Google Thursday offered a peek at the distribution of different versions of Android and the news is good for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The October 2011-era version of Android saw a significant climb in adoption and is now installed on 15.9% of all devices as of Aug. 1. That represents a 50% increase over Android 4.0's 10% penetration level last month.

The big jump can be attributed to the increasing number of Android 4.0 devices available for sale as well as the device updates being rolled out by handset makers and carriers around the world.

For example, the Samsung Galaxy S III was available from five major U.S. carriers by mid-July, and runs Ice Cream Sandwich. Other devices running Android 4.0 include the new Atrix HD from Motorola and the EVO 4G LTE from HTC, among others. The Motorola RAZR and RAZR MAXX were updated to Android 4.0 a bit earlier this year.

[ Read our review of the first Jelly Bean tablet. Google Nexus 7: Latest Must-Have Tablet. ]

Despite the recent jump, it's still somewhat disappointing to see the uptake of Ice Cream Sandwich plodding along so slowly. The system software was given to handset makers in November 2011. A number of device makers and carriers have committed to upgrading smartphones to Ice Cream Sandwich, though. Some of the devices on deck to receive Android 4.0 include the HTC Rezound, LG Nitro HD, and others.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean made its first appearance in the rankings this month. It debuted with a 0.8% share of the Android OS penetration. Jelly Bean is the latest version of Android and has been pushed to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S, as well as the Asus Nexus 7. With only three devices running Jelly Bean, it's no wonder that it's presence is so low.

If you want a device with Jelly Bean, go buy one. Don't wait for an upgrade, because it's not going to arrive any time soon.

Android 2.3 Gingerbread is still dominating the Android field. Gingerbread is running on 60.6% of all Android devices. More devices are running Android 4.0 than Android 2.2 Froyo, though. Froyo's penetration sank to 15.5%. How does the rest of the field look? Android 2.1 Eclair is running on 4.2% of Android devices, Android 1.6 Donut is on 0.5%, Android 1.5 Cupcake is on 0.2%, and Android 3.x (for tablets) is on 2.3%.

Every version of Android below 4.0 will continue to shrink in overall share of the Android break-down, but at this rate it will probably be 2013 before the majority of devices are running 4.0 or higher.

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