Gingerbread
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Android 3.0 due to start hitting tablets in December ahead of January launch
A holiday tradition? Making things out of gingerbread, and Google is doing its part to keep that practice alive according to a report stating Android 3.0 is set to hit some tablets this December. Those will just be early samples destined only to light up the eyes of engineers who've been very, very good this year, but the rest of us naughty boys and girls will get to see those slates when they launch to the public in January. We hear there's a little electronics show happening that time of year, and supposedly HTC, Samsung, and Motorola will be showing their Gingerbread tablets there, amongst others (but not Lenovo, apparently). We can't wait to get a taste. Update: Thanks to James for pointing out that it's still unclear whether 3.0 is going to be Gingerbread or, indeed, the truly tablet-minded Honeycomb release we're really waiting for. This report states specifically that 3.0 is hitting tablets in December, with 4.0 later in 2011. Is that Gingerbread and Honeycomb, or Honeycomb and Ice Cream? Also, is anyone else hungry?
Advent Vega tablet won't come with Android Market, might get it as part of Gingerbread update (video)
Lack of Google's official app store has been a thorn in the side of would-be Android tablet makers for a good long while, and it looks like the Tegra 2-powered Advent Vega will be no exception when it hits the high street tomorrow. Electricpig took the £249 device for a spin, chatting up Advent product manager Adam Lockyer the whole time, and discovered that while the 10-inch tablet will come with the 5,000-app-strong Archos AppsLib store, it won't have Android Market at launch. "The plan is that when you get to January time, there's a new release of Android and you'll be able to get the marketplace on this product," Lockyer said, suggesting that maybe -- just maybe -- the availability of Android Market itself might be one of the fragmentation issues Google intends to fix in Gingerbread. Wouldn't that be nice? Video after the break. [Thanks, Chak I.]
LG scraps plans for Froyo tablet, will wait for next Android version
If you needed any further proof that Android in its present form isn't mature enough to perform tablet duties, here it is. Reuters is citing an unnamed LG official who has categorically written off the possibility of his company producing an Android 2.2 tablet. The LG informer has said that his company wants "the most suitable version [of Android] for our tablet and that is not Froyo 2.2." This mirrors Motorola's strategy of holding out until at least the next iteration of Google's mobile OS before diving into the tablet pool. Still, it'll be disappointing to those who took LG's words at face value when it promised its tablet will be an iPad killer -- that may still happen, mind you, just not this year.
10-inch Galaxy Tab promised for 2011 by Samsung Ireland General Manager (updated)
Tucked away at the bottom of a news story about who'll be carrying the 7-inch Galaxy Tab in Ireland this year is the promise of a 10-inch Tab (presumably for the whole world) next year. This comes straight from local General Manager Gary Twohig, who seems to have casually disclosed his company's plans for a 10-inch Android slate in the first half of 2011. Beyond that, all we know is that it'll include the V8 JavaScript Engine that first showed up as a touted feature in Froyo, though if we had to bet our Led Zep record collection, we'd probably say this 10-incher will be holding out for Android 3.x -- either Gingerbread or Honeycomb -- for an experience better optimized to run on larger screens. In fact, that may be the likeliest reason why this new tablet didn't debut with its 7-inch sibling: waiting on a better OS. [Thanks, Iain] Update: The original story has undergone a bit of massaging since we first reported on it and the connection between Gary Twohig and the 10-inch Tab has now been removed. We're still inclined to believe the content, however, as Samsung itself has not been shy about its plans to bring multiple Galaxy Tab sizes to the world.
Sony's PlayStation division looking for engineers with Android dev experience
It's been just over a month since we broke the news that Sony's working on an Android 3.0-based gaming phone with PlayStation branding, and a new job posting seems to indicate that progress is being made -- the PlayStation division is looking for a senior server engineer in London with "experience in mobile development, specifically Android." The rest of the listing sounds like this person will be involved in running an online game service, which certainly makes sense; Sony would do well to counter Xbox Live on Windows Phone 7 and Apple's Game Center with PSN on their own device. Either that, or this just means nothing -- but you know us, we're eternal optimists. [Thanks, Saad073]
Motorola 'eager' to get into tablet market, but won't do so until next year
Motorola's been thinking about tablets for a while now, but according to Sanjay Jha, it won't be entering that flourishing new market segment until it's absolutely certain it'll have a product that's "competitive in the marketplace." Depending on how you perceive the Droid X, Moto might arguably be said to already have a tablet out on sale, but rumors have mostly circulated around a 10-inch slate device, most probably in partnership with Verizon and most likely using Android 3.0 as its OS. Google itself has admitted that Android won't be fit for tablets until Gingerbread is delivered, and Jha's reluctance to introduce any new hardware before 2011 seems to be motivated by a corresponding desire to have the latest and greatest version on board from the start. Can't say we blame him.
