Push Notifications in Android Platform

Question

I am looking to write an app that receives pushed alerts from a server. I found a couple of methods to do this.

1. SMS - Intercept the incoming SMS and initiate

Answer 1

My understanding/experience with Android push notification are:

1. C2DM GCM - If your target android platform is 2.2+, then go for it. Just one catch, device users have to be always logged with a Google Account to get the messages.

2. MQTT - Pub/Sub based approach, needs an active connection from device, may drain battery if not implemented sensibly.

3. Deacon - May not be good in a long run due to limited community support.

Edit: Added on November 25, 2013

GCM - Google says...

For pre-3.0 devices, this requires users to set up their Google account on their mobile devices. A Google account is not a requirement on devices running Android 4.0.4 or higher.*