Mobile For Girls

New Google’s Android Roadmap: New Clues Emerge - Since Google announced Android cell optimized for mobile Tablet Edition operating system no lack of questions about the future of the platform and felt that it was intended. There is a big unknown, of course, what’s next: Will the cells be made by way of smartphones, Android devices are classified into one of two ways: Froyo phone and carrots with a fork and return to full cell only pill? Thank you for a few poems in Congress this week in an exhibition Mobile World, in the end will have a clear answer.

First, a quick primer on where things stand right now: Google’s latest smartphone-focused release is Android Gingerbread, also known as Android 2.3. Google took the wraps off of Gingerbread in early December. Thus far, it’s officially available only on the Nexus S; for the rest of the smartphone pack, the Gingerbread-flavored Android upgrade is still pending. (The vast majority of Android phones — about 89 percent, according to Google’s latest estimates — are currently on Android 2.2 or 2.1.)

Then there’s Honeycomb, or Android 3.0 — the new version made especially for tablets. This sweet software entered our lives last month when Google gave us a sneak peek at the platform. About two weeks ago, Google held a media event in Mountain View at which it spilled more Honeycomb details and provided the first hands-on demos of the Motorola Xoom, the soon-to-be-released inaugural Honeycomb tablet.

Honeycomb brings about major changes to the Android platform, including a new graphical look, a revamped multitasking interface, and improved system notifications. It also introduces the ability for apps to split into multiple panes that function side-by-side on your screen.

Despite its tablet-centric design, Google has dropped several hints that Honeycomb could eventually reach smartphones. At this month’s Android media event, Google reps told me the specifics were still up in the air but that Honeycomb’s visual elements would almost definitely land on every Android device — tablet or smartphone — at some point in the foreseeable future. The real wild card, I suspected, was likely the aforementioned app panels; those are made to take advantage of tablets’ expanded screen space and would be tough to duplicate on a smartphone-sized display.

Fast-forward now to today. During a keynote address at the Mobile World Congress, Google CEO Eric Schmidt was asked about Android’s various versions and where things were headed. His response was very telling.

“We have an OS called Gingerbread for phones. We have an OS being previewed now for tablets called Honeycomb,” Schmidt said. “You can imagine the follow-up will start with an ‘I,’ be named after a dessert, and will combine these two.”

So there you have it: Android’s smartphone and tablet paths, in one form or another, will soon converge. Hang on, though — there’s more.

Also at MWC today, HTC announced a slew of new Android devices, including a 7-inch tablet that’ll run a version of Gingerbread known as Android 2.4. That presumably means we’ll see at least one more significant phone-focused Gingerbread release before the unifying “I” edition of Android arrives.

For anyone who keeps up with rumors, this is no huge surprise; we’ve been hearing about the possibility of a 2.4 release for some time now. Earlier this month, Android blog Phandroid published a rumor that Google was working on a 2.4 release that’d bring some of Honeycomb’s features into Gingerbread-level devices. A website called Pocket-link followed up that report with hearsay suggesting the 2.4 software would be able to run apps designed specifically for Honeycomb. The site also predicted the release would arrive in April.

These features, of course, still not confirmed, but surely started to gel with each other what we hear. And if you’re interested, by the way, that the upcoming Android “I” Release think that should be called ice cream sandwich.

There are other factors in the operating system puzzle Google: Chrome OS. MWC’s speech this week, Google’s Schmidt confirmed this does not mean, Chrome with OS. Namely, the software is targeted: Notebook-Style Keyboard device? Android in mind the phone and tablet. These are two separate entities for certain purposes. Schmidt said that Google Chrome is the first commercial OS to the device on the market sometimes this spring.

This Xoom Meanwhile, plans for the next few weeks. Many cells other slate tablets to follow.

And that, my friends, this is the situation today: the Google Android agenda. There are certainly a lot to be reviewed every twist and turn, from time to time, so looking forward, Android world, things never stay quiet for long.

via pcworld