Based on articles by Dan Rowinski, ReadWrite Mobile and By Kevin C. Tofel, GigaOm

Fragmentation is often seen as the biggest bane for publishers developing Android applications. There are hundreds of Android devices on the market, running different versions of the operating system across disparate screen sizes and pixel resolutions. At this point, given that Android fragmentation appeared out of control at one time, the current situation is the best that Android developers could hope for.

Mobile analytics company Localytics found that between that nearly 96% of all devices in its network are running either Android version 2.3 Gingerbread or version 2.2. Froyo. From a screen size point of view, there are only five major smartphone screens. Of all app usage in the Localytics study, 41% of Android devices used 4.3-inch screens. 4-inch screens had 22% of application sessions while 3.2-inch screens had 11% and 3.7-inch 9%.

The three most popular Android slates were the Kindle Fire, Barnes & Noble Nook and the 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab. That means 74% of all Android tablet usage was on a 7-inch screen, running Gingerbread at a resolution of 1280×800 pixels.

Android 4.0 is a “fresh start” for the platform on both tablets and smartphones; getting handset makers to adopt it sooner, rather than later, should be a key Google initiative to help both consumers and developers.

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