Oct 23, 2010 09:25 GMT  ·  By

Google is gearing up for the official release of a new Android flavor, which would sport the codename of Gingerbread, and the company has already placed a new statue on the lawn at its Mountain View headquarters, a Gingerbread man. The video embedded at the bottom of this article would show you the statue's arrival.

The Internet giant has accustomed us with naming its Android releases after sweets, and the Gingerbread man joins Froyo, Eclair, Donut and Cupcake at Google campus.

This “live” appearance is meant to prove that the actual release of the new OS flavor is not too far away, though it might not come before this week is over, as some of the previous rumors suggested.

The new version of Android should arrive with a wide range of changes when compared to Android 2.2 Froyo, the latest flavor of the OS to run on handsets on the market at the moment.

What still hasn't been confirmed for the time being on this platform flavor, beside the actual launch day, is the version number it would sport when made available.

We've heard a wide range of rumors regarding the version numbering Google would choose for the next version of its mobile operating system, codenamed Gingerbread.

While we were all expecting for the new platform version to be released as Android 3.0, it seems that it would actually arrive at 2.3.

According to Android Central, a snippet from Google's “issues” repository refers to a Android 2.3 OS version that would arrive as a “major release.”

A Google employee responded to Issue 8804, which refers to problems some had with connecting to corporate Wi-Fi after installing Froyo, and stated that a patch would be made available in Android 2.3, a “major release.”

Whether Android 2.3 or Android 3.0, Gingerbread should make an official appearance in the near future, with a nice range of enhancements, especially on the visual area.

Moreover, the solution is expected to land with optimizations for use on tablet PCs, as well as with a series of other enhancements under the hood.

Until more info on the new OS version emerges, one might want to take a look at the video below, to see the Gingerbread man arriving at Google's headquarters.