Stefan Mileschin

The latest Android distribution statistics are out and they are promising. The number of devices running Jelly Bean is up by 8.5 percent from February and older versions are rapidly losing share.

A total of 25 percent of active Android devices run Jelly Bean, but only two percent are on Android 4.2.x. The remainder are still on 4.1.x. Still, it is a rather good result. Ice Cream Sandwich is at 29.3 percent, which means about 55 percent of all Android devices are finally on 4.x.x.

Honeycomb is dying out and its share is 0.2 percent, which is hardly surprising since it was a specialised Android version designed for first-generation tablets.

Then there's Gingerbread, which is still in the lead, despite the fact that it is almost two and a half years old. The share of Android devices running 2.3.x is 39.8 percent, but it is shrinking.

Froyo is down to four percent, while Éclair and Donut are at 1.7 and 0.1 percent respectively.

It is rather good news for developers who no longer need to lose sleep over ancient APIs and compatibility. Android 4.x is going strong, but 4.1.x and 4.2.x are looking even stronger. With a new generation of flagship devices just around the corner, it shouldn't be long before Jelly Bean finally overtakes Gingerbread. About time.

http://news.techeye.net/mobile/andro...ining-traction