Android 3.0 Gingerbread details surface already?
Ready to shut down HTC and Motorola's skins
Android 3.0 has apparently been detailed in a Russian podcast, highlighting how it will only be used for high-end handsets in the future.
Noted mobile phone journalist Eldar Murtazin has stated that he has information on the new Android 3.0 build, to be codenamed Gingerbread, and it's not good news for some current handset owners.
Clearly aimed at the higher end of the smartphone market, Android 3.0 phones will have to have a 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and 3.5-inch or larger displays.
According to Murtazin, any phones sporting a screen over four inches (the Galaxy S may just squeak under the threshold) will have to have a 1280x760 resolution minimum, showing that Android tablets are on the way.
Sense U-O-No!
If you're a fan of HTC's Sense UI, then you should probably look away now - Google seems to want to kill it, by creating a whole new 3D interface for Android 3.0, so skins (which mask the OS) will be unnecessary/impossible.
This means that the days of fragmentation will be with us seemingly forever, with the lower end, cheaper phones all using Android 2.2 and the high end versions taking on Android 3.0 and upwards.
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
We're assuming some of today's phones will be able to make use of the functionality, seeing as the likes of the HTC Desire qualify as powerful enough for the next generation of Android - but there could still be a sting in the tail if this is shown to be true.
Via Unwired View
Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grew with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.