Google has said today that 55.5 percent of all Android smartphones are now running 2.1 Eclair.
22.1 percent of Android users are still running 1.6 Donut and 18.9 percent are still using a variant of 1.5 Cupcake.
The numbers are moving quickly, however, as in May in the figures were 37.2 percent for 2.1, 28 percent for 1.6, and a huge 34.1 percent for 1.5.
Although it has not officially released the latest software update, 2.2 Froyo, to any device besides the Nexus One, Google says 3.3 percent of all handsets are running the advanced update, likely meaning a decent portion of Droid, Incredible, EVO 4G and other owners are running rooted devices with Froyo.
Froyo has been promised, officially, for the above mentioned devices, and others like the MyTouch 3G Slide and Samsung Galaxy S by the end of the year.
Result for: handsets
Larry Page, co-founder of search giant Google has accused Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs of attempting to re-write history, and asserted that Google did not “follow” Apple into the mobile phone market. Page is referring to comments made by Jobs in February at an Apple town hall meeting, in which he blasted Google’s “don’t be evil” mantra as “bullshit” and accused the company of trying to kill the iPhone.
In a videotaped conference in June, Jobs echoed the same comments. However, Page has told Reuters that Jobs words are a “little bit of re-writing history.”
“We had been working on Android a very long time, with the notion of producing phones that are Internet enabled and have good browsers and all that because that did not exist in the marketplace,” Page said. “I think that characterization of us entering after is not really reasonable.”
Google acquired Android Inc., a mobile startup, in 2005 and announced its Android mobile operating system in November 2007. The iPhone had debuted in January of that year. After the Android OS was announced and handsets rolled out that featured the operating system, relations between the two tech giants soured increasingly.
At Google’s annual developers conference this year, vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra said that Google developed Android to avoid a “Draconian future, a future where one man, one company, one device and one carrier would be our only choice.” Behind him, a picture read, “Not a Future We Want, 1984.”
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Result for: handsets
The U.S. International Trade Commission has revealed that it will investigate a patent infringement complaint made against Apple Inc. by Taiwan-based HTC Corp. The ITC is an independent, bi-partisan U.S. federal agency that has powers to protect U.S. industries from unfair trade practices. Its powers include the ability to block imports from foreign sources.
HTC Corp. is seeking an injunction on imports of Asian-manufactured iPhones, iPods and iPads into the United States, alleging that the Apple products infringe five patents held by HTC. The ITC announced on Friday that it has decided to investigate certain portable electronics devices and software related to the complaint.
Apple Inc. sued HTC Corp. for alleged patent infringement in March. The Cupertino-based iPod-maker filed a lawsuit in a US District Court in the state of Delaware against HTC, alleging infringement of 20 Apple patents related to user interface, hardware and architecture associated with its popular iPhone products. It also filed a complaint with the ITC at the time.
HTC is Taiwan’s leading smartphone maker and produces handsets for a number of leading U.S. companies. Notably, HTC manufactures the Nexus One handset, unveiled by Google in January, heating up a growing intense rivalry and further decaying past close ties between Apple and the search engine web giant.
In the original lawsuit, Apple sought an injunction to prevent HTC from making or selling products using Apple’s patent technology. The ITC’s move on Friday is just another chapter in the on-going battle between mobile handset manufacturers looking to dominate the lucrative sector.
