Rubin: Android getting more social features; Donut, Eclair, and Flan all in the oven

You don't have to look far past Palm's Synergy tech for webOS and smaller-scale operations like INQ to understand that social internetworking -- an intelligent aggregation of every corner of your life -- is the wave of the mobile future, and Google's going on record saying that it understands. At a T-Mobile- and Google-sponsored event in San Francisco earlier today, Andy Rubin (you know, the Android dude) discussed upcoming releases in Android's pipeline starting with Donut, which we've already heard mentioned, but then progressing to "Eclair" and "Flan" without mentioning specific timelines. He didn't bust out any comprehensive roadmaps, but he waxed poetic about some of the social-centric possibilities -- for example, being kept abreast of a contact's Facebook photo and latest update every time they call -- and mentioned that developers will soon have additional options for charging for apps (presently, Google Checkout is the only way to handle it, but carrier billing is coming soon).

He also reiterated that the hardware pipeline for Android is staggeringly massive, with 15 to 20 phones coming this year alone. One manufacturer actually had the stones to show him eighteen Android-powered devices in a recent meeting -- sounds like a very Samsung-esque thing to do, but whether it's Samsung, HTC, or someone else, we're happy to hear once again that the Magic, Hero, Dream, and Galaxy won't be the only games in town for long.

[Via Phone Scoop]

[Jung @ Jul 10th 2009 7:12PM]

is it me or does that look like a piece of turd when the web site first loaded?

[LondonConsultant @ Jul 10th 2009 7:15PM]

Chris forgot to drown the brown turtle.

[toxicpiano @ Jul 10th 2009 7:16PM]

Personally I thought it was a hotdog, but whatever floats your boat.

[Thunda Chunky @ Jul 10th 2009 7:29PM]

It looked like a slug face down in some dirty Colombian puff to me. But I'm weird.

[skyblaze @ Jul 10th 2009 7:18PM]

@LondonConsultant

i lol'd in real life

(sorry chris.........)

[deanb @ Jul 10th 2009 7:19PM]

If it wasn't for the little bit of pastry showing it could pass as a turd.
ToxicPiano - You over cook your hotdogs.

[bluesky_v2.01 @ Jul 10th 2009 7:19PM]

Well, it is long and brown. Similarities end there.

[Smart People Play Tuba @ Jul 10th 2009 7:21PM]

That's flan; it's a Spanish dish. It's pretty good if it's made correctly.

[Jung @ Jul 10th 2009 7:21PM]

Oh come on, you change the picture to flan.

I want the turd back!

[Smart People Play Tuba @ Jul 10th 2009 7:26PM]

Okay, apparently there was a pic of an eclair, and then Chris changed it to flan.

I hate it when you guys do that, Engadget! Then the previous comments don't make sense.

[Chris Are @ Jul 10th 2009 7:42PM]

http://www.justinspaintings.com/images/p346_Eclair.jpg

Everybody happy now?

[wrabbit @ Jul 10th 2009 10:02PM]

@Chris Are: I know I am. Thank you, my world makes sense again :)

[Ricardo @ Jul 10th 2009 10:22PM]

its a mexican dessert made out of caramel its really good so imma guess 3.0 is going to be a mexican update

[Smart People Play Tuba @ Jul 11th 2009 9:30AM]

Ricardo . . . if that's your real name . . . should know it's Spanish, not Mexican.

My Cuban and Puerto Rican friends love to make flan, and I'm sure they wouldn't like being called "mexican."

[Stevensnewest @ Jul 11th 2009 1:40PM]

@Ricardo

Please don't label every Latino, including me, on this planet as "Mexican" as that is completely incorrect. Not all of us Latinos were born Mexican or live in Mexico, and not every Spanish dish is Mexican, either.

[ClarkyAC @ Jul 10th 2009 7:13PM]

yeah i know what you guys thought when you first glanced at it

[Pre-determined @ Jul 10th 2009 7:13PM]

I did get wide-eyed when i first saw the image pop up..but now i have a sweet tooth... brb

[Muhammad-Oli @ Jul 10th 2009 9:23PM]

I'll be waiting. ;)

[bluesky_v2.01 @ Jul 10th 2009 7:15PM]

Android is becoming increasingly tasty every day. The best is still ahead.

[KRIS_C_123 @ Jul 10th 2009 7:17PM]

Nice picture

[RLBurkes @ Jul 11th 2009 10:33AM]

@KRIS_C_123
For some reason I found the simplicity of your message hilarious.

[Jagster @ Jul 11th 2009 12:26PM]

Yea, maybe one day it will be decent enough that Google's own CEO will try it. Until then, if the creator of the device won't even use it, count me out.

[deanb @ Jul 10th 2009 7:18PM]

So what market are they aiming at by naming all the updates after deserts?
And why not android/robot related names? like Nestor-5, Data, or would that just be far too geeky?
Still going into a phone sotre and been told that phone X has Flan on it would confuse the hell out of me.

