As we look into Android's future, one of the biggest problems it has is fragmentation. This is defined as having multiple versions of the operating system running on an even large number of different devices (Costa, 2011). This is a major issue for developers because they have to choose between making the best application possible and losing users running earlier versions of Android that are incompatible, or making mediocre applications that are compatible with every version of Android (Costa, 2011). Adding to this is the fact that Android has Honeycomb which is strictly for tablets and fragments the platform even further. Google is in the process of developing a solution. The next version of Android, called Ice Cream Sandwich, is being developed to bring as many devices together as possible. It will be an amalgamation of both Honeycomb (version 3.0) and Gingerbread (version 2.3). Also, Google is going to great lengths to ensure that even lower end devices will have enough horsepower to run it. This is Google's best chance at solving the fragmentation issue before it gets out of hand.
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