Last October, ARM founder, Tudor Brown hinted in a Forbes interview that the next version of Android will be called Ice Cream. Today, we have a second confirmation of this name choice courtesy of a rumor fresh from Pocket-Lint. According to the UK-based blog, multiple sources familiar with the matter suggest that Android 2.4 will follow Android 2.3 Gingerbread and Android 3.0 Honeycomb, the tablet version of Android. Keeping with Google"s alphabetical naming convention, the next letter is "I" and what better name than ice cream, the sweet treat that everyone loves.
According to this latest rumor, this upcoming version of Android will be unveiled at Google I/O, Google"s annual developer conference which is held each spring. Once announced, the mobile operating system will be released in June or July. Details on the changes included in this Ice Cream build were not revealed, but the OS is expected to bring some of the features of Android 3.0 honeycomb to the handset. Though Android 3.0 may arrive on tablets before Android 2.4 is even announced, it is thought that this Honeycomb version is for tablets only and will not make its way to smartphones.
This timing for this launch fits in with Google"s current roadmap for future Android updates. After several quick upgrades, Google is expected to slow down the pace of upgrades and will release approximately two major revisions each year. As Google has done in the past, look for search giant to release this 2.4 version first to the Nexus S and then other carrier-branded handsets a few weeks or even a few months later.