Acer reportedly planning 5-inch Android 3.0 tablet, too
We'd already heard that Acer had some 7- and 10-inch Android tablets in the works, but it looks like it's not stopping there. DigiTimes is now reporting that the company is also prepping a 5-inch tablet which, like the others, will be based on Android 3.0 and will roll out sometime in the first quarter of 2011. Of particular note here is that the 5-inch model will reportedly boast both "handset and tablet PC functionality," which would pit it up against the likes of the Dell Streak. Details otherwise still seem to be pretty up in the air for all three, though -- in fact, DigiTimes says that Acer is still deciding between Qualcomm's Snapdragon and NVIDIA's Tegra 2, and that it will even release an Intel-based Windows 7 model before the Android tablets in order to "test the water in the market."
Google: Android 2.2 'not designed' for the tablet form factor
Hello, obvious! Anyone who has actually used an Android-based tablet for any length of time would probably tell you that the experience is far from optimal. It works, sure, but it doesn't take a CSC major to understand that Google's existing builds of Android were crafted for smartphones and nothing more. Thankfully for those who are tired of arguing the point, Hugo Barra, director of products for mobile at Google, is stepping up to the plate and giving you some backing. Quoted over at Tech Radar, Hugo noted that "Android is an open platform, and we saw at IFA 2010 all sorts of devices running Android, so it's already running on tablets; but the way Android Market works is it's not going to be available on devices that don't allow applications to run correctly." He followed up by proclaiming that "Froyo is not optimized for use on tablets," and while he wouldn't go so far as to affirm that Gingerbread would be built for use on the aforementioned form factor, he did say that the company's working "to ensure our users have [the] right experience." How's that strike you, Galaxy Tab?
Samsung exec says next tablet will use Android 'Honeycomb,' Galaxy Tab getting Gingerbread
Samsung's Galaxy Tab has only just finally, officially been revealed, but it looks like the company is already doing at least a bit of talking about its next tablet (and the future of the Galaxy Tab). According to Tech Radar, Samsung's head of product planning, WP Hong, has said that "moving forward, with Honeycomb, that will be used in the next generation tablet, as it is specifically optimized for different type of tablet, and will be used on another product only." Not only is that the most official word we've had so far of a Galaxy Tab followup (curiously described as a "different type of tablet"), but it's also seemingly the first time that an ODM has publicly referred to a future Android version as "Honeycomb" -- a name that Tech Radar had previously heard from "multiple sources." It seems that Honeycomb won't be making it to the current Galaxy Tab, however, but Hong did say that "depending on our international partners, we'll be working to upgrade from Froyo to Gingerbread."
Acer and Motorola getting spicy Gingerbread for Android 3.0 tablets?
Remember those Acer Android tablets the company has been teasing since May? Rumor has it they're getting put on ice -- for a little while, at least. They were initially planned to launch this year with a heaping helping of Froyo, but now the company apparently wants something sweeter: Android 3.0. The Gingerbread build is supposed to, among other things, support higher-resolution screens that one might want in a tablet, something that has apparently also caught the eye of Motorola, also said yet again to be working on a tablet. This would be developed in close partnership with Google and fits right in with the earlier rumors and roadmaps we've heard and seen. Gingerbread is said to come out of the oven sometime before the end of this year, which would likely mean a 2011 launch for these slabs. Is that too late for impatient tableteers?
Exclusive: Sony Ericsson to introduce Android 3.0 gaming platform and PSP Go-like smartphone
There's no question that gaming on the Android platform has heretofore been relatively underwhelming, but that looks like it's all about to change. It seems that Sony Ericsson -- a company that has yet to even introduce an Android 2.0 device -- is at work on a project to redefine gaming on Google's mobile platform. We now know (via a trusted source) that the company is actively and heavily developing a brand new gaming platform, ecosystem, and device (possibly alongside Google) which are already in the late stages of planning. And we've got the goods on it.
