Google recently unveiled the Nexus 7 running the latest Android version 4.1 – Jelly Bean.  Everyone’s quite excited as it seems to be the best version of Android to date.  But what does this mean for the Ice Cream Sandwich?  Google’s struggled to gain significant market share of its own ecosystem with the latest “revolutionary” OS version, announcing just this week that more than 10% of Android devices are now running ICS – that’s 10.7 percent, a relatively small share of its global reach, nearly a year after its release.

The situation now begs the question, is ICS still relevant?  What does JB have over ICS?
Jelly Bean boasts that it’s faster and butter-smooth compared to ICS.  JB also features expandable notifications, automatically re-sizable app widgets, Bluetooth data transfer for Android Beam, offline voice dictation, improved voice search, improved camera app, high resolution contact photos, Google Now, Multichannel audio, USB Audio (for external sound DAC’s), and gapless playback.

So what does the ICS have that can compete with that?

Maybe not much but the question of fragmentation still looms over Google, and JB’s release only emphasizes the trouble Android’s had in replacing OS versions now that the smartphone market is so saturated.

There’s a huge possibility that a lot of current Android devices won’t see JB in their future and will have to settle for ICS.  But Google’s hoping to address the issue moving forward, granting PDK access early for hardware manufacturers to get a head start on OS rollouts.  It may or may not be too late for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, as Google will have to wait out millions upon millions of Android devices to turn over.  That’s one downfall of pushing out a completely revamped OS just a year after an earlier revamped OS, as Google attempts to tie its strategy together across mobile devices and its own cloud-driven Apps portfolio.

One benefit JB has over ICS is its definite departure from Android up to now, incorporating new interactions around voice search and Notifications.  It’s almost like Android hit the “Refresh” button, taking the best of its own platform and a couple of great things from rival OS’s like Apple.  The play towards cross-device interaction is Google’s effort to convince customers to start over with their Android-powered gadgets, losing a Gingerbread or ICS handset in favor of a JB-smooth system that works with home entertainment, tasks, events and local recommendations, tapping into our drive for social interaction and personalized search.

The furthered simplification of Android/Google’s integration means a smoother experience for the end user, which remains one of the biggest draws for Apple and its growing line of iDevices.  But as Google’s first entry into home entertainment and hardware, it may not be enough to pull users out of Apple’s orbit.

JB has a great deal to prove, and it won’t be able to do so if its stuck in limbo the same way ICS has been for the past several months.  Google’s made a huge effort to recapture the faith of its developers and OEMs alike, and a strategy that works in concert across the software and hardware will be necessary for Android’s success if it hopes to leapfrog Apple into consumers’ hearts.

Contributors: Mellisa Tolentino