It has taken almost 16 months, but Google’s current Jelly Bean operating system has now reached almost half of all Android-powered devices. It boasts a bigger share than its predecessor, Ice Cream Sandwich — and Android 2.3 Gingerbread, which is the second-most popular version of Android with a 28.5% share of distribution.

If you happen to be a fan of what Samsung’s doing with TouchWiz, then you may be interested in a new app that brings the Galaxy S4’s lock screen to other Android-powered smartphones. It’s free and it runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and above, and you can download it now from Google Play.

BlackBerry has finally provided us with launch dates for its new BBM apps for Android and iOS. Just as we expected, the popular messaging service will reach Google Play first on Saturday, September 21 — before popping up in the App Store just a day later on Sunday, September 22.

Google has just released the latest distribution figures of the Android operating system over a 14-day period ending on September 4. The numbers show a consistent growth in the amount of Android users running Jelly Bean while older versions of the operating system, including Froyo, continue on their journey towards extinction.

Vine for Android has been updated to add support for mentions and hashtag auto-complete — features that were introduced to the iOS app back in April. The update is available to download now from Google Play for devices running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and above.