According to a new DigiTimes report, a handful of uncited mobile industry folks are now suggesting that Google will launch its fifth major Android OS revision in the third quarter of 2012, followed by an onslaught of new smartphones based on the update.
The industry insiders claim that Google's Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich-powered smartphones will finally begin to proliferate in the second quarter this year (April through June). Unfortunately, smartphones running Android 4.0 only comprise 2 - 3 percent of all Android devices worldwide, and Google's own online version tracker puts this number at just 1.6-percent.
Data source: Android Developers Blog
Data source: Android Developers Blog
Nevertheless, the sources expect Google will unveil Android 5.0 Jelly Bean a few months after summer, probably around the same time that Apple decides to launch its sixth-generation 4G LTE iPhone. However, “the rapid shift of OS may not be healthy for the development of the Android ecosystem,” according to the sources. Considering Google's little fiasco with fragmentation within its own flagship Nexus S updates, we can't help but agree.