River Run Tech Blog: Android 3.0 Gingerbread
Posted by Eric Torres on Wed, Oct 20, 2010 @ 11:23 AM
The next version of Google’s smartphone operating system, Android 3.0, is just around the corner and the folks over at 
Phandroid have managed to obtain some new details on the forthcoming update. As you might already know, the “Froyo” (Android 2.2) successor is codenamed “Gingerbread”, and is slated to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2010, just in time for the holidays.
A lot of new and interesting updates have been made into this version, and seem rather appealing. Gingerbread will focus heavily on an improved user experience, which Google hopes will enable it to bring smartphone vendors into a more unified User Interface.
Most of the visual changes to Gingerbread are quite subtle, according to Phandroid. Icons have been redesigned to give a more uniform appearance, while the notification bar gets a “warm slate grey” color and the overall aesthetic has a more uniform feel to it – that includes revamping standard apps, like Youtube, to make them look and feel more integrated with the OS. Apparently the idea is to eventually eliminate the need for manufacturers to create their own overlays, so users won’t have to face long waits for manufacturers to roll out their updates.
Android 3.0 is also expected to include the Google’s music service. This will give you the ability to use your Android 3.0 handset to stream music from your home computer over the air. This feature seems quite cool and innovative too. It is also expected that this upcoming version of Android operating system will allow the user to enter a larger and more resourceful Android Market.
The minimum hardware requirements of the Android 3.0 Gingerbread operating system include the 1 GHz CPU, 512 MB of RAM, and a display which should be at least 3.5 inch or higher. But, most of us might have already heard of the Android handsets with 2 GHz CPU approaching our way. Moreover, a new resolution support of 1280 x 760 pixels have been incorporated and will prevail on devices which have a display of about 4 inch or higher.
With the release date a few weeks away way, we’ll have to wait and see what other tricks Google has up its sleeve.