Android may be one operating systems but there are a lot of versions.
There are no less than 10 core Android versions provided by hundreds of different ROMs for those adventurous enough to place them on.
This makes life confusing for individuals that want to get an Android phone try not to know what is good and what is old.
Below is a look at the various Android versions, whenever they were released, what they are beneficial to and when they will be obsolete.
Android 1.5 (Cupcake) and Android 1.6 (Doughnut)
While there is a version of Android before cupcake Android 1.5 was the very first version of the operating system which in fact had mass acceptance.
A lot of people accuse the Android cupcake for being half-baked and problems included buggy video, a difficult-to-use keyboard and the tendency to crash when taking pictures or video.
Android 1.6 (donut) purchased a better keyboard and an improved camera.
Currently you’d be hard pressed to find Cupcake on anything and, should you be looking at a new or used Android phone or Android tablet with the Android 1.5 or Android 1.6 (doughnut) operating system then it’s a good enough reason to take a look somewhere else as they are severely outdate.
Android 2-2.1 (Eclair)
The Android Eclair operating system came as a welcome relief to the community, with a dramatically improved onboard typing experience as well as the ability to load on multiple user accounts.
Android cellular phones and tablets running the Android Eclair operating system are fairly rare today and if you’re looking at buying an Android tablet with that version of the operating system it will need to have a few other very good selling points before you even think about pulling the trigger.
Android 2.2 (Froyo)
Launched in May 2010 Android Froyo possibly represents the primary version of the Android operating system you should accept in an Android tablet or cell phone.
While it is almost two years old now Froyo still compares as a reasonable operating system. This is largely due to the 19 major changes and upgrades from Android Eclair include for the Adobe Flash framework, allowing it to handle YouTube videos and flash games.
Don’t be paying huge amounts for Android Froyo devices though and, if you are after at an Android tablet or Android phone with Froyo on, find out if it can be upgraded to gingerbread at the very least.
Androd 2.3 (Gingerbread)
Released in December 2010 Android 2.3 remains found on a lot of brand name phones and Android tablets on the market today (including the newly-released Kindle Fire) and new-release China Android tablets and phones much like the Fly touch Android tablet.
Android Gingerbread is an incredibly user friendly version in the Android OS with a much-improved camera experience, one of the better virtual keyboards on the market, native VOIP support for Skype calls and better resource management for improved battery.
Android 3 (Honeycomb)
Released in February 2011 honeycomb is made specially for the tablet.
With all the release of Honeycomb the Android operating system got a big cosmetic makeover.
With extra system bars, action bars, bigger virtual keyboards and a couple pane interfaces honeycomb was quite definitely a tablet interface and one that won Motorolla a good portion of their Xoom sales.
If you’re looking in an Android tablet with Android Honeycomb installed then you definitely might be onto a winner, if you are after at an Android honeycomb phone then you definitely might want to play around with it extensively first to make certain everything feels right.
Android 4 (Frozen goodies Sandwich)
Launched in May 2011 Android Frozen goodies Sandwich is Google’s first foray into Android phone and tablet operating systems in 12 months.
It represented numerous tasty changes including:
Drag and drop folders
Real-time speech to text dictation
A built-in photo editor software kit
Integrated screen capture functionality
1080p video recording
During the time of writing Android Ice Cream Sandwich hasn’t made its way onto many commercial devices as well as the best way to get hold of it is to root your Android phone or Android tablet also to run one of the many Android ROMS.
Save a replica of this article to your hard drive which means you don’t have to worry about exactly what good Android OS is good for what again.
Have a look at iSource China, your source for Android mobile phones with the latest OS, today.
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