Pictures of the next major version of Android, version 2.3 (codenamed Gingerbread), running on the Samsung Nexus S, have leaked to XDA Developers thanks to an anonymous source. The photos are quite blurry and don't really reveal many new features in Android 2.3, but it's still a significant leak. It means that the Nexus S, the successor to the Nexus One, is coming, and it's coming soon.
As far as specifications of the "thin and curved" device go, XDA Developers speculates the following:
- ArmV7 CPU – Could be Dual Core
- Open GL ES Supported
- 512 or 328MB Ram (Not 100% known)
- 1GB or 2GB Internal Memory (Not 100% known)
- 800×480 Screen Resolution
- 4″ Screen Size
- SuperAmoled2 – Possibly
- 720P HD Video
Google is expected to make the Nexus S official before the end of the year, meaning the company has five weeks left. Google's Nexus One set the standard for Android devices in 2010, and we're hoping the Nexus S will do the same for the platform in 2011.
Last month, Google put a Gingerbread figure up on campus, which joins other treats already there. The alphabetically ordered deserts in front of the Android building represent the operating system's codenames: version 1.5 (codenamed Cupcake), versions 2.0-2.1 (codenamed Éclair), and version 2.2 (codenamed Froyo, short for frozen yogurt). Previously, it was believed that version 3.0 was codenamed Gingerbread, version 3.5 was codenamed Honeycomb, and version 4.0 was codenamed Ice Cream. Gingerbread was slated for late 2010, Honeycomb was expected to arrive in early 2011, and Ice Cream was expected somewhere in mid-2011, if not later.
Now, it appears that codename Gingerbread is Android 2.3 and not version 3.0. This throws the whole speculated release schedule out of whack, but in either case, we just want Google to make the official Gingerbread announcement already.