I scream, you scream, we all scream for... Android 2.4. The latest rumor tells us that Android 2.4 is codenamed Ice Cream, and will be released this summer, according to "multiple sources familiar with the matter" cited by Pocket-lint.
More specifically, Android 2.4 will arrive in either June or July. The sources would not reveal what changes we could expect in the new version, but we already have an idea given that early screenshots of it leaked out last week. The early build reportedly brought a noticeable speed increase over Android 2.3, including no delays when switching between windows and apps. There were also new animations when moving shortcuts and widgets around the homescreen, a software-based noise reduction option for voice calls, and references to video chat in the menus.
At the time, we speculated that version 2.4 would simply bring fixes and minor changes to 2.3, but if it's getting a new codename and it isn't being released for another six months or so, it looks like 2.4 will be a significant release. Three months ago, we heard that Honeycomb's successor would be Ice Cream, but the version number was supposed to be 4.0. This all apparently changed when Android 3.0 (codenamed Honeycomb) broke off and became tablet-only.