The Android OS system setup and maintained by Google has been one of the most widely popular OS systems in a while. Android is free and open sourced for the most part and is open to almost all handset, tablet, and CE manufacturers to use and run on their systems. We currently run Android on a few different phones and have used the Google Nexus S in review to test it’s power.

The current problems with Android overall are in the maintenance and usability of the Market and the fragmentation of Android on multiple devices.

The Android Market is a wild west approach to an application market compared to Apple. Whereas Apple manages a clean and user friendly user interface in displaying the apps, the Android Market place throws it all together for the user to decide. Steps have taken place to “clean up” the Android Market and it’s gotten better but the latest Amazon App Store which runs concurrently with the Android Market is a much cleaner interface and is organized more efficiently. Google needs to bring together Amazon product experts to manage its market and make it more retail in nature vs coders.

The fragmentation takes place with hundreds of devices and phones which run Android, but different versions existing across those units. Older phones run 1.6 to 2.0 versions of Android, whereas newer phones run Froyo (2.2), or if you get the Nexus S, it runs Gingerbread (2.3). Rather than leave the OS upgrades to manufacturers, Google should have across the board updates that all phones can use. An example of course is Apple and its updates for iPod’s and iPhones. Users can click a button and update their device to the latest updates.

As Android expands to even more and more devices, it should be interesting to see how device manufacturers use Android and how well Android users adapt to these devices.