Uh-oh, just when we thought the SPECTRE of fragmentation was beginning to recede thanks to the HTC Hero update and the emergence of Android 2.2 as a possible new “default” Android – news arrives of the upcoming “Gingerbread” update.
Speaking in a Mobile Review podcast – which has been transcribed by Unwired View – MR’s reporter claims the next Android will require a 1GHz processor if you want to operate the top-tier new release.
That’ll cause major RUCTIONS, if true. Here’s the full list of alleged “Gingerbread” features:
* Android 3.0 Gingerbread will be released in mid- October (around 15 -16th), 2010. First handsets shipping in November/December – for the Holiday Season
* Minimum hardware requirements for Android 3.0 devices are: 1GHZ CPU, 512MB or RAM, displays from 3.5″ and higher
* New 1280×760 resolution available for the devices with displays of 4″ and higher
* Completely revamped user interface. If you want to get a feeling of what Android 3.0 Gingerbread UX is like, check out the Gallery App on Nexus One. The same overall feel, light animated transitions,etc. Natively, through all the UI
* Android’s split into 2 branches becomes official. 3.0 for top of the line/high end devices. Cheap, low-end mass market handsets will keep Android 2.1/2.2
That lot might take some time to digest, so we’ll not distract you with an image beneath this. Read and digest. Links via Gizmodo.
HTC’s 4.3″ dual-core Android model, powered by Qualcomm’s all-new S4 processor. It’s smaller than the enormous One X, but is it as nice as its bigger brother? (SPOILER: Yes it is).
HTC is very much B-A-C-K at the top of the Android world with this, its quad-core flagship for 2012. Great camera, huge 4.7″ display and Android 4.0 running beautifully well.
Sony returns with an all-new mobile design for 2012, pairing a dual-core processor with a 720p display. It’s a lovely phone, but is it enough to end our Samsung and HTC obsession?
LG’s updated Prada phone comes with an absolutely crazy black & white theme, but is it just for fashionable suit wearers who want to make themselves look a bit more interesting?
k0zmic
/ June 30, 2010Not too sure about this. Isn’t this worse, for example, it’s fine if this release just has a new Interface but all the underlying API’s are still the same as 2.1 but if they change the underlying API’s won’t that split the user base for developers to target e.g. 2.1/2.2 or 3.0?
keef
/ June 30, 2010At this rate, by the time my contract is up for renewal, in a year, it’ll be on 6.0, spotted dick. This can only be a good thing. ……….surely!
Dave
/ July 1, 2010I can live with this, actually. Especially considering the amount of low-end Android phones popping up now, having a standardized feature set that separates high-end from low-end would be a pretty good way to take things.
Khalood
/ July 1, 2010Can I have a 3.0 android phone but keep the android 1.0 – 2.2 UI? I’m the type of guy who prefers flat icons and UI rather than pretty glossy objects that shine needlessly on my screen.
Of course, since this is a “leak” from some random Russian podcast, there’s a 99.9975% chance that it’s just a rumor, nothing more.
That 1280×760 resolution, on the other hand…
Arivind Abraham
/ July 1, 2010This and the Froyo update has led me to put my Desire up for sale so I can swtich the Nexus One instead.
MarkG
/ July 1, 2010There is no Split, this is a myth created by Jobs and his gang of spin doctors.
The programming API of Android will be mostly unchanged in 3.0, and therefore any app you download will work on either device.
My Apps I target Android 1.5, merely because I don’t want to exclude large chunks of users, and I don’t need the API’s that 2.1 provide. This will continue to be the case. You write to the lowest API level you app can get away with.
The only difference will be how the OS looks, not the apps themselves.
k0zmic
/ July 1, 2010@ MarkG
Thanks for that. I thought it would be a bit silly if they split the API’s. In that case I’m all for a more polished Android. The real problem lies with the OEM’s trying to differentiate themselves, i.e. by putting Sense or BLUR on, hopefully this will stop with a more attractive stock Android but I doubt it.
b33
/ July 1, 2010c’mon google surprise me with a new UI, i want smoothness
Andy Burns
/ July 1, 2010Actually I find the gallery on my N1 to be the crashiest, least practical app on the phone, too much bling, not enough functionality, it displays photos at appalling quality.
Matt S
/ July 2, 2010@k0zmic:
Its not just an issue with the manufactuers branding their phone. Android users (except those with N1s) have to wait while they add Sense, MotoBlur or whatever travesty SE put on the Xperia. This seems to take an age in an era when Apple seem to push out an update to all their phones in every country all on the same day.
We can hopefully expect HTC to update Sense etc faster in 2.2.x and 3.x (if its even needed in gingerbread) once Google set some final standards. Perhaps it will be really simple to add extra branding bits on without having to mess with the OS? Google could help the manufacturers out by having dedicated HTC or Motorola sections on the Market where official addons (sense/blur) and official widgets could be released only for those with the relevant phones. I doubt very much that HTC would release Sense on the Market and let it loose on Samsung phones for example. That way we could all update our phones and then the Market notification would let us know that there was an updated version of whatever app makes Sense and we could download it ourselves. Thats an ideal world though but for now we have to wait…
Unfortunately the delay doesn’t just stop there. Not only do we have to wait for HTC/Motorola/SE to finish messing around with Android updates we also have to wait for the mobile operators (expecially orange) to bastardise it. Uninstallable game demos, pointless uninstallable widgets and apps, the changing of icons to white and orange instead of the shiny and colourful icons we expect etc. This seems to take forever. While owners of the N1 are flaunting their Froyo at me, I’m sitting here sad with my Desire just waiting… and waiting… and waiting.
I don’t know if the Desire will meet the minimum spec for Gingerbread but I really hope it will. I think it will completely refresh the platform and hopefully prevent all these delays caused by the manufacturers and operators.
I don’t care if there are operator logos on the case of my phone, I also dont care if they brand the handset background or preinstall stuff PROVIDED I can remove anything I dont want and install things that I do. These phones aren’t cheap and I expect to get what is advertised.
[/rant]
k0zmic
/ July 2, 2010@ MattS
That’s true, the development of the Android OS should ‘settle down’ a bit now due to the possibility of yearly update cycle, so hopefully the OEM’s can keep up. And you’re telling me, I have to wait for bloody T-Mobile to add their stupid shortcuts to shitty websites to my G2 update. I’d like to see Sense/Blur etc on the Market but that won’t ever happen, because for the OEM’s it’s their phones ‘Unique Selling Point’ if everyone has access to it what incentive is there to buy their phones?
The fact is that the operators do have incentive to update so they can have a phone running more recent software compared to their rivals so there’s more incentive for customers to buy from them. But the OEM’s don’t, they’ve already made their money and updating is just an extra cost to them, although they should learn that updates for phones = better satisfaction which means more return sales in the future. I’m still in high school and I can grasp that concept, why can’t they?
I’m sure the Desire meets the requirements though, since it is basically a N1 with Sense. You just have to hope HTC will update it, personally I think they should just skip to Gingerbread for the Desire even if it means a longer wait.