Android Ice Cream Sandwich

                              Android Ice Cream Sandwich

The number of Android devices running Ice Cream Sandwich is growing slowly, but the latest version of Google's mobile OS is still only available on 1.12 percent of Android-based gadgets.

Mobile ad network Chitika examined the number of impressions it received in recent days and found that the most popular version of Android remains Gingerbread at 66.29 percent, followed by Froyo at 22.33 percent, and Eclair at 5.39 percent.

The tablet-centric Honeycomb captured 3.3 percent of the market, but Ice Cream Sandwich was, well, sandwiched between the oldest versions of Android: Donut with 0.63 percent and Cupcake at 0.95 percent.

The fragmentation issue comes up every time Google releases an updated version of Android. Given that so many manufacturers produce Android-based handsets and many carriers in turn pick up those devices, the timing for when a given phone will get a certain Android update varies wildly.

"This inherent diversity of products may make Android's strength perpetually its weakness," Chitika said. "It has taken steps to overcome it, but if these steps will ever be enough to get past the variegation built into such an open system is something we will have to see in time."

Google stats released in January found that approximately 0.6 percent of Android phones were running Ice Cream Sandwich, about 55 percent were running its predecessor, Gingerbread, and 30.4 percent were on Froyo.

As of Feb. 1, Google's developer site said 1 percent of devices were on Ice Cream Sandwich, 58.6 percent were on Gingerbread, and 27.8 percent were on Froyo.

The low numbers for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich shouldn't be entirely shocking. At this point, the mobile OS is only available on a handful of smartphones and tablets, like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Asus Transformer Prime, and Motorola Xoom. Other manufacturers have promised ICS upgrades for their devices, but that will happen on a staggered basis throughout 2012.

Last month, former Windows Phone exec Charles Kindel said Google has lost control of Android thanks to fragmentation, but predicted the OS will continue to thrive for many years to come.

Kindel's comments came one week after Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt appeared at the Consumer Electronics Show and argued that Android is not fragmented but "differentiated," which Kindel said was pure spin.

Check out the slideshow below:

Ice Cream Sandwich Home

The new version of Android, 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich," combines elements from Google's phone and tablet versions with brand-new features and UI ideas. Let's take a look.

ICS Customization

ICS has five scrolling home screens, but the applications at the bottom stay put. Now, they're customizable so you can pick your four favorite apps to always have available.

ICS Folder

You can create folders of apps by stacking icons, just like on the iPhone.

ICS Multitasking

ICS uses the multitasking display from Google's Honeycomb tablets, a vertical array of thumbnails of the most recent apps you've used.

ICS App Tray

The Ice Cream Sandwich app tray looks similar to previous Android versions, with the addition of the "Widgets" tab.

ICS Widgets

The Widgets tab, like the one in Honeycomb, lets you add large or complex live widgets to your home screens.

ICS Data Usage

One terrific new feature in Ice Cream Sandwich lets you see how much cellular data you've used, and which apps have been using it.

ICS Bookmarks

The browser has gotten a refit for Ice Cream Sandwich. You can save pages for offline viewing, and the browser opens up to this attractive list of graphical bookmarks.

ICS Browser Options

New browser options include an easy way to get rid of those hideous "mobile sites." The menu button on previous Android phones has been replaced by a virtual menu button, three vertical dots.

ICS Contacts

Ice Cream Sandwich merges Google and Twitter contacts, showing Twitter updates in the contact book, but it doesn't support Facebook.

ICS Contact Card

Something about these contact cards—the bleed on the upper half—reminds me a little of Windows Phone 7.

ICS Call Options

You can block callers by tagging them as "send all calls to voicemail" on their contact cards.

ICS Gmail

Gmail is still at the core of the Android experience; here's ICS's Gmail client.

ICS Mail Message

Emails look great; they support HTML and inline images

ICS App

New icons in the Android Market give app buyers guidance by telling them which apps are prominent and popular.

ICS Music

There are plenty of changes in the Music app, including a full graphic equalizer and these cool litle VU meters when you're playing a song.

ICS Gallery

The Ice Cream Sandwich gallery app goes for a very tight tiled look.

ICS Voice Control

Ice Cream Sandwich has very flexible and powerful voice input, but it has some trouble with names.

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