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During Google’s earnings call last night, Google gave us some more information of how well Android is currently doing.
According to Larry Page, Android has now been activated on over 250 million devices. Last November the number was 200 million. Another noteworthy fact is that Android Market again has generated over 11 billion downloads.
Andy Rubin and Android
Google’s very own Andy Rubin shared on Twitter that Android saw 3.7 million new activations on Christmas Even and Christmas Day. This adds credibility to the report by Flurry Analytics that iOS and Android combined generated 6.8 million new activations on Christmas Day.
Here’s the tweet in question:
UPDATE: There were 3.7M Android devices activated on 12/24 and 12/25.
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Google’s Andy Rubin today used his Google+ account to announce that there are over 700,000 Android activations a day. That’s 486 devices every minute, or 8 every single second. That’s quite a large number of phones!
Oh, and those of you wondering what an activation is, here’s Andy Rubin’s explanation:
“We count each device only once (ie, we don’t count re-sold devices), and “activations” means you go into a store, buy a device, put it on the network by subscribing to a wireless service.”
When will Google hit 1 million devices a day? I’d give it a few months!
GTA III on iOS
Rockstar today announced their plans to release ‘Grand Theft Auto III: 10 Year Anniversary Edition’ for a selection of iOS and Android devices. The game will be delivered via Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Market. We’ll see the game hit the said app stores on December 15th, for a price of $4.99.
List of devices that will get GTA III: 10 Year Anniversary Edition:
Apple iOS Devices: iPad 1 & 2, iPhone 4 & 4S, iPod touch 4th Generation
Android Phones: HTC Rezound, LG Optimus 2x, Motorola Atrix 4G, Motorola Droid X2, Motorola Photon 4G, Samsung Galaxy R, T-Mobile G2x
Android Tablets: Acer Iconia, Asus Eee Pad Transformer, Dell Streak 7, LG Optimus Pad, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1, Sony Tablet S, Toshiba Thrive
Nexus S receiving Android ICS at Google HQ
Google has started internal testing of Android 4.0 for the Nexus S. The update is delivered as an OTA update to current Google employees. So the update is basically ready, it’s just going through the last phase of internal testing before its released to the public. Stay tuned for more news!
Android usage stats as of December 1, 2011
A new month, a new Android usage stats report from Google.
Android 2.3.3-2.3.7 Gingerbread is currently the most popular Android version with a share of 50.1%. Android 2.2 Froyo comes in second with a share of 35.3%. What does come as a little surprise is the fact that Android 2.1 Eclair is still the third most popular out there with a share of 9.6%.
Hit View Post for a full breakdown of the stats.
Adobe today announced that the Galaxy Nexus will be getting the Adobe Flash Player 11.1 and AIR 3.1. They class this under a minor update to the runtimes, and hence entitle themselves to release it. The company earlier stated that they’re withdrawing Flash for mobile, and they will not release a new major version for any mobile platform. The needed update for the Galaxy Nexus will arrive in December.
Here is Adobe’s latest statement on the matter:
We’ve received some questions regarding support for Adobe Flash Player 11.1 and AIR 3.1 on the Galaxy Nexus. To be clear, the Galaxy Nexus does not initially support Adobe Flash Player 11.1 and AIR 3.1. As we previously communicated in a blog post, devices and software updates from our partners which introduce new technologies are being developed on varied schedules that are different from our own, which means that the Adobe runtimes may not always be optimized or supported on devices until a subsequent release. We will provide a minor update to the runtimes to support the Galaxy Nexus in December.
Samsung Galaxy Nexus
Google has previously stated that they will issue a fix for the volume bug that has affected many European Galaxy Nexus owners. The problem is apparently triggered by 900MHz radio frequency interference. Today the company issued a short statement to let us know that the update is on its way out. Great! The update should reach everyone in the coming week.
Google’s statement to The Verge:
We’re currently rolling out a fix for the volume issue which will reach everyone in the coming week.
Keep hitting refresh on your software update screen to see if the update has gone live for your Galaxy Nexus!
Motorola Milestone 2
Motorola used their Facebook page to tell the world that the company will start delivering Android Gingerbread to the Milestone 2. The update will go out in phases, so not every one with a Milestone 2 will receive it tomorrow. Just stay patient and hope to get it as soon as possible :)
Here is the post from Motorola Europe’s Facebook page:
News for Eueopean Motorola Milestone 2 owners. The upgrade to Gingergread will begin tomorrow, we will be rolling out in stages and so please watch this space for more information. Thanks!
Handtec, a UK based retailer, has decided to stop selling the Galaxy Nexus on their site. The reason for this is the volume bug that has been causing problems for many early adopters in Europe. The company tested some devices if the bug was present in their stock, and concluded that not all of them were affected by this issue, but still a large enough amount was for them to stop selling the Galaxy Nexus.
Please hit View Post to see the volume bug doing its thing.
