Android Gingerbread or Android 3.0 by end of year?

Android version 2.2 known as Froyo has only just been pushed out of the developer’s door and now we’re already starting to hear rumours of the next version of Android dubbed ‘Gingerbread’.

The bulk of the news comes from a Russian site that in turn got their info from Eldar Murtazin from Mobile Review who spilled the beans on a Russian podcast.

Now the site is saying that Gingerbread is Android 3.0 and here’s the gist of what might be in store.

Apparently Gingerbread will be released as soon as the middle of October with the first handsets supporting Gingerbread shipping in the last quarter in time for the lucrative holiday season.

The Minimum specs for Android 3 devices will be 1GHZ CPU, 512 MB RAM and a 3.5 inch display and higher resolutions of up to 1280 by 760 pixels would also be available for devices with displays that are larger than 4 inches. Could that mean tablets I wonder?

Google will also completely revamp the user interface for Android 3.

It would also appear that Google are splitting into two different branches, the Gingerbread version of Android or Android 3.0 will be reserved for the top end of the market so will be a bit more expensive and versions 2.1 and 2.2 will support the lower and cheaper end of the market.

It’s all a bit confusing at the moment because what many sites are assuming is that Gingerbread is actually Android 3.0, but what if it’s something else?

On the FAQ page of the WebM Media project, the question “When will other Google products support WebM and VP8”.

The answer quoted was “WebM support in Android is expected in the Gingerbread release (currently planned for Q4, 2010). We expect many other Google products to adopt WebM and VP8 as they prioritize it with their other product requirements. Keep an eye on the WebM blog for announcements”

Ok so Gingerbread is on the cards but perhaps it will be known as Android 2.3, who knows?

We’ll just have to wait on Google to say something officially about Android 3.0 or for someone else to leak the details.