The Android Platform Version chart has just been updated with the December figures and, while there aren’t any important surprises, there are a couple of interesting changes.

Gingerbread remains the number one Android platform and has increased its lead from second place considerably. The 2.3 version powers no less than 58.6 percent of all Android-operated devices right now, while the runner up, 2.2 Froyo, only runs on 27.8 percent of Google powered gadgets.

Those two were in the lead a month ago as well, but the difference between them has increased from just over 25 percent to a whopping 30.8 percent. The second runner-up is Android 2.1 Eclair, with a 7.6% market share, down 0.9 percent from last month.

Honeycomb is in fourth place, as it was 30 days ago, down 0.1 percent to a 3.4% market share. Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest (and greatest, if I may say so) Android version is unsurprisingly only fifth in this share ranking.

Unsurprisingly, because after all there are only a couple of available smartphones running 4.0 ICS and one slate. On the other hand, the next Google developers report (or maybe the one after that) should see an important change in rankings, as more and more smartphones and slates running Ice Cream Sandwich are due to be officially launched this late winter and in early spring.

For the time being, we should mention that Ice Cream Sandwich has gone up from 0.6% a month ago to a whole percent right now, managing to tie the 1.6 Donut and surpass the 1.5 Cupcake. These two have still got teeny-weeny market shares, even though I personally don’t know anyone with a gadget running either of the two Android versions, but soon enough both Donut and Cupcake are set to become extinct.

Check out the full chart below or hit the source link for more details.

Via AndroidDevelopers

As a follow up to yesterday’s warning from Symantec about the threat of Android.Counterclank, Lookout Mobile Security came out with a more nuanced perspective on the Apperhand SDK central to the issue.

Unlike Symantec, they don’t go as far as to consider it malware, since it is not specifically engaging in malicious behaviour or stealing personal information, but they do consider it an aggressive form of ad network that you should think twice about permitting on your device.

They actually said that it is actually less aggressive than a similar one distributed in June 2011 that collected more private data. Apps including the Apperhand SDK do however allow for four annoying consequences that you probably didn’t expect when you downloaded the app:

1. Identifying your device uniquely from its IMEI
2. Potentially delivering “Push Notification” ads to the user
3. Pushing their search icon onto your desktop
4. Pushing their bookmarks to your browser

Remember, you are shown the permissions an app requires on installation so you can make an educated decision on whether to install. If you agree to this, you’re allowing these types of results. This case should be a good reminder to carefully consider what you’re granting them. If something looks inappropriate, research it further, or don’t download at all.

Lookout said they are continuing to monitor these trends in the app space, and are doing a good job to try and educate users about the risks. As the Android ecosystem continues to grow at its rapid pace, there will be more situations like this that find themselves on the borderline between annoying and malicious, and here at Androinica we’ll do our best to help keep you informed.

Source: The Official Lookout Blog

Android has enjoyed multiple quarters as the leading smartphone operating system in the United States. And though that lead remains, the gap between Android and its biggest competitor, Apple’s iOS, is more narrow than it has been in quite some time.

Nielsen reports that in Q4 2011, 46.3 percent of smartphone owners surveyed reported that their phone is based on Android. That was high enough to make Android No. 1, but the iPhone enjoyed a strong showing among people who recently purchased a smartphone. From October 2011 to December 2011, the percentage of people who reported getting a new iPhone rose from 25.1 to 44.5 percent. Meanwhile, Android dropped from 61.6 to 46.9 percent.

The iPhone 4S was a massive seller for Apple, and helped put the company on near equal-footing with Android among recent smartphone buyers. That’s important because competition between the two platforms will intensify most among new smartphone buyers. A large number of consumers have already chosen one or the other, but only 46 percent of respondents in Nielsen’s survey report owning a smartphone. That still leaves more than half the country, who are adopting smartphones at an increasing rate, up for grabs.

Why does that matter? Well, for a long time, Android app quality and diversity suffered because of developers, large and small, focusing on iOS because of the higher earning potential. The sheer number of Android users that came later created a situation where developers pretty much have to support Android. Going forward, it’s important that Android is able to keep its duopoly with iOS going so developers and carriers continue to support it as much as they have recently.

After it finally split up with Ericsson and started announcing and unveiling exclusive Sony branded gadgets, the Japanese multinational electronics giant seems to have big plans for 2012.

Sony is preparing the release of no less than 12 Android-powered smartphones during the course of this year, according to a leak picked up by the guys at gsmarena.com just a couple of hours ago. While this piece of information is far from being official, the list looks pretty legit and makes us think it’s trustworthy.

The first Sony smartphone to be released this year is, as we all expected, the Xperia S, coming in Europe and Asia for around 590 dollars. The monster 4.3-incher, powered by a dual-core 1.5 GHz processor, is set to be followed by three devices in April, codenamed Kumquat, Nypon and Pepper.

These should cost 335, 475 and 395 dollars respectively, being therefore set to hit the medium-end and low-end part of today’s smartphone market. The LT22i Nypon will sport a 4-inch WhiteMagic display, according to rumors, while the MT27i Pepper should come with a 3.7-inch Reality Display.

