The argument that iOS is a much more stable operating system than Android has been repeated on the blogs and even in the comment threads of stories about the two operating systems. There’s a problem, though: the data indicates that is untrue.

Mobile app monitoring company Crittercism released data Friday on crash reports from the period December 1 through December 15, and saying iOS has stability issues is putting it nicely. By a 2-to-1 margin, iOS crashes much more frequently than Android, according to Crittercism’s report. The biggest offender is iOS 5.0.1, accounting for 28.64 percent of all crashes.

By comparison, the most crash-prone Android operating system is 2.3.3, accounting for 3.86 percent of reports. That’s a huge difference and is sure to get the Apple blogosphere in an uproar over the survey’s methodology.

Yes, the firm’s work did have a disproportionate number of iOS devices in the test (162 million to 52 million for Android). However, to blunt that criticism, Crittercism split the data into quartiles, and looked at the crashes as a percentage of app launches.

The story is the same. In the top quartile, iOS apps crashed .51 percent of the time versus .15 percent for Android; in the second quartile 1.47 percent to .73 percent; and in the bottom quartile 3.66 percent to 2.97 percent. The data favors Android once again.

What’s causing the instability in iOS? It’s a good question without an easy answer. Apple’s walled garden approach in the App Store could leave a disproportionate number of users with outdated and buggy apps. Developers must wait to get updates approved by Apple just like the first time they submitted their apps; Android developers can choose to allow for auto-updating without any need for the Android market.

Even Apple’s iAd is at fault: Crittercism received reports that the Cupertino, Calif. company’s advertising platform at times does not play nice with developers’ ads, causing instability.

One caveat: Crittercism’s data period is early enough that Ice Cream Sandwich crash data may not be accurately reflected. The firm says it expects the percentages of crashes on the newest version to increase significantly in future data sets.

Either way, the data puts to bed a misconception over the stability of Android, and raises new questions about iOS. Does Android have better quality developers, then? You might be able to argue yes.

[Hat tip: Forbes]

Why’s that? Two phones made their debut at the show, the Nokia Lumia 900 and the HTC Titan II. Both have been getting glowing reviews from the press for their form and function. Finally it appears Microsoft has devices that look compelling. It couldn’t do much worse: there’s only one way and that’s up!

I think a lot of people expected this to happen once the Nokia deal was announced last year. Nokia making such a commitment to Windows Phone was bound to pay off. The designs coming out of the company are just visually striking and beautiful, and complement an already visually stunning user interface.

The Lumia and Titan II’s feature sets are also competitive, another major selling point that Windows Phone devices have been falling behind on.

Picking up my first Windows Phone device last year, I was shocked at how far Microsoft has come — and apparently so are a lot of other journalisst. I’m willing to bet with such positive coverage coming out of CES, combined with what is expected to be a marketing push valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Windows Phone will make progress in the market place.

I don’t think Windows Phone is set to become the new Android, but I do believe this is now a legitimate three-horse race.

Imagine if when Windows 7 came out, it was only offered on only one particular Dell computer. It was also uncertain when or if other computers, including those made by Dell, would ever be able to upgrade to it. Welcome to the “clopen” world of Android. 

 
 Another choice quote:
 

 If Android 4 was a real ice cream sandwich, it might melt long before it was delivered to customers.

“Palm was ahead of its time in trying to build a phone software platform using Web technology, and we just weren’t able to execute such an ambitious and breakthrough design,” said Paul Mercer, former senior director of software at Palm, who oversaw the interface design of WebOS and recruited crucial members of the team. “Perhaps it never could have been executed because the technology wasn’t there yet.”

Microsoft has spilled the beans–lots and lots of them–on the Windows Store app market that will be in Windows 8. Presumably, it would never exist in this form if Apple had never introduced the iPhone App Store. But it does look good, with a slick interface and developer-friendly terms that offer more flexibility and a higher revenue share for programs once they hit $25,000 in sales.

The one thing that bugs me about the Windows Store is that it’s going to be the only way for developers to distribute Windows 8 apps with the new Metro interface to consumers. (Businesses can circumvent it for programs they provide to their own employees.) Am I being inconsistent, considering that I live reasonably happily with Apple’s identical restriction on iOS apps? Maybe. But maybe I’m just grappling with the fact that Microsoft is eliminating a PC feature that’s existed for decades: The liberty to install any program we choose. I’ll reserve further judgement until Windows 8 has shipped and the Windows Store is open–and hope that it, like Apple’s App Store, ultimately feels bountiful rather than limited.

• When Microsoft decided to, um, put all its tablet eggs in the Windows 8 basket–which it presumably did quite awhile ago–it knew that the move meant that it was pushing out the availability of good Windows tablets, thereby losing whatever early momentum it might have had. If the company has the courage of its convictions, it should be okay with short-term bad news.
• Android is performing more poorly in the tablet market than most of us expected; the BlackBerry PlayBook is a fiasco; HP’s WebOS is dead, or close enough. Which means that there’s still plenty of opportunity for someone–including Microsoft–to become a robust #2 in the market after Apple. We already know that won’t happen this year, so Windows 8 tablets showing up next year sounds like decent timing.  
• Most consumers aren’t yet paying attention to Windows 8, so no survey is going to capture well-informed opinions about the new operating system and its strengths or weaknesses as a tablet platform. If Windows 8 tablets are fabulous, they stand a respectable chance of doing okay; if they’re lousy, they’ll surely flop.  
• By choosing to reinvent Windows itself as a touch-centric environment–rather than, say, gussy up Windows Phone and slap it on tablets–Microsoft is clearly trying to do something bigger than simply come up with a plausible iPad rival. It’s Windows users in general that it’s going to need to address, not just prospective iPad buyers.

I’m not saying that Microsoft’s Windows 8 tablet strategy is going to be a surefire success. Actually, it’s one of the biggest gambles I can remember in the technology industry–and in a world in which Windows XP remains the dominant operating system a decade after its release, it’s entirely possible that most people won’t want to make Microsoft’s great leap forward. But it’s okay if interest in Windows tablets is weak right now. If there’s anything we know from the history of post-iPad tablets to date, it’s that expectations don’t have much to do with reality, and rushing into the market doesn’t seem to help.