Android 3.0 Gingerbread in Mid-October, Details Emerge

Mountain View-based Internet giant Google is hard at work with the development of the next version of its Android mobile operating system. Following the recent release of Android 2.2 Froyo, the next generation Android is expected to arrive sometime in mid-October as Android 3.0 Gingerbread. This is not the first time when the codename emerges into the wild, though it is the first time when specific details on the features and novelties it would bring forth emerge into the wild.

First of all it should be mentioned that Android 3.0 Gingerbread won't be released as a platform for the masses. Much like Microsoft did with the upcoming Windows Phone 7 platform, Google has put in place some hardware requirements for the upcoming handsets running under Gingerbread. Only high-end phones would run under it, it seems, while mobile phones aimed at the mass market, or at the lower end of the market, would run under the current Android 2.1 or Android 2.2 platform versions.

According to a recent article on UnwiredView, which cites Mobile-review.com’s Eldar Murtazin, Gingerbread would be present only on phones packing a minimum 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, and touchscreen displays of 3.5-inches. Anything above is admitted, it seems, including displays larger than 4-inches that would boast resolutions higher than 1280 x 760 pixels.

Among the other details unveiled on the Android 3.0 Gingerbread operating system, we can count the inclusion of a new user interface into the mix, one that would enhance the experience one would receive from its device. Light animated transitions and a better overall feel are some of the features the upcoming OS would arrive with, similar with what the Gallery App on Nexus One offers, it seems.

All in all, it seems that Google aims at improving even more the user experience its mobile operating system can deliver. However, it would also make a clear difference between handsets powered by different flavors of the OS, something that did not happen until now. The first devices powered by Android 3.0 Gingerbread should arrive on the market in time for the Holiday Season.