Android 2.4 reportedly lands in April; ViewSonic among first to launch

By on Feb 7, 2011 at 11:00 AM
mobile February 7, 2011

Google is reportedly preparing to release the next major build of its Android OS at some point in April, and ViewSonic will be among the first cell phone makers to release an Android 2.4-powered device, a new report claims. According to gadget blog Pocket-lint, Google’s next major Android release for smartphones is due to launch in roughly two months and ViewSonic’s ViewPad 4 will be among the first devices to ship with the new build when it is released in April. The blog claims to have a source inside ViewSonic who confirms that version 2.4 of Google’s mobile OS, which will not be called “Ice Cream” according to the report, will feature the ability to run Honeycomb apps on smartphones. Google’s Android 3.0 Honeycomb OS will initially create a divide between smartphones and tablets. Android 2.4 will apparently mark the beginning of a process that will merge the smartphone and tablet operating systems, at least where apps are concerned.

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  • Supermartin73

    sweet. Cause 2.3 rocks!

    • Midi45

      I know right? FRAGMENTATION ROCKS!

      • Anonymous

        gay

      • Midi45

        Yeah. Sexual orientation is extremely relevant here. You got something you wanna come out about?

      • Anonymous

        yeah, i’m a transvestite who has a thing for gay men who troll tech blogs

      • It’s Me!!

        i think you guys are gay for each other…

      • Anonymous

        @its me – yes we are, want to join in?

      • Anonymous

        It’s not fragmentation any more than PCs running different versions of Windows is fragmentation. Most apps run on most versions of Windows the same way apps do on Android. I think the “fragmentation” line is much ado about nothing.

      • Sean

        Idiot.

  • http://infotainmentempire.blogspot.com Rob

    Can we get 2.3 for everyone else out there before worrying about 2.4??

    And some other poor owners, 2.2?

    • Anonymous

      It really sounds like 2.4 would be a minor update that’s built around making apps play nice on phones and tablets… well from what I’m reading

    • Sean

      That’s more up to the manufacturer that made your phone and cell provider you are contracted with (assuming you are locked to your service and also not rooted.)

  • Tim

    can we all agree to call this release GingerHoney?

    • hardstyle

      F**K YES

  • GOONCITYFL

    So is 2.4 honeycomb for phones?

    • Tim

      2.3 (Gingerbread)/2.4 (whatever) for phones………. 3.0 (Honeycomb) and beyond for tablets. That’s what we know as of now.

  • Anonymous

    How many versions do they want out there?

  • http://www.twitter.com/slinky317 slinky317

    Um, we don’t even have 2.3 yet.

    • Ross

      Then root and use cyanogen7. Stop complaining.

      • http://www.twitter.com/slinky317 slinky317

        The user shouldn’t have to rely on the community to provide timely updates. I buy my phones from carriers and manufacturers, and I expect carriers and manufacturers to support it with timely updates.

      • Anonymous

        Don’t forget that it hasn’t been long since the days when you got a phone, and that was it. You were stuck with that same OS for the whole two years. Carriers haven’t developed a streamlined way to adapt to this new standard yet.

        We should all be pissed at the OEMs, especially ones like Samsung. THEY slow the process down. Samsung actually tries to charge the carriers to roll out OTA updates. Screw them.

      • ravidavi

        You can expect anything you want, but a phone sold by a carrier has NO implied guarantee of upgrades. The only thing they have to do is support features that were provided at the time of sale, and fix bugs in existing features that affect usability. Any other expectation is just a sign of a clueless consumer. If you wanted a phone that will get timely software updates, then you should’ve bought an unadulterated phone at retail price (Nexus One / S).

      • Sean

        They are right… If you are locked to a specific carrier you are dependent on both the manufacturer of the phone and the carrier to get your update out, if they even bother with it. If your phone was one that didn’t sell well, you might not end up getting any more updates. Companies don’t like to put money into things they didn’t make money from. What kind of phone do you have?

  • http://twitter.com/TurnJacson Who Me?

    this is whats wrong with android… to many different builds. We have people running 2.1/2.2 still… iPhone will always be superior for that fact and I hate it. The problem is Android users buy these phones and the manufacture is the one that dictates if you get an upgrade, and of course they aren’t going to upgrade you when they’d rather you buy a new handset.

    Clean it up android… clean it up

    • Tim242

      Really? Several phones got upgraded to FroYo, Gingerbread is in the oven. Get educated, k?

      • Senor Chang

        how about you not get butt-hurt over a little truth, fanboy. Your comment sucks and is stupid and I have little trepidation telling you so. its a damn phone, get over yourself, OK TIM?

      • Tim242

        Your comment makes no sense.

    • Robot

      you hate that the manufacturer dictates what you get? Bahahah the iphone’s hardware/software is tied around steve’s finger so tight is making his finger purple.

      • Sean

        Thank you for that… haha

    • Chut Pata

      So:
      1. If the hardware manufacturer tell you what OS to have, it is the OS manufacturer’s fault?
      2. Apple doesn’t tell you what hardware and OS to have? WTF are you smoking?

    • Sean

      There is nothing wrong with having multiple builds. Most applications work fine across the multiple versions of the OS. Most lower powered and uncommon phones are going to end up with an older build instead of something that just came out and is designed to give the newest most powerful device more flair. For an example… You wouldn’t put Windows 7 on a machine that came out when XP first came out… You could end up having driver issues and overworking the hardware.

  • http://www.facebook.com/jeffandrews82 Jeff Andrews

    Why is this a rumor? There is ONE phone with 2.3, why would 2.4 be on it’s way in 2 months?
    Give me GINGERBREAD!

  • http://twitter.com/gadget_hero Patrick Kabir

    I really like the slick look of that hardware, we need to see more of this in my opinion.

    • Anonymous

      I agree, not bad.
      Looks like it has side firing speakers, interesting.

    • Anonymous

      this thing really looks god awful

  • pir800

    didn’t know where else to post this, but gizmodo is about to pull a digg. thanks for keeping it clean and simple BGR.

    • Anonymous

      what