Phandroid
Android’s distribution numbers for March: KitKat rises, while Gingerbread slowly dies
It’s time once again for Google to update us on the current state of Android. Posted today to the Android Developers page, these stats are a way for Android devs to see the percentage of Android devices — and the versions of Android they’re running — that have recently visited the Google Play Store. No point in building an app optimized for Froyo when nobody is using it, right?
To make things easier to view at a glance, here are this month’s numbers as compared to February 2014 (previous month).
Android versions February –> March
- KitKat: 1.8% –> 2.5%
- Jelly Bean: 60.7% –> 62%
- Ice Cream Sandwich: 16.1% –> 15.2%
- Gingerbread: 20% –> 19%
As we can see, KitKat made a sizeable jump as more and more Android OEMs continue upgrading many of the last year’s flagship devices to Android 4.4 KitKat. We’re still in the process of watching that play out, so we’ll more than likely need another month before the Ones and GS4′s of the world are completely updated. Don’t forget all those new flagships scheduled to launch over the next few months should have that number spiking, so watch out.
Looking at Jelly Bean numbers, we really hate to lump them in with each other as there are some pretty big differences when moving from 4.1.x to 4.3 (as any Android enthusiast will tell you). We did see that 4.1.x too a slight dip from 35.5% in Feb, to 35.3% this month. We’re sure this was likely due to devices being upgraded to later versions of Jelly Bean, as 4.2.x and 4.3 continued to rise — and that’s a good thing.
Our favorite number? Watching the now ancient Android 2.3 Gingerbread drop down to 19% of active Android devices using Google Play. Once again, these numbers do not account for off-Androids like the Nokia X or Amazon HDX tablets which use alternative app stores and services than Google’s own.
Samsung Galaxy S5 features shown off in 4-minute promo video (Gear 2 and Gear Fit too)
It was during the commercial break for 86th annual Academy Awards that we saw the first ad spots for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5. And while commercials typically serve their purpose of quickly grabbing viewers’ attention with a mix of humor and/or features, sometimes you need something a little longer than a quick 30 second to get a good idea of what an advertiser is selling.
Samsung knows this, and it’s why the smartphone manufacturer has taken to their YouTube channel to upload a quick 4-minute Samsung Galaxy S5 feature overview, covering the main hardware and software features consumers can expect to see when the phone launches in April. Everything from the Galaxy S5′s 16MP camera with super quick auto focusing (we tried it for ourselves and yes, it’s damn quick), fingerprint scanner, heart rate monitor, Adaptive Display technology, and new blazing fast connectivity options — it’s all here.
Say what you will about Samsung, but we gotta hand it to them — in depth promos like this are the perfect resource for educating friends and family who are looking to buy a new Android device. When someone asks you “What’s so great about the new Galaxy S5?” you can send them this video and be done with it.
Samsung also gave the new Samsung Gear 2 and Samsung Gear Fit the same treatment in their own 4-minute feature video. You can find that below.
Oh, and in case you missed it, you can myself and Edgar Cervantes giving our quick impressions of the Galaxy S5 in Samsung’s official first impressions video during their Unpacked event in Spain last week. It was obviously edited for content (Edgar made no qualms about wanting a more premium feeling Galaxy device), but you get the idea. Ha.
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