In June, there should be only one Sony launch, with a mysterious Olive I to hit the market at a 395-dollar price tag, while in July the Hayabusa and Tapioca are themselves set to come to a store near you. The Hayabusa has a $632 price tag next to its name, so it should be something pretty special, while the Tapioca will probably be the most basic Sony handset to hit the market in 2012, with a 188-dollar price tag.

Next up, we have another five smartphones to be released in August and September, but there’s little to nothing known about these, aside from the fact that they currently have exotic codenames like ‘’Lotus’’ and ‘’Mint I’’.

I for one am really excited to see what Sony has in store for us in 2012, especially after checking out the Xperia S, which looks darn nice on paper. On the other hand, I want to warn you to look at this leaked list with caution, because there’s a good chance for some of these smartphones to not be released this year (or ever), while most of them, if not all, will come with different names once they’ll hit the market. Also, keep in mind that the leaked prices are for the Asian and European markets, so in the US all these handsets (or the ones that’ll come, at least)  should be consistently cheaper.

Just hours after finding out that the CyanogenMod family includes more than one million users, we are happy to inform you that the brilliant minds from CM are very close of releasing what should be their take on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on the HP TouchPad.

The 10-inch tablet from HP was discontinued last year due to low sale, and for months we were promised a working Android version on the TouchPad. The CM7 update, released in September 2011, was functional, but had way too many glitches to be considered satisfying by most TouchPad owners today, so a CM9 update was said to come soon, based on Android ICS.

Well, the CM9 is not exactly finished, but the CyanogenMod team has just teased us with a video showing their progress. Aside from the camera and video, everything seems to be working and the update looks promising as heck.

Of course, the software seems laggy here and there, but that’s to be expected, considering that what is shown in the video is only a pre-alpha version. And for a pre-alpha software version, the system boots pretty quick, Angry Birds plays ok, the Wireless and Bluetooth are fully functional, so all in all we have on our hands something to wait and crave for. And by ‘’we’’ I mean you lucky bastards who managed to get your hands on the HP TouchPad when it only went for 100 dollars.

No ‘’release’’ date has been revealed by the CM team for the CM9 update for HP TouchPad, but we know that the brilliant minds from CyanogenMod are ‘’well on their way in terms of progress’’ and hope to give us ‘’something to play with soon’’.

What say you, HP TouchPad owners? Are you as excited as I am for a scoop of Ice Cream Sandwich on your tablet? Or will you pass on the software, fearful for glitches and system instabilities?

Oh, right, I almost forgot. Here’s the video showing the CM9 progress so far:

Via AndroidPolice.com

Just days after the Asus Transformer Prime becoming the first ever tablet to officially run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, another previously Honeycomb-powered slate has started running the new Google OS’s version a few hours ago.

We are talking about the Motorola Xoom, which, as of last night, runs Android 4.0 for a group of a few thousand lucky owners. These have been selected from the ‘’Google Experience Device’’ Testing subscribers and will have the honor of exclusively ‘’tasting’’ the pleasures of Android Ice Cream Sandwich through the weekend.

It’s still unclear if, at the beginning of next week, the lucky Xoom owners who will have the chance of testing Android 4.0 during these following couple of days, will keep the update running on their tablets. However, if everything goes well and according to Motorola plans and if no major issues will be noticed after the weekend, the ICS update should be released for the masses in the near future as well.

I wouldn’t go on a limb and say that all you Xoom adopters will be able to taste Ice Cream Sandwich starting next week, but right now everything and anything seems possible.

Also, according to sources, the update has only been made available for the WiFi only version of the tablet, which might mean that for the 3G and 4G models, it will take the Motorola developers an additional couple of weeks to straighten up all the issues and possible glitches.

You can check out the email sent by the ‘’Motorola Feedback Network’’ to select Xoom owners below. Also, if you are one of these lucky early Android 4.0 ‘’tasters’’, we would appreciate a comment telling us how the tablet feels after the update. Thanks in advance!

Hi.

Via TalkAndroid.com

Sirius XM has expanded its listening options with Lynx, a new streaming device built on-top of Android. Don’t get too excited just yet because you won’t be playing games or browsing the web on this (unless someone gets hacking). No, this is a device for one thing and one thing only: streaming Sirius XM radio wherever you are.

Lynx features hardware that can stream Sirius XM satellite radio in the car or home. The device features an audio jack that can plug into a car auxiliary or headphones, and it has Bluetooth connectivity in case you wish to connect to speakers. It can also dock into a separately sold speaker box in case you wish to listen more at work or home. A Sirius XM subscriber can use the device to do things like start a song from the beginning when listening to a favorite station, or set-up radio replays that build a library of songs from those favorites.

There are plenty of ways to browse Lynx, especially since the device is touch-screen only and has more channel options than previously available in Sirius XM devices. The presence of Android doesn’t add anything unique or amazing from an app perspective, but it does enable faster updates through Wi-Fi. For a list of other features of the device and Sirius XM, take a look at this hands-on video and feature list courtesy of Sirius XM below.

