Tag Archives: froyo

Ice Cream Sandwich consumed by one in ten Android devices

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Ice Cream Sandwich consumed by one in ten Android devices

The latest Dashboard numbers for Google's Android operating system have been released. The verdict? One in ten devices is leveraging Ice Cream Sandwich as their mobile OS of choice. The numbers, which are current as of July 2nd, put Gingerbread (Android 2.3) in first place with a 64-percent install base; followed by Froyo (Android 2.2) with 17.3-percent and ICS with 10.6-percent. Jelly Bean (Android 4.1), announced just last week at Google's IO Developer Conference, was not included in this instance of the report (as it is not officially available yet). Hit the source link to view all the stats, and feel free to let us know what Android codebase your handset is rocking via the comments.

Ice Cream Sandwich consumed by one in ten Android devices originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Jul 2012 07:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Native Firefox Android browser adds speed, Flash, HTML5 and a fresh look (hands-on)

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DNP Native Firefox Android browser adds speed, fresh look, Flash, HTML5 and, er, speed

After a brief stretch in beta followed by some vague teasing, Firefox's native Android app update is finally set to hit Google Play. While there are a raft of bells and whistles -- a new welcome page, curvy Australis tabs, Flash and HTML5 support, for starters -- it's the browser's newfound speed that is getting the MVP treatment. That rapidity is as good a place as any to start a quick hands-on, especially since the native browser lag on one of our older handsets, a Galaxy S, often makes us want to hurl it through a pane of glass. Mozilla claims it built Firefox to a new benchmark it developed called Eideticker, resulting in an overall browser experience twice as fast as the stock Android one. As advertised, initial loading is quasi-instant, and navigation, zooming and tab switching seemed smooth as well, even on the two-gen-old phone.

Feature-wise, preferences and other desktop settings imported easily with Firefox Sync's shared password system, and the unfortunately named "Awesome Screen" is the new home page shown above, from which it's fairly simple to launch your preferred sites. Flash and HTML5 generally displayed correctly despite a few minor rendering bugs, and the curved tabs and other design touches make it one of the more elegant Android browsers we've played with. Unfortunately, many sites display in full because they don't yet detect Firefox as a mobile app, but the installation of the Phony 3.2 add-in lets it impersonate other smartphone browsers, and it seemed to work well. We also didn't like that tabbed browsing now requires two taps to get to another page, unlike the previous version, but we imagine that was needed for the increased speed. Overall, Firefox is a welcome addition to the Android ecosystem -- we bet you're just as eager to start browsing as we are, so stay tuned for the app to hit Google Play later today, or jump past the break for a quick speed demo from the kind folks at Mozilla.

Update: The new version is now available at the source link below.

Gallery: Firefox for Android native browser hands-on

Continue reading Native Firefox Android browser adds speed, Flash, HTML5 and a fresh look (hands-on)

Native Firefox Android browser adds speed, Flash, HTML5 and a fresh look (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Offline Google Maps to work on ‘all devices with Android 2.2 or higher,’ 3D compatibility less clear

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Offline Google Maps to work on 'all devices with Android 22 or higher,' 3D compatibility less clear

We'd heard earlier that Google had "nothing to announce" in regard to Android compatibility with the newly-announced offline Maps support and 3D modeling, but look -- things change. We reached out to the company and urged 'em to dig a little deeper, only to have the following confirmed: "For offline Google Maps for Android, all devices with Android 2.2 (Froyo) and above will be supported." As for the 3D portion? "We'll have more details about device compatibility for 3D imagery on Google Earth for mobile at launch." After the event, we spotted a Googler using the 3D build on a Galaxy Nexus, so it's obvious that Android 4.0+ will be supported, but we have to assume that some of these older Froyo devices may simply lack the proper oomph needed to fly around the downtowns of [insert major metropolitan area here].

Offline Google Maps to work on 'all devices with Android 2.2 or higher,' 3D compatibility less clear originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google: Ice Cream Sandwich now accounts for 7.1 percent of Android user base

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Google Ice Cream Sandwich now accounts for 71 percent of Android user base

Well, it's about time that Ice Cream Sandwich made some headway -- even if the process is much slower than consumers deserve. According to the Android developer hub, Android 4.0 now accounts for 7.1 percent of all Android smartphone and tablet installations, which is a sharp and welcome increase over the 2.9 percent figure that we reported just two months ago. Naturally, Gingerbread users still account for the lion's share of the Android ecosystem with 65 percent, but it's worth pointing out that this segment also grew during the last month -- no doubt at the expense of Froyo and Eclair. Don't know about you, but we like our desserts fresh, thank you very much. Go ahead and hop the break to see the full breakdown.

Continue reading Google: Ice Cream Sandwich now accounts for 7.1 percent of Android user base

Google: Ice Cream Sandwich now accounts for 7.1 percent of Android user base originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jun 2012 22:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cisco drops Cius tablets after the BYOD crush, plans upgrade to Android 4.0 out of kindness

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Cisco had grand plans for a Cius tablet on every fast-paced executive's desk, but those dreams appear to have been dashed not long after getting off the ground. Senior VP OJ Winge says the company will "no longer invest" in the design, leaving the already rather creaky Android 2.2-based, 7-inch tablet to an eternal slumber outside of occasional specialized orders. It's not hard to see what hastened the Cius to its early demise, as Winge pins it on companies and customers encouraging a BYOD (bring your own device) strategy that likely brought more than a few iPads and beefier Android tablets into the space Cisco wanted to occupy. Before existing Cius owners start videoconferencing with themselves out of sheer despondence, though, there's a silver lining: the company now expects to take the Cius' firmware all the way from Android 2.2 to 4.0 in one fell swoop near the end of the summer. You may not be living Cisco's 2010-era vision, but at least you'll have Chrome for Android.

Cisco drops Cius tablets after the BYOD crush, plans upgrade to Android 4.0 out of kindness originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 May 2012 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ICS reaches 2.9 percent of active Android devices, 63.7 percent still on Gingerbread

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ICS reaches 2.9 percent of active Android devices, 63.7 percent still on Gingerbread
As we check back in on Android's Platform Versions dashboard for the first time since January, we can finally see notable growth in the percentage of devices running some flavor of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, up for 0.6 percent then to 2.9 percent. That's likely fueled by the release of updates for the Samsung Galaxy S II and HTC Sensation family of devices, and is a sharp uptick from last month when it registered on 1.6 percent. Gingerbread (2.3) still reigns supreme, running 63.7 percent of the Android hardware that accessed the Play market in the last two weeks, but its growth seems to finally be slowing. Last year at this time that position was filled by Android 2.2, with 2.3 on just one percent of the hardware and Android 3.0 barely registering at all, a point which highlights the long cycle of upgrades. Call it fragmentation or flexibility, app developers can use these stats to plan their releases going forward, although it may be a little while still before the majority of the crowd can access any Ice Cream Sandwich-specific features.

ICS reaches 2.9 percent of active Android devices, 63.7 percent still on Gingerbread originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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