Verizon rumors: LTE, Android 3.0 tablets, a Droid Pro, and more
BGR's lined up a handful of very believable rumors for Big Red today -- and if you're an Android fan, you're going to want to pay very close attention (heck, even if you're not, you should probably take a look). First up, Motorola's said to have a full-touch Android 2.2 handset in the works with global roaming capability on GSM and presumably HSPA -- a first in the CDMA Android world -- that apparently looks a bit like a Motorola Q (without the keyboard, of course). Interestingly, we've recently been clued into a global roaming Moto from a trusted tipster of ours with the codename "Venus" that's slated to enter internal testing on the 27th of this month, so that lines up pretty nicely with this rumor -- but Venus could also be another global Android smartphone allegedly in the pipeline from Motorola, the Droid Pro. As its name suggests, BGR says the Droid Pro will be a monster, featuring a 1.3GHz core (faster than the 1GHz Droid X and Droid 2) and a 4-inch screen with a target street date in November -- just in time for the holidays. There are also apparently global Android handsets in store from Samsung and HTC; additionally, our tipster tells us that there will be a Motorola "Ciena" sans global roaming, a phone could possibly be that WX445 we saw not long ago. It's entering carrier acceptance testing on the 17th. Follow the break for the rest of the lowdown! [Thanks, HTC Kid]
ASUS Eee Pad EP101TC opts for Android, dumps Windows Embedded Compact 7
The lesser of ASUS' two Eee Pad tablets announced at Computex this year, the EP101TC, is getting itself a software rejig ahead of its planned early 2011 launch. Originally slated to run on Microsoft's Windows Embedded Compact 7 -- a wordy OS, if nothing else -- the Pad will now entrust its operational infrastructure to Google's Android. ASUS is currently working on prototypes with Froyo on board, but Gingerbread (or Android 3.0) has not been ruled out as a possible final OS choice. We're told to expect the first public demos at CES 2011, with retail units likely following on from there at a relatively brisk pace.
Android team's Morrill discounts Gingerbread rumors
Eldar Murtazin has a pretty decent track record when it comes to smartphone whispers, but his Android 3.0 Gingerbread morsels yesterday are now at odds with someone a bit closer to the dough -- namely, Dan Morrill, Android's Open Source and Compatibility Tech Lead (yeah, that's a bit of a mouth full). Here are a few highlights from his Twitter feed tonight: "I love it when people just make stuff up" (sarcasm, obviously), "rumors are not official announcements," and so on. Sure, he could just be playing coy here, but for now, this is more or less the final word on the matter -- until either Google or the rumor mill heat up again, of course. Guess that's how the, erm, cookie crumbles.
Android 3.0 Gingerbread getting revamped UI, Froyo living on for lower-end phones?
Last we'd heard, the next major release of Android -- codename Gingerbread -- was scheduled for a fourth-quarter launch, but the always-entertaining Eldar Murtazin has apparently just spilled a few details on what he knows of the release on a Russian podcast. Most notably, the dude says that we can expect an entirely revamped UI -- the first that the platform will have undergone since its introduction -- and will take cues from the fancy 3D Gallery app launched with Eclair. There's said to be a new 1280 x 760 resolution available for devices larger than 4 inches, which would dovetail nicely with Verizon's desire to bring a bunch of Android tablets to market. Like Windows Phone 7, Murtazin claims that Google will be laying down the law with some hardcore hardware specs to run 3.0, demanding a minimum of a 3.5-inch display, a 1GHz processor, and 512MB of RAM -- so what about cheaper devices? Well, those will apparently continue to run Android 2.1 or 2.2, which sounds like yet another serious recipe for platform fragmentation from the outset. We'll apparently see the first devices launch in time for the holidays following an October introduction, which lines up with what we've heard so far. Needless to say, we'll be keeping a close eye on this one. Update: Android team's Dan Morrill (full title Open Source and Compatibility Tech Lead -- yeah, that's a bit of a mouth full) is calling out the rumor over Twitter: "I love it when people just make stuff up" (sarcasm, obviously), "rumors are not official announcements," and so on. Guess that's how the, erm, cookie crumbles. [Thanks, John]
Counterpoint: fragmentation won't destroy Android after all
The common belief -- and a belief we've generally shared here at Engadget -- is that Google's breakneck pace of development and lackadaisical stance toward heavily-customized versions of Android is slowly undermining the platform from the inside out. Handset manufacturers simply aren't used to the concept of two or more major revisions of an operating system in the span of 12 months, and it's got the potential to wreak havoc; there's probably no better example of this than HTC's Sense, where many of the world's Hero owners continue to plod along on Android 1.5 to this very day. Ultimately, this means that different Android users have access to different subsets of features and applications -- and looking at the big picture, it could mean that potential buyers are going to be subject to more paralysis at the sales counter than they'd be knowing that they've got a more futureproof device in their hands. Theoretically, anyway. Thing is, even as Android becomes more fragmented, it's also becoming more of a consumer product. Gone are the days when the ultra-geeky G1 was your only ticket to ride; now you've got dozens of choices, including high-end, heavily-marketed phones on American carriers like the Droid Incredible, Backflip, myTouch 3G Slide, and EVO 4G. What that means is that carriers and manufacturers are both successfully turning the conversation away from the platform, the technology, and the politics of Android -- subjects that your average phone buyer couldn't possibly care less about -- and turning it toward things that actually sell devices in volume: sex appeal, speed, and easy access to services like Facebook and Twitter. This phenomenon was demonstrated for us this week on the Engadget Mobile podcast, where our special guest (and podcast producer) Trent Wolbe -- a guy who isn't the unabashed phone nerd that I am -- told us on no uncertain terms that the lack of Froyo on the EVO 4G at launch is a complete non-issue for him. It makes sense: if a phone does everything you need it to do, and it does those things extraordinarily well, who really cares? Well, as technology writers, it's easy for us to care (in fact, it's our job to care) and to get swept up in the notion that having the latest and greatest is absolutely critical to our enjoyment of a product, but in reality, your average EVO 4G buyer might not even know what Android 2.2 is, much less understand why he or she should want it. We're not advocating that HTC and others slack off on keeping up with Google, of course -- or that Google shouldn't consider slowing down a smidge as Android's core matures -- but there's definitely an argument to be made that we're all going to enjoy the cream of this year's Android crop, Froyo / Gingerbread or otherwise.
