Google’s Android OS has been releasing upgrade after upgrade which leaves lots of customers confused as to what Android OS they should upgrade to. Samsung Galaxy Nexus, one of the first smart phones to carry Ice Cream Sandwich system has been introduced in the market today and at the end of the month, the widely anticipated device will be made available on markets around the globe.
The most attractive feature of the new smart phone is its Ice Cream Sandwich OS. The new operating system not only reconfigures the user interface of Android but it also adds a collection of cool features. The OS also provides one release of software both for smart phones and tablets. Among the cool features of this OS include facial recognition unlocking system and Android Beam.
The release of the new smart phone from Samsung along with its new Ice Cream software has left millions of Android owners speculating if their smart phones will be able to enjoy the new software. Even if Google already announced that they already made the source code accessible to Android developers, it is still not clear when this will become available mainstream and which device manufacturers will start introducing the software to existing Android users.
Other device manufacturers like Motorola are just as indefinite as to whether they will integrate Ice Cream Sandwich. The new Droid Razr ‘might’ get the new Android software in the first quarter of 2012 but there is no guarantee that they will indeed have it in their devices. HTC on the other hand announced earlier this month that their Rezound smart phone is already ready for the Ice Cream Sandwich OS without confirming when the device will be available with actual Ice Cream sandwich under its hood.
The perplexity and uncertainty as to which devices will have the Ice Cream Sandwich and the date when it will be available is a good example that shows how fast the OS evolution and how it is fragmenting the market. For Android phones alone, there are over a dozen of hardware options and in the three years Google’s OS has been available on the market, at least six major releases have already happened and this does not yet include Ice Cream Sandwich. In addition to that, there are also several sub updates, and or minor point updates to Android software. These updates are indicated by version numbers and are often associated with yummy desserts. From Cupcake Android 1.5 to Honeycomb Android 3.2, Ice Cream sandwich 4.0 adds to a growing list of Android OS evolution.
Google is conscious of the complications usually associated with releasing different versions of hardware and software and how it can affect the market. But in keeping with the competitive market hoping to keep abreast with other leading OS like iOS 5 from iPhone, Google Android simply has to do its best to make their products as competitive. It will be up to consumers now whether to keep up with seemingly endless updates or stay with their current Android OS until a much better more comprehensive Android OS is released.
