touchscreens, some have buttons etc… Also there is so many Android OS’s that keep being released that developers are struggling to keep up with [...]
[...] you have to cater for multiple ones, some have touchscreens, some have buttons etc… Also there is so many Android OS’s that keep being released that developers are struggling to keep up with [...]
[...] of the major problems with Android is that it’s advancing so rapidly. There are so many versions of Android, it’s just jumped from one version to another before half of us have managed to catch up. [...]
Google knows what its doing here but consider this other than search everything google have launched has been a failure (with the exception of gmail), base closed and reaplaed by shopping feed which doesnt really work, the google wave was closed, the phone thing they did has gone quiet. Search is their thing but they are not good at moving into other areas it seems
The frequent updates in Android OS may be due the reason that Android is deeply customizable OS, which allows any application to be developed and run over the device, without any restriction. Some of these apps may be malicious just like the free programs available on internet for Windows OS for computers. To overcome this problem of malicious software, Android keeps on launching updates in OS to efficiently cope up with this problem and maintain the stability of OS on device which gets corrupted by installing any malicious application on phone.
Because Android has many advantages over IOS, so Android is more preferable. Its Security features, camera features, dimensions of screen, front camera also available and many more features that iPhone doesn’t have.