We’re all aware that Android has been taking some flack for ‘fragmentation’ problems, and one of the more prominent contributing factors has been the breakneck pace of the update release cycle.

According to Android chief Andy Rubin, we can expect this cycle to slow down a bit to an Apple style release schedule of one update per year. I’m sure this comes as a huge relief to device manufacturers, especially those who have custom skinned versions of Android, as they’ll now have more time to prep updates before the next one hits. For example, HTC and Sprint just released the official 2.1 update for the Sprint Hero as Android 2.2 is very much around the corner.

Speaking with the Mercury Times, Rubin had this to say when asked about Android’s release schedule:

We've gone through a lot of product iterations because we had to bring the product up to market spec. Quite honestly, the product when we launched it, it didn't really feel like a 1.0, it felt like kind of an 0.8, but it was a window of opportunity and the market needed an entrant at the holiday season.

So we launched it, and from our internal 0.8, we got to 1.0 pretty quickly, and we went through this iteration cycle. You've noticed, probably, that that's slowed down a little bit. Our product cycle is now, basically twice a year, and it will probably end up being once a year when things start settling down, because a platform that's moving — it's hard for developers to keep up. I want developers to basically leverage the innovation. I don't want developers to have to predict the innovation.

I’m hoping this still means we’ll see Gingerbread by the end of the year, as previously rumored. After that though, I don’t think I’d mind seeing a once a year update schedule. What do you guys think? Sound off in the comments!

Via: Techcrunch

Source: Mercury Times