Android gaining speed in mobile application testing

SAN MATEO, USA: At the Qualcomm Uplinq conference, DeviceAnywhere, the industry leader in end-to-end mobile application testing, announced the results of this quarter’s DeviceAnywhere Metrics.

Originally launched at CTIA Spring 2010, this unique, quarterly report shares empirical data about what mobile Operating Systems and handsets are most commonly used by DeviceAnywhere customers when testing their mobile applications for quality assurance. The magnitude of the source data can be illustrated by the fact that more than 350,000 handset testing hours were logged in DeviceAnywhere Test Center by developers in 2009.

Key Findings from DeviceAnywhere Metrics

Android catches up with Microsoft Windows Mobile as #3 Most-Tested OS.
* For the first time, Android tied Windows Mobile as the third Most-Tested OS in the DeviceAnywhere Test Center -- both equaling 15.2 percent of total testing time.
* Year-over-year, Android testing has increased dramatically: growing from 3.3 percent of the total usage in the DeviceAnywhere Test Center in May 2009 to 15.2 percent in May 2010.

Android devices held the top spot in May 2010 for two mobile operators: T-Mobile and Verizon.
* For T-Mobile, HTC Android devices held the top three spots: the HTC G1, HTC touch 3GS and HTC Nexus One, respectively.
* For Verizon, the Motorola Droid held the #1 spot (up from #5 in January 2010).

BlackBerry Still Dominates as #1 Most-Tested platform, but their lead is slowly diminishing.
* Testing on BlackBerry devices accounted for 45.9 percent of total usage in May 2010, compared to 52 percent in May 2009.
* In May 2010, only 10 BlackBerry devices were on the “20 Most Used Handset” list, compared to 14 in January 2010.
* BlackBerry is the number one manufacturer tested in DeviceAnywhere Test Center, accounting for seven of the top ten devices tested and fourteen of the top 20 devices.
* The BlackBerry Bold 9000 -- which has been the most-used handset since we began producing this report in December 2009 -- was bumped to #2 in May 2010 (replaced by the iPhone 3G).

Although Blackberry OS still dominates as the #1 Most-Tested platform, developers are spending nearly equal time on Android on a per device basis.
* Blackberry OS has 35 devices in Test Center accounting for 45.9 percent of usage. That’s an average of 1.31 percent testing time spent on each device.
* Comparatively, Android has 12 devices in Test Center accounting for 15.2 percent of usage. That's an average of 1.26 percent testing time spent on each device.
* For additional comparison, Windows Mobile has 52 devices in Test Center accounting for 15.2 percent of usage. That’s an average of 0.29 percent testing time spent on each device.

Across all handsets, the percentage of testing on smartphones vs. feature phones increased significantly year-over-year (YoY). However, on a month-to-month basis, Sprint and Verizon saw a decrease.
* In May 2010, 53.8 percent of DeviceAnywhere usage was focused on smartphones. Compare that to 40.9 percent a year earlier in May 2009.
* However, there were minor, but notable swings -- between 1.8 to 5 percent -- in May 2010 from the month previous. AT&T and T-Mobile both saw increase in the percentage of testing on smartphones, while Sprint and Verizon saw decreases.