Android Gingerbread is 'planned for Q4 2010'
While we're all busy laboring in the shadow of Android 2.2's impending release, here's Google's sneaky first indication of the next version's release. In the FAQ for its newly announced WebM format, the Mountain View team tells us that Android support will come in the Gingerbread iteration, which is "currently planned for Q4, 2010." We still don't know the particular point version of the latest tasty treat, but at least there's finally something to put on the feature list and a date (range) to look forward to.
Exclusive: Android Froyo to take a serious shot at stemming platform fragmentation
We had a couple people at CTIA last week -- people whose words carry weight -- tell us off the record that the next major version of Android would take big strides toward stopping the ugly trend toward severe fragmentation that has plagued the platform for much of this and last year. You know, the kind of fragmentation that has already left users running not one, not two, not three, but four distinct versions of the little green guy (1.5, 1.6, 2.0, and 2.1) depending on a seemingly arbitrary formula of hardware, carrier, region, software customization, and manufacturers' ability to push updates in a timely fashion. Put simply, Google's been iterating the core far faster than most of its partners have been able to keep up. Thing is, in light of our CTIA conversations, we didn't have an idea of how Google planned on fixing this -- until now. We've been given reason to believe that the company will start by decoupling many of Android's standard applications and components from the platform's core and making them downloadable and updatable through the Market, much the same as they've already done with Maps. In all likelihood, this process will take place over two major Android versions, starting with Froyo and continuing through Gingerbread. Notice that we said apps and components, meaning that some core elements of Android -- input methods, for instance -- should get this treatment. This way, just because Google rolls out an awesome new browser doesn't mean you need to wait for HTC, Samsung, or whomever made your phone to roll it into a firmware update, and for your carrier to approve it -- almost all of the juicy user-facing stuff will happen through the Market. The second part of this doubled-edged attack on platform fragmentation comes from a simple reality: we're hearing that Google may be nearing the end of its breakneck development pace on Android's core and shifting attention to apps and features. By the time we get to Froyo, the underlying platform -- and the API that devs need to target -- will be reaching legitimate maturity for the first time, which means we should have far fewer tasty treat-themed code names to worry about over the course of an average year. We like awesome new software as much as the next guy, but Google's been moving so fast lately that they've created a near constant culture of obsolescence anxiety among the hardcore user base -- and in turn, that leads to paralysis at the sales counter. How much of this strategy actually materializes -- and how effective it is at changing the direction of the platform at large -- remains to be seen, but it sounds like a promising turn of events. Considering it's been a solid five months since the Eclair SDK premiered, that's an eternity in Google years; time to shake things up a bit, we reckon.
Raiding the Android pantry: after Froyo comes 'Gingerbread'
Anyone who's been following Google's codename saga for Android builds is probably 15 pounds heavier just from hearing the names themselves -- Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, you get the idea. Delectable dessert names aren't the only common theme here, though: they're going in alphabetical order, so we need a "G" sweet next. Well, Google's Brian Swetland -- who works on Android's Linux-based kernel in Mountain View -- has dropped that knowledge in passing while discussing kernel versions on LWN.net. Ready for this? "Gingerbread." Sounds good to us, but naturally, we're more concerned about what's in the build than what it's named, and we don't have those details yet other than Swetland's belief that they'll "likely be on [Linux kernel 2.6.].33 or .34" by the time it hits. Time to start thinking about the "H" treat -- any ideas?
Gingerbread Macintosh for serious gingerbread fanboys only
Tech confections are nothing new: we've seen laptops, Kindles... heck, Martha Stewart even got in on the geek-baking action once upon a time. So maybe we shouldn't be impressed with this edible Mac, but the truth is, we love to eat, and the phrase "chocolate icons" really hooked us. So then... custard-filled pico projector in 2009? Yes. Hit the read link to check out more photos of this delectable desktop.
