Android is a fast evolving entity in the world of technology. Android has made it possible for people to own as well as contribute to smart phones. Things are happening so fast that the phone bought just 12 months back looks outdated. Interestingly, that is the way Apple users move with technology. They keep spending to stay with current technology. Arguably, Android being in its infancy is showing more development than any other mobile operating system.
The Round Up
Last year end, we met a significant Android upgrade in Ice cream Sandwhich aka Android 4.0, which provides support to both tablets and smart phones. The Mobile World Congress that is held around February every year is the time one can see a lot happening in the mobile world. This year was greeted with the launch of the first ever quad core phones, chip sets manufactured by Nvidia in the name of Tegra 3. Competitors like Qualcomm and Samsung were also working on their own set of mobile chip sets. Qualcomm released the Snapdragon S4 code named Krait, a dual core chip which in most regards competes or even betters Nvidia's Tegra. Phones with such hardware are just hitting shores, and a first wave of mobile price cuts were witnessed world over for the previous gen phones.
Coming Up
While, Apple released an upgrade of iPhone 4, the Android world saw a range of ICS phones being launched, the most notable being the HTC One Series. Samsung, encouraged by the success of its Galaxy S2 decided to follow the steps of Apple by holding its own event for its next launch. That incidentally is the Galaxy S3 (so it seems) to be unveiled at London (London indicates it could the mobile partner of London Olympics, though that doesn't bother us) on May3. The Galaxy S3 is to have a quad core processor named Exynos 4412. The initial benchmarks leaked indicate that this could be a substantially better than Tegra 3. What one might practically be interested to know is that Samsung promises superior batter compared to its previous model S2 (Note that S2 had a very good battery performance).
And in the relatively distant yet near future, the Exynos 5250 will be seen in tablets and phones. The Exynos 5250 is based on the ARM Cortex-A15 architecture, which according to ARM literally brings the desktop to your pocket. When that is witnessed, it will be a significant leap in mobile computing power.
In terms of devices that are rumored to be on the way, there is the big one, iPhone 5 (iPhone is still the king of Smart phones). There are already high expectations for the device as the 4S was just an increment. Some rumors indicate a June release, although it is unlikely. But it is likely, we will get to see the device before the year ends. If we are lucky, we might even see the next Nexus with Jelly Bean (Android 5.0) by the end of this year.
Oh, and there is that impending release of Windows 8. It will have an impact on the mobile world, even though it might not happen so rapidly. (You just cannot ignore Microsoft!)
You Decide
With such being the state of the mobile world at present, the decision is up to you to. If you want a taste of Android you can go ahead and pick one now. If you want to upgrade your android smartphone, take a moment to reflect. If you can hold off the temptation, you will have better technology in your hands tomorrow. After all, tomorrow does hold a lot of promise.
