Android's Gingerbread goodies

BBSA

BBSA

Honorary Master
Joined
Jul 11, 2005
Messages
30,173
Reaction score
28,726
Location
People's Republic of South Africa
http://mybroadband.co.za/news/software/16705-Androids-Gingerbread-goodies.html

Better video, marketplace improvements and an interface upgrade look likely to top Android 2.3's release notes

Gingerbread, the latest update for Google's Android smartphone operating system, is now just weeks, or perhaps even days away from release. The Android 2.3 release was rumoured for November 11 but Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, speaking at the Web 2.0 summit earlier this week, said Gingerbread would only ship "in the next few weeks."

Gingerbread will be the next major update to the popular smartphone OS and the latest with a food-related codename. Gingerbread succeeds the likes of Froyo, Eclair and Cupcake.

So, what tasty changes will Gingerbread bring with it when it is released?

One of Gingerbread's most noticeable changes will be in the user interface. A neater, more consistent look can be expected from the new release as developers add polish to the underlying OS. Google will also no doubt be hoping that a more polished interface for Android will reduce the number of handset makers opting to customise the interface for their own devices. Consistency across all Android-based phones is an obvious goal for Google.

Copy and paste is expected to get some much needed changes. Android does already include a copy and paste feature but it's not as user-friendly as many would like. Primarily the improvements are likely to be in copying and pasting between applications.

On the multimedia front users can expect WebM support for Gingerbread. WebM is Google's royalty-free video format that it is pitting as an alternative to Flash video and the proprietary H.264 format being promoted by the likes of Apple. If this is the case it adds the option for high-definition video on Android devices.

Better social networking is also likely to be on the cards. Android is pretty good at connecting to most popular social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter and so on, but Google will undoubtedly be eyeing out better integration of these. It's also very likely that Google will start integrating video and audio chat through the likes of Google Chat and Google Voice.

The Android marketplace will also see some updates. The marketplace has boomed over the past year and is now close to 100 000 applications strong. However, Android has faced some criticism over the marketplace around the quality of applications and their usability.

Already Google has rolled out some changes in the marketplace which will improve the way that users access and search for applications. These are specifically aimed at developers but they appear to be encouraging application makers to provide more information for users, a move which will hopefully improve the overall experience for end-users, and those that are paying money for applications.

An exact date for Gingerbread's release has not been set, but it can be expected in the next couple of weeks.
Click to expand...
 
Gingerbread is already on it's way and the engineers at Samsung have only recently released Froyo for the Galaxy S (though not in SA), how wonderful.

Anyone have any ideas if they will update the Galaxy S to Gingerbread? or should I put that on my next years Christmas wish-list.
 
Yay!! Android is going from awesome to f-in A. I have had my Desire for close on 3 months now and all I can say is WOW! Can't wait for 2.3, been running 2.2 from the word go and it has been amazing! Hope we get the HTCSense.com experience for other phones besides the 3 already supported!
 
I'm still on eclair......:-(

I was waiting for a south African froyo release ....... sadly its is a no go
 
Still waiting for Eclair ... and Gingerbread is imminent? Come on, Samsung! What's happening here?
 
Any chance of a switch from Eclair to Gingerbread?

/dreams
 
caspa said:
I'm still on eclair......:-(

I was waiting for a south African froyo release ....... sadly its is a no go
Click to expand...
Yeah unfortunately the local distributors (like Leaf for HTC) are truly useless at releasing updates... You have to go and download RUU's or OTA updates and flash your phone manually (if your phone is HTC, not sure how it works for Samsung or others). I haven't rooted yet, but when Gingerbread comes out I might - as long as my hardware supports it (only heard rumours about system req's?).

Waiting patiently for Froyo to be released for my Legend, shouldn't be long now :)
 
Cant wait to see Gingerbread for my Desire! I hope they have improved the dialer to the same functionality as the Sense one that way I can do a full drop of Sense and go Vanilla android :).
 
Its such a wonderful bright sunny day and this post makes it even better. I am only thinking postive energy and hoping Leaf will bring us Gingerbread for x-mas. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts...
 
I'm on a rooted Nexus One with Cyanogen. You guys should consider rooting. Opens up so many possibilities. Like the black market apps. Looks and functions exactly like the regular market, except it has all the paid apps listed, but free. Including all the big gameloft games and stuff. I'm also running psx4roid and playing full playstation one games. Final Fantasy VII FTW!
 
I'm on a rooted HTC Magic running Cyanogen's 2.2 Mod. Fan-f-tastic, I tells ya.
 
Samsung SA is now effectively 2 versions behind on the Galaxy - S... So much for being the flagship product of their brand!
 
j-unit said:
Samsung SA is now effectively 2 versions behind on the Galaxy - S... So much for being the flagship product of their brand!
Click to expand...

Yup. Got tired of waiting so I rooted this weekend. Sitting on 2.2 and can't wait for 2.3.
 
Ye, I also want to see the screenshots. The SGS should be able to handle 2.3 though. It fits all the stats...
 
Awesome. By the time this filters out to available phones, I will be ready for an upgrade. Can't wait.
 
is cyanogen 7 stable now for htc desire? is vanilla android on par with sense overlay? how dangerous is it to root and flash, really?

im only up for upgrade in jan..wouldnt wanna brick my lovely desire
 
CM7 or the 7.0.3 I have on my Desire is very stable, been running CM7 since January. It comes with the ADW launcher that is not exactly the same as Sense but allot faster and support themes that can be installed from the Android market.

You can always install Beautiful Widgets and Launcher pro to get that Sense look.

Or install other launchers like SPB Shell 3D or Regina 3D to have something flashy. There is also Windows Phone 7 Look if you want.

If you want to jump down the rabbit hole you can start here :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X