By Sumit Passary | Aug 11, 2012 01:37 PM EDT
The ever-growing demand of Android smartphones has captured 68 percent of the worldwide market share. Reported malware on Android has also surged by 64 percent, compared to the first quarter of 2012.
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Currently, the two most eminent smartphone operating systems are Google's Android and Apple's iOS. Reports indicate that there are four Android smartphones shipped for every iPhone sold. This whopping figure has upped from a 2.5:1 ratio when compared to last year, reports Forbes.
This massive increase in Android smartphone sales goes hand-in-hand with a growth in the reported malware. "Every quarter, Android malware continues to grow in number, and Q2 2012 is no exception. We received a total of 5033 malicious Android application package files, or APKs, most of which are coming from third-party Android markets," said the F-Secure Mobile Threat report.
The report went on to state that "This amount is a 64 percent increase compared to the number in the previous quarter. Out of this amount, we identified 19 new families and 21 new variants of existing families."
So, despite the malware, why is it that users still prefer Android over iOS?
Google announced that the latest version Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) will be deployed this year. However, Android's version 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) is used in most of the present smartphones manufactured by leading brands like by Samsung, HTC, and Motorola to name a few. The Android-powered phones' user has a variety of devices to choose from as opposed to the iOS which is exclusive only to Apple's iPhone.
Both the Android and iOS have a lot of similarities; however, there are also a few unique features that Google has on offer. ICS provides the Face Unlock feature, a user only has to put the phone in front of the face to access it. ICS also has a new People app with a magazine look. The contacts are all integrated together, including those from the social media accounts. So, it is simpler to contact family and friends.
Voice Actions for Android was first used in the Froyo (Android 2.2) but ICS saw the enhanced version of the Voice Actions. Android's Voice Actions and Apple's Siri have a lot of similarities. The standout feature of the Voice Actions is that it can be integrated with Google Maps (in US only) and the turn-by-turn voice-guided navigation commands mean that the phone can act as a GPS.
The growing number of new apps is also increasing the malwares in Android. In the long run, can Google come up with an app that can stop malware from reaching smartphones?
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