Android’s Gingerbread: Another Android From The Oven
Through a newly launched WebM video format, Google indicated that the upcoming “Gingerbread” version of its Android OS is currently designed to be released in Q4 of 2010. Google’s latest update, “Froyo” is the Android 2.2 version which will make your Android phone 465 percent faster than the previous Android 2.1.
WebM is Google’s new open source video codec, built on the VP8 codec that was initially developed by On2. Last year, Google purchased On2 for $124 million USD. For audio, the codec uses open source Ogg Vorbis.
According to afterdawn.com, open source codec is Google’s answer to the current HTML5 video format war. HTML5 allows for native video embedding in web pages, removing the need for plug-ins like Adobe’s Flash or Microsoft’s Silverlight. The standard does not specify which format will be used, and that has led to Apple and Microsoft pushing the expensive H.264 format, while Google, Opera, and Mozilla among others are pushing for free, open source formats.
As eurodroid.com reports a suggestion that Gingerbread might be also Android 3.0 but still no word of confirmation is received yet. If true, it could be version 2.3 or 2.5, or Google might go crazy and label it 5.0 simply to annoy Apple. You never know. But WebM isn’t just bringing us open streaming video support; thanks to its fastidious FAQ it’s also letting us know when the next version of the Android OS is due. Will it release tomorrow? Can’t say.