
Android 3.0 'Gingerbread' Elements Leaked - davidw
http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=225701993
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credo
From [http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/06/leaked-
andro...](http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/06/leaked-
android-30-details-hint-at-tablet-potential.ars)

 _It's puzzling, and disconcerting, that developers and Android enthusiasts
are forced to rely on leaks and rumors in order to piece together the
development roadmap of a platform that is supposedly "open."_

~~~
jonursenbach
We've long known that Android isn't /fully/ open by the fact that Google
doesn't release the code until they're satisfied with it. We could have
hacking on Froyo _months_ ago.

The tradeoff though is that of every mobile operating system, Android is the
_most_ "open".

~~~
davidw
Yeah, it's "open source" in terms of the licensing, but it's not a true "open
source project" where some animals are not more equal than others, where
nearly everything is out in the open, and so on.

That said, I'm pretty happy with it - I'll take "open source" + some closed
development any day over Apple or an RMS-pure project that, however, has no
traction in terms of an installed base.

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starnix17
Uh oh, I hope they lower that memory requirement a little bit. Isn't the
Motorola Droid the number one selling Android phone? Looks like it's not going
to make the cut.

~~~
vshade
I also hope this, but the droid also doesn´t cut in the cpu requisistes. If
they lower to 384Mb I would be happy :P

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starnix17
That's true.

If anything, although the Droid might not get an official 3.0 release I'm sure
someone will release an unofficial rom or something.

~~~
melling
Application developers need official releases. A few people using an
unofficial upgrade doesn't help the platform.

Here are the versions developers are going to need to support by the end of
2010: 1.5, 1.6, 2.1, 2.2, and 3.0.

~~~
w1ntermute
The Droid 2 will have fairly similar hardware, so the unofficial Droid roms
will just have the Market app say it's running on the Droid 2.

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dagw
I wonder how this two pronged approach will work. My gut feeling is that
Google will completely lose interest in the 2.x branch and any handheld makers
who doesn't want to play along with Googles minimum spec games will be left
out in the cold. In three years time there will probably be no Android 2.x
development from Google worth speaking of. Perhaps this is Symbian's chance to
get back in the game. The interesting thing to see is if hardware makers are
willing to go along with this, given how reluctant they are going from
1.x->2.x

~~~
cmelbye
Either that or HTC, Motorola, Samsung, etc fork Android and the development
diverges and the fragmentation gets worse. (As far as I know, those companies
are just putting their own interfaces on top of Android right now, not full
out forking the code, right?)

~~~
detst
They wouldn't get Google's apps if they did that. No Gmail, Maps, Navigation
and more importantly, they would be locked out of the Market. I think it's
fair to say that Google is working with it's partners and want to keep them
around.

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mattmcknight
I find it unbelievable that they would have a screen size minimum as opposed
to a resolution minimum. Sort of casts doubt on the whole article, from my
perspective.

~~~
jonknee
Perhaps they did the math and 3.5" is the smallest that the UI elements are
touchable.

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nailer
> Android 3.0 will also have a completely refreshed user interface.

It better. I recently rooted my HTC Desire to get a horrible reminder of what
Stock android looks like: white, orange, blue and green is the worst color
combo I've seen since the blue, green and orange of Windows XP.

~~~
usaar333
I feel quite differently: after removing HTC Sense from my 9 month old Hero, I
find myself liking the simpler-looking stock UI a lot more.

~~~
czhiddy
I'm also a fan of simplicity. If the new UI (CoolIris-inspired, from what the
article says) is anything like the CoolIris plugins available now, I fear
we're headed to over-the-top superfluous animations throughout the system.
"When you scroll up and down, the view tilts to appear 3D! Yay?"