• Tune Start™: Automatically starts the currently playing song from the beginning so listeners will hear the whole song when tuning to any of their satellite radio music channels saved as a Favorite channel.
• Radio Replays: Subscribers can build a library of up to 200 hours of programming from their Favorite satellite radio channels which are automatically recorded to allow for playback anywhere.
• Pause, Rewind and Replay: Listeners can replay up to 30 minutes of live SiriusXM content on the currently tuned channel, and also access replay content on 5 favorite preset channels currently displayed.
• Featured Favorites™: A dynamic set of presets that can be automatically added as favorite channels, allowing users to easily discover new and specialty programming.
• Show Finder™: An easy-to-use electronic programming guide offering a complete list of what’s on over the next 7 days by channel, with the ability to set reminder alerts when favorite shows are being broadcast.
• Lynx also offers SiriusXM 2.0 features for listening to SiriusXM Internet Radio via Wi-Fi networks at home, office or accessible hotspot, including:
• Start Now allows subscribers to go back 5 hours to select and listen to previously broadcast programming.
• View program information, album art and read artist bios.
• Rewind to hear programming again or skip forward to hear what’s playing next.
• Pause live radio and pick up right where the listener left off
• Access to Show Finder™, the electronic programming guide.

You know how everyone loves taking panoramic shots with their mobile devices? Well, how’d you like to upgrade those snapshots to moving photos and record panoramic video with your Android phone? You will be able to soon with the Kogeto Iconic.

Previously available only for the iPhone as Dot, Kogeto has announced that it is bringing the Kickstarter-originating device to Android. Using an attachment mounted near the camera lens and a companion app that records the video, the Iconic can create a video file that takes 360 degrees of viewing and puts them together for a format viewable on mobile devices or computers. The results can capture a lot more than one can with a standard camera.

Once video is recorded, iConic lets users do other things like swipe on screen to focus on different areas, or share the video of their preferred social network. There’s even a social feature made for users who want to show off their video among other users. An app named Lookr will soon debut on the Android Market that enables those users to share with one another. You can visit Kogeto.com/dotspots to see examples of panoramic videos shot with the iPhone version.

Expect to see the Galaxy Nexus to get IConic in February, with other phone models likely to follow. The device will cost $79 when it hits stores.

Is Microsoft developing an Xbox Live app for Android? It certainly appears that way based on Microsoft’s recruitment efforts. LiveSide noticed a job post seeking Software Development Engineer to joint the Xbox Live Mobile team, and Android is mentioned by name in the post.

Responsibilities for the job include “Working with PM and test team to define, design and implement Xbox LIVE mobile experiences on Windows Phone, iOS and other platforms.” Since Windows Phone is a definite home for Xbox products and iOS already received an Xbox app last December, one must assume that “other platforms” translates to Android. If that weren’t enough confirmation, the job qualifications state that experience with “Android development is a big plus.”

An Android Xbox Live app might have a lot in common with the iOS app that serves mainly as a social tool. It allows users to edit their Xbox Live profiles, manage friend lists, learn about games, read or send messages, and view achievements within the app. Maybe Microsoft might even support more mobile games and friend connectivity that would put the Android offering on par with the Windows Phone 7 app.

There’s a slim chance that Microsoft would want to chip away at one of the few bright spots that Windows Phone currently holds over Android, but the company has a lot invested in Xbox. Microsoft might not want to hold back at Xbox despite the conflict.

[Microsoft] via LiveSide, AndroidCentral

The global smartphone market has certainly been on a rise during these last couple of years and, according to new projections from Taiwan’s Marketing Intelligence & Consulting Institute, the progress won’t stop in 2012.

No less than 452 million smartphones were shipped globally last year, according to estimates, and the volume is expected to grow to 614 million units in 2012. The expected increase during the next months should be fueled by emerging markets in Africa or Europe, but also by releases of sub-300 dollars low-cost, entry-level gagdets.

The MIC’s report once again proves Android’s domination of the smartphone market, with Google’s mobile operating system powering 46 percent of all gadgets shipped in 2011 (around 206 million units).

Android’s share is expected to rise even further and it’s likely that around 50 percent of all smartphones sold and shipped in 2012 will be powered by Google’s OS. That means that we should expect around 307 million new Android-based smartphones in the hands of technology geeks all over the world, compared to the more modest 116 million units expected to ship with Apple’s iOS on-board.

Microsoft’s smartphone share is also set to climb during 2012, but all in all only around 80 million Windows-based gadgets are expected to ship in the following 12 months.

As far as manufacturers go, Samsung should be the number-one vendor in 2012 with a market share of around 22 percent, while Apple is set to be second, with a growing share of almost 19 percent. HTC, who has gone through one of its worst quarters at the end of 2011, should come back stronger than ever and can get a market share of around 11 percent by the end of this year.

Nokia, on the other hand, will drop considerably to around 15.6 percent, according to projections, as will RIM, who shouldn’t have more than 8.6 percent of the total global smartphones in December.

Via: cens.com