According to Google’s monthly Android OS distribution chart — which tracks devices that actively visit Google Play Store — Jelly Bean (OS 4.1 to 4.3) now makes up for 52.1%of all devices, up from 48.6% last month. Every other OS dropped in usage, most notedly Android Gingerbread by 2.2% to run on 26.3% of Android device . This is still a huge number as the OS was introduced almost 3-years ago (December of 2010).

Next month will be interesting as we’ll see the uptake on the new 4.4 KitKat, plus those stats might also give a peek into early Nexus 5 sales.

Google today announced the latest iteration of Android – Android 4.3 Jelly Bean during a press breakfast in San Francisco.

The long-awaited OS update will be coming to Android device users based on their devices. The Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update will start rolling out today to the Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. The “Google Play Edition” versions of the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 can expect it soon, most likely August or September.

As ArsTechnica reports, the new operating system will feature multi-user restricted profiles. This will let users control access to [...]

While many are awaiting the new Micromax Canvas 4 A210, the company is not shy of releasing more handsets. Micromax has today launched the new A92 Canvas Lite for a price of Rs. 8499. The specifications of the Micromax Canvas Lite A92 match those of the original Canvas A100 with a 5 inch 480 x 800 px display, A Mediatek 6577 Dual Core 1 Ghz Chipset. The Micromax Canvas Lite A92 will also have 4GB of inbuilt storage, expandable via microSD and 512 MB of RAM.

The Canvas Lite A92 also has the same set of cameras as seen on the Canvas A100, a 5 MP main shooter along with a front facing [...]

Despite denying its existence, rumours persist of an HTC One “Google Edition”. During the Google I/O keynote address earlier this month, Google announced it was partnering with Samsung to bring a Galaxy S4 to Google Play that runs vanilla Android. While that particular device will only be available in the United States, it stoked the rumours that other manufacturers such as HTC would be getting in on the “almost-Nexus” game.

During the keynote, one of HTC’s PR mavens intimated that there would be a similar model of the One released with stock Android, presumably a newer version than [...]

The new Facebook Home-optimised HTC First runs a stock version of Android Jelly Bean, which can be accessed simply by turning off the social network’s new, custom UI, reports on Friday revealed.

As Phandroid found out during its hands-on time with the device, it looks like the HTC First runs a stock Android version underneath the Home user interface, which makes it the first HTC handset after the G2 to come with stock Android on board, even though it’s not comparable to the kind of stock Android you get with Nexus devices:

So, what does this mean exactly? Well, I should start out by saying that when I say [...]

Google today updated its developer dashboard, which showed that Jelly Bean (version 4.1 and 4.2 combined) increasing its market share of the Android platform usage on devices by 2.9 percent month-over-month from 13.6 percent last month to 16.5 percent this month. Gingerbread, the hands-down leading version of the OS running on active devices, dropped in market share by 1.4 percent to 44.2 percent of devices.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich, the second newest Android version behind Jelly Bean, saw its market share fall slightly from 29.0 percent to 28.6 percent.

Froyo and Eclair, Android [...]

Nexus owners may have a reason to stay up tonight, as a couple of Reddit users report that Android 4.2.2 has begun rolling out to the GSM Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus 7. This is a release Google was rumoured to start shipping in Brazilian Nexus 4?s over a month ago, but nothing ever came of that assertion.

The report mentions that the update is being rolled out to select devices, carrying the JDQ39 build number. 

We had earlier reported that the update is expected to roll out by the mid of February, so it doesn’t really come as a surprise that Google has started seeding it out.

As we wait for the next big version of Android to appear — Key Lime Pie is rumoured to debut at Google I/O in May — Google hasn’t slowed down its sprucing and pruning of the current version.

According to a recent article on ibtimes.com, Google might be set to make the new platform version available by mid-February, after concluding internal testing for it. 

The story goes that Google has been having employees test the 4.2.2 update on all of the Nexus devices – Galaxy, 4, 7, and 10 – and that the update is close to being released. There [...]

Wondering why Smartphones are still so fat? Well Huawei might be there with an answer to all the bulk with the new Huawei Ascend P2, a smartphone thats only 6.45mm thick. 

The leaked images confirm that the Huawei Ascend P2 is indeed in the pipeline, and that too with a mammoth 13 MP camera and a slick metal body. Apart from the details mentioned little is known about the P2 , although rumors are pegging a full 1080p HD display at only 4.5 inches, 2GB of RAM, and a big 3000mAh battery for power.

The Huawei Ascend P2 is said to be Shipping with [...]

When LG announced the Optimus G they stated their premier device would be upgraded from Android OS 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to OS 4.1 Jelly Bean sometime “early Q2 of 2013.” According to a press release today by LG they “will begin its global roll-out into over 50 countries this month.” The first country to receive the upgrade will be Singapore “at the end of January,” then slowly work their way through other countries with LTE networks. This most definitely rules India out of the picture for now.

The Optimus G launched last year to great expectations with a new 4.7-inch HD display, [...]

Sony will be rolling out an update to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean shortly after they launch their new Xperia Z smartphone sometime in the next couple of months, likely in March. Talk Android reports that the news came earlier today on Twitter, during a company question and answer session.

From Sony’s Twitter account: “Xperia Z launches on JB 4.1, but will receive 4.2 shortly after launch. As always, we’ll share more info on this over the coming weeks on the blog.”

The Jelly Bean 4.2 update will bring some modest improvements over [...]

Flipboard for Android has been updated at a decent clip recently, and its most recent overhaul brings a nice new feature that only Android 4.2 users can take advantage of.

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean introduced something called “Daydream,” where the phone or tablet goes into a sort of screensaver mode when docked or charged. This keeps the screen on and allows for a number of apps, either first- or third-party, to interact with the OS. For example, Google allows a simple clock widget to bounce around the screen, while apps like Beautiful Widgets and StumbleUpon have taken advantage of the [...]