Google's Android 2.3, or "Gingerbread," is headed to Nexus One smartphones in "the next few days," according to a tweet from an Open Handset Alliance member.
"Gingerbread," the newest version of Google's Android operating
system, is reportedly heading for Google's Nexus One smartphone.
Kron0x, a member of the Open Handset Alliance
(OHA), Tweeted Nov. 7 that Nexus One owners should get ready for an
over-the-air update "in the next few days" to Android 2.3, or "Gingerbread,"
ZDnet first reported. (The OHA is the body of
technology and mobility companies that developed Android.)
Android Police seconded the likelihood
of the launch, writing that Nov. 11 has been the rumored date that the
bowtie-wearing treat will start running.
Following "Froyo"-or version 2.2, as a 2.3 and not 3.0-the updates
shouldn't be too super major. Still, it's reported that Gingerbread will
feature an overhaul of Android's icons and user interface-which is thought to
be the work of former Palm employee Matias Duarte, according to Phandroid.
Plus, Google's newest OS will reportedly feature video chat support leveraging
the Google Talk protocols and SIP (session initiation protocols) support for
Google Voice, enabling Nexus One users to receive calls through Google Voice
over a WiFi connection.
The
Phandroid blog adds that in
Gingerbread, the color green has been worked into the Android branding more,
and that the Google apps, in appearance, will seem more like extensions of the
operating system than "tacked on" accessories. It's also supposed to add the
"bouncy" effect known to iOS users, and to implement "hardware acceleration,"
again like iOS has.
Google has reportedly been working to include this feature on a future
version of Android, reports Phandroid, adding "while we can't confirm that at
this point, it sounds like that just might be the case with Gingerbread."
On Jan. 13, Google first made the Nexus One available through its site,
selling the HTC-made handset unlocked for
$529, as well as at a subsidized rate of $179 with a two-year service contract
with T-Mobile. It was a new, but ultimately unsuccessful, style of marketing,
and in March, analytics firm Flurry reported that while Apple sold 1 million
iPhones in the device's first 74 days on the market, and Verizon sold 1.05 million
Motorola Droids in that same amount of time, Google sold only 135,000 Nexus One
smartphones within 74 days of its launch.
Analyst Jack Gold, with J. Gold and Associates, has nonetheless called the
Nexus One a success, pointing out that each phone acted as a "reference
platform" for Google, which didn't need to "sell lots of them directly to
ultimately make a huge profit in the smartphone market." And, indeed, Google CEO
Eric Schmidt has pointed out that whether consumers buy the Nexus One, an Apple
iPhone or any other smartphone with Google Search, Google is making money.
More recently, it's been rumored that Samsung, at a scheduled Nov. 8 event
in New York, would launch a Nexus
Two. However, the Samsung Hub blog, quoting a Samsung official, says the launch
will
instead be for the Continuum-a smartphone with a second, ticker-style
screen below the main screen, for displaying updates, news feeds and other
real-time data.
The Continuum is scheduled to arrive on the Verizon Wireless network in time
for holiday sales.
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