2.3 or 3.0

[jaybo1973]

Hi all
I was rather upset to learn that 2.2 may be the last android update for current smart phones. I was hoping for a few more essential features such as proxy settings. Will Google still update 2.2 if we are stuck with it for the next 2 years?

Will gingerbread be 2.3 or 3.0? I have heard cases for both.

Cheers

 

[Jammy]

I'm pretty sure it's 3.0, but I could be wrong.

It's not up to Google to update it, it's up to HTC. HTC may not give us the update, but if you root, you'll certainly be able to get it.

 

[milali]

the next update is all rumor atm, but what has been said is:

will be 3.0
will be called gingerbread
will completely change the ui to be more like htc sense type polish

it will work on old phones they just need to have:

• 1GHZ CPU
• 512MB RAM
• 3.5-inch (or larger ) displays

So nexus one and desire hd and Samsung galaxy s all make the requirements,

but again its up to the manufacturer to roll it out.

 

[jaybo1973]

I guess sense would need some major alterations. To be fair, I'm not that sure where sense ends and android starts? they are seemless. Does android need a 3rd party gui?

 

[Jammy]

the next update is all rumor atm, but what has been said is:

will be 3.0
will be called gingerbread
will completely change the ui to be more like htc sense type polish

it will work on old phones they just need to have:

• 1GHZ CPU
• 512MB RAM
• 3.5-inch (or larger ) displays

So nexus one and desire hd and Samsung galaxy s all make the requirements,

but again its up to the manufacturer to roll it out.

Actually, that was just a rumour...

I guess sense would need some major alterations. To be fair, I'm not that sure where sense ends and android starts? they are seemless. Does android need a 3rd party gui?

Android doesn't need a 3rd party ui, look up videos of the nexus one on YouTube to see stock Android on 2.x.

 

[sookster54]

From what I heard, phones with lower res display (QVGA and maybe some HVGA) won't be able to boot Gingerbread because of the lower res. Lots of new phones still uses these and Motorola just released half a dozen this past week with low res, on the other hand the Desire and Nexus One and several others with 800x480 or similar res should be able to run Gingerbread.

 

[hero1908]

There is no question about the Desire/N1/Galaxy etc. being able to run Gingerbread or honeycombe but it's a question of whether the OEM will release it, and that is where the promlem lies. We have the Desire HD/Z with better chips etc. but even they maynot get the update, hoever if any of the currernt were to recieve updates it would be the Desire HD/Z.

I think the hardware retrictions was a rumour but would be good for the OS. This would also raise the quality of the apps too, as devs sometimes have to take into account lower specs devices and low res. displays. I read an interview with Andy Rubin, (if I understood him correctly) he said that it's upto the OEM's whether they want to release updates or not for newer versions. Google is not going to take charge. Google should analyse its position in the market and of its OS and take some measures to protect it. Further fragmentation, customers not getting updates or time or being lied to will only affect the growth of the OS.

It's interesting what WP7 could achieve with all of MS services coming together in one OS/device. My Desire is very powerful with the Snapdragon Chip and 512mb memory but it still struggles if I run a few apps, I don't think this is the case with WP7 and also games/graphics running on WP7 phone with the same specs as my Desire appear to be better than what android have at the moment.

The bottom line is that Android is a very powerful OS but it's not taking advantage of the hardware it's placed on since it's not optimised for any one of them. However, WP7 was made with the Snapdragon chip in mind and optimised it for the minimum specs device so should run eve better on future devices with better specs.