Android 2.3 ‘Gingerbread’ to arrive in ‘next few days’

The next version of Google’s Android smartphone operating system, Android 2.3 ‘Gingerbread’, is set to be delivered to Nexus One ‘Googlephone’ owners in the next few days according to a tweet from a senior member of the Open Handset Alliance.

The tweet from Alvaro Fuentes Vasquez said that Nexus One (developer version) owners could prepare their devices for an over the air (OTA) update to Android 2.3 ‘Gingerbread’ in the next few days. The Open Handset Alliance is the body Google set up to steer the Android platform in order to avoid accusations of controlling the platform directly.

Rumours of a so-called Nexus Two follow up to the Google smartphone to be manufactured by Samsung had surfaced earlier but were flatly denied by Samsung. The rumours persisted until the Samsung press conference in which the dual-screen ‘Continuum’ was launched, an Android handset to appear on the US Verizon network.

The ‘developer version’ qualification Vasquez included in the tweet points to the fact that the Nexus One is the standard device for Android development and generally first to receive such updates, followed by the vanilla retail Nexus One bought directly from Google and with operator offered versions to be updated substantially later.

When Android 2.2 was released, the first indication was Google employees posting on social networking sites about having obtained ‘Froyo’ OTA, unaware that the update was internal. An Android 2.2 image circulated for weeks before Google announced that it was not an official update.

Another indication of the impending arrival of Gingerbread was delivery two weeks ago of the customary desert-themed mascot to the front lawn of the Googleplex. Unlike ‘Froyo’ there is very little known about what improvements are coming in the new version.

The Vasquez tweet also appears to settle the issue of version numbers and code names, suggesgint that the ‘tablet friendly’ Android awaited by many manufacturers, will actually be that of Android 3.0 ‘Honeycomb’, expected in the new year.

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