An Android developers site has posted the make up of the Android consumer base.
It suggests that the Nexus One, which is the smartphone running Froyo 2.2, has only 3% of the market share. However the Nexus One is about to be discontinued.

By far most users are on Android 2.1 making up 55.5% of the market, followed by 22.1% on version 1.6 and 18.9% on 1.5.

XA tiny fraction (0.3%) of OS systems are running on obsolete versions according to the data which was collected over a period of two weeks at the beginning of July.
There is also a table of how many versions the various API’s are compatible with. Versions 1.5 and 1.6 are compatible with most APIs while the 2.1 share is growing.

The site states: “Notice that the platform versions are stacked on top of each other with the oldest active version at the top.
“This format indicates the total percent of active devices that are compatible with a given version of Android.

“For example, if you develop your application for the version that is at the very top of the chart, then your application is compatible with 100% of active devices (and all future versions), because all Android APIs are forward compatible.”
However this can lead to a problem of fragmentation as picked up in a Guardian article. This is because old versions of the Android OS can’t run applications that target more recent versions.

The Guardian says that we don’t really know how the Android OS is running because Google won’t tell us. Available data on Android market transactions would make the whole picture that much clearer.

Various publications have picked up the decision of the search giant to kill its own progeny – the Nexus One. The Nexus One was one of the first Android smartphones that were released. Crave, the gadget blog from CNET UK wrote in tragic terms about the discontinuation of the Android Nexus One: “Google is taking the Nexus One out into the woods and putting a bullet through the back of its touch screen.”

They called the Nexus One a blog experiment in online sales of smartphones and said that the Vodafone Nexus One would surely be the last of a dying breed. Why had Google not taken a lesson from Apple in terms of marketing a smartphone? The Nexus One has sadly become just another casualty of ever moving technology.

The online portal for Britain’s Telegraph newspaper focused on the company closing of the online store. Google CEO Eric Schmidt told the Telegraph that the idea of moving the phone platform hardware business forward was so successful that Google did not have to do a second one.

Now that the last shipment of Nexus One has been received they will no longer need to be sold online. The Nexus One blog also said that the web store had remained a niche market.

Meanwhile the Mobile Business Briefing said that Google was ‘keen’ to attract developers to the Android based device.’ It added that Google was quick to deny that poor sales were responsible for the closure of the online Nexus One sales portal.

AOL has released a pair of Android applications.  While it may be trendy and fun to bash AOL, the fact is that it helped usher in the Internet age, and things would look much different had they not help shaped today’s landscape.  What does that have to do with an Android app you ask?  Think market share, and more importantly, mind share.  This is a sign that Android has hit critical mass, and is now a very serious player in the mobile world.

Let’s take a look at the apps (which are standouts BTW — this is how you do it) after the break. [cnet]

Apps may make life easier but they are also a good way of parting a fool and his money. While we can greet the new eBay app for the Android with all the excitment implied in an online auction, it also means that we can have even more ways to buy stuff at times when we could be relaxing – on the train, in the doctors waiting hall etc.

The app is now available in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada on versions 1.6 of the Android or above. That means residents of those countries can follow their bidding wars wherever they go, with no need to spend long days indoors in order to secure a purchase.

Steve Yankovich, Vice President of mobile commmunications at eBay, said: “The popularity of eBay’s mobile shopping applications is quickly spreading across the world.

“Over 50% of eBay’s mobile merchandise comes from outside of the United States of America. Therefore we are taking advantage of the unique features of the Android mobile platform. The Android app uses Android voice search capabilities to make finding things easier.”

However if you are looking to sell goods on eBay, the app which allows you to do so is only available on the iPhone.