[iDavey @ Jul 10th 2009 9:26PM]

The general populace does not refer to it as Cupcake.
Once it hits the populace it is refered to as 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, etc...etc.

[deanb @ Jul 10th 2009 9:40PM]

Are you sure on that? When Cupcake hit last month there were a few FB updates along lines of "Cool my G1 just updated to cupcake" and remarks like that are from the 'general populace' type people.

[ratnikh @ Jul 12th 2009 4:14AM]

If someone referred to an Android update as "Cupcake" then it's because they were either in the loop, because of tech blogs, or were informed through Android news channels. Store employees generally wouldn't even bother mentioning firmware versions, "developer codenames" or other such information. T-Mobile didn't refer to 1.5 as Cupcake, they simply gave the OTA update and referred to it as v1.5 update.

The names the Android dev team chooses are for their own in-house development cycles. Most companies do the same thing with their products, but in this case, the names are whimsical and more likely to leak out to the public over time and more apt to be remembered.

[Chris Ziegler @ Jul 10th 2009 7:19PM]

Alright, you guys apparently can't handle an eclair, so we'll try flan.

[KRIS_C_123 @ Jul 10th 2009 7:20PM]

what is in a flan?? ive never tried one

[skyblaze @ Jul 10th 2009 7:21PM]

NOOOOOOOOOOOO :(

just playing, lol.... yeah better choice

[Chris Ziegler @ Jul 10th 2009 7:21PM]

I think it's like a caramel thingie of some sort.

[skyblaze @ Jul 10th 2009 7:22PM]

o and flan is a mexican custard... kinda like pudding but... a lil more jelloish really.. been a while since i had some

[Smart People Play Tuba @ Jul 10th 2009 7:29PM]

Not to nit-pick, but it's a Spanish dish, not Mexican.

[skyblaze @ Jul 10th 2009 7:36PM]

lol, thanks... just made a wild guess cuz the last time i had flan was at some 4th grade international day affair

[LondonConsultant @ Jul 10th 2009 7:51PM]

In Britain, a flan is like a tart. I'd call the thing in the new photo a creme caramel. I miss the old eclair photo - it had character...

[nerdtalker @ Jul 10th 2009 10:05PM]

/facepalm

[Ravnos @ Jul 10th 2009 10:17PM]

Spanish is a kind of Mexican, right?

[CJ @ Jul 11th 2009 8:44AM]

Don't worry Chris, these people just don't have a decent sweet tooth.

They're too busy swallowing apples :D

[Smart People Play Tuba @ Jul 11th 2009 9:32AM]

@ Ravnos

That's correct. And British is a type of American. And the internet is one type of Engadget.

[Stevensnewest @ Jul 11th 2009 1:45PM]

@Ravnos

You are clearly being sarcastic and racist.

[Lancelot @ Jul 11th 2009 6:43PM]

On a serious note, i just hope someone releases an android phone with a 3.5" screen, the ability to change font size in gmail, messaging & the email program. At a minimum a zoom feature should be included that works throughout the OS.
I do hope that someone realizes that not all of us have the eyes of a 20 yr. old..

[Someperson @ Jul 10th 2009 7:26PM]

I thought 4.0 was going to be Fruitcake :/

[jjbecerra909 @ Jul 10th 2009 7:30PM]

My grandma make some good Flan man its a mexican dessert

[meikaat @ Jul 11th 2009 11:24AM]

Crème caramel, flan, or caramel custard is a rich custard dessert with a layer of soft caramel on top, as opposed to crème brûlée, which is custard with a hard caramel top.

The dish has spread across Europe and the world. Both 'crème caramel' and 'flan' are French names (from Old German flado 'cake'), but have come to have different meanings in different regions. In Spanish-speaking countries and in North America, flan refers to crème caramel; this was originally a Spanish usage, but the dish is now best-known in the United States in a Latin American context and also in the Philippines, where it is known more as leche flan. Elsewhere, including in France, 'flan' usually means a custard tart, often with a fruit topping. In Europe and many Commonwealth countries, the dish is generally known as crème caramel.

^ From wikipedia ^

Why are there so many people thinking Mexico invented flan?!

[Eddie.exe @ Jul 10th 2009 7:28PM]

Flan is yummy =3

[Marcello @ Jul 10th 2009 7:30PM]

Is that condensed milk flan? I looooove that stuff!

[The Man @ Jul 10th 2009 7:30PM]

hello

[Ross Miller @ Jul 10th 2009 7:34PM]

Hi

[Chris Ziegler @ Jul 10th 2009 7:36PM]

sup guys

[Eddie.exe @ Jul 10th 2009 8:14PM]

Hey guys what's going on here?

[wrabbit @ Jul 10th 2009 10:04PM]

I say gentlemen, how do you do?