While the Google-backed Android mobile operating system currently runs on less than 2% of all smartphones, Gartner Inc. predicts it will surge to 14% of the global smartphone market in 2012 -- ahead of the iPhone, as well as Windows Mobile and BlackBerry smartphones.

In that year, Gartner forecasts Android will actually rank second globally, behind the Symbian OS, which is used in Nokia devices that are highly popular in Europe and many countries outside the U.S. Symbian now runs on about half of all smartphones, but will fall to 39% in 2012, Gartner says.

read more at ComputerWorld

Waiting for the Donut code branch from Android probably won't have to wait too much longer, as the software development kit for version 1.6 of Google Android mobile operating system has just been released.

The update will add QuickSearch à la webOS for scavenging through contacts, apps, and the internet in one text field, as we saw back at Google I/O, a text-to-speech API with translation capabilities, and that revamped market we spied earlier this month.

Here's what's inside of the update

• Support for different screen resolutions, types, and sizes
• Support for CDMA
• Quick Search box from home screen provides predictive results from web and device
• Text-to-speech language translations
• Market update with screenshots and filters for new, top paid, and top free downloads within categories
• Improved camera capture speed and UI
• VPN options
• New accessibility tools
• Ability for developers to create recognized gestures

via: intomobile