Jelly Bean now on half of Android devices as KitKat looms

As Android KitKat hurtles towards us, its predecessor Jelly Bean is still expanding, reaching near enough half of Android smart phones and tablets.

Android KitKat is set for a possible release this month. KitKat follows previous generations of Android also named after sweet treats: Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Jelly Bean.

According to the latest figures from Google, Jelly Bean is now on 48.6 per cent of Android devices, with the rest of the phones and tablets out there roughly evenly split between Ice Cream Sandwich -- 20.6 per cent -- and Gingerbread -- 28.5 per cent. A mere 2.2 per cent stubbornly cling to Froyo, with 0.1 per cent of devices still on the tablet-focused Honeycomb update.

Google's figures no longer count phones running the older Android 2.0 or 2.1 Eclair updates, because the older software doesn't work with the new Google Play online store. At the last count that was only about 1 per cent anyway of phones checking in to Google's servers.

For more on the different versions of Android, check out our handy guide to the features of every Android update.

What do you want to see in the next Android update? Let me know in the comments, or on our sweet and tasty Facebook page.