Despite the fact that Google has been trying to compel users of Android handsets to update to the latest version of its operating system - Android 4.0 `Ice Cream Sandwich' (ICS) - and there has been an increase in the number of ICS adopters of late, the actual percentage of adopters is still quite small.

Going by month-on-month figures, there has been a more than 244 percent increase in ICS adoption between April and May; with the newest Android version having a barely 2.9 percent Android market share in April --- that is, just a sliver of total Android users.

While the ICS-equipped Android devices had only a 4.9 percent share - among all Android devices - during the first 14 days in May, the number of ICS adopters increased to 7.1 percent in the 14-day period that ended on June 1.

One of the biggest hurdles in the adoption of the ICS by most of the users of Android handsets is that carriers and original equipment makers (OEMs) do not bring the latest Android OS updates aboard the devices.

The reason why carriers and OEMs put off the latest Android OS updates generally lies in their attempts to install their own ICS-compatible bloatware, before releasing the newest Android OS update to the current users. In fact, in the case of some devices, the OS update is given a miss so that existing smartphone users can be enticed towards the most recent devices sporting the latest OS.