According to recently updated figures from Google, Android devices running version 4.0.x, code-named "Ice Cream Sandwich", of the company's open source mobile operating system are gaining ground. The Platform Versions device dashboard on the Android Developers portal shows that devices running Android 4.0.x now account for almost 5% of the total number of Android devices in use, up from just 2.9% one month ago; these figures are based on the number of Android devices that accessed the company's Android Market within a two week period ending on 1Â May.

The increase is the result of new handsets such as the HTC OneÂ X and OneÂ S smartphones, which ship with the OS, arriving on the market, as well as updates being released for existing devices like the HTC Sensation, Samsung GalaxyÂ SÂ II and the NexusÂ S 4G on US CDMA carrier Sprint. The most popular version is still Android 2.3.x, known as "Gingerbread", which increased from 63.7% of all devices to 64.4% â new phones, such as the Sony XperiaÂ S, are still being released with Android 2.3.x six months after version 4.0 was announced, but these are expected to be upgraded in the next quarter.



Distribution of Android versions based on devices accessing the Android Market

Source: developer.android.com

Usage of older versions of Android continues to decline: Android 2.2 "Froyo" now accounts for 20.9% of all devices, down from 23.1% in April and 27.8% in February, and version 2.1, known as "Eclair", is down to 5.5% from 6.0% a month ago. However, usage of Android 3.x "Honeycomb" tablets, and devices running 1.5 (Cupcake) and 1.6 (Donut) has remained the same as last month at 3.3%, 0.3% and 0.7% respectively.

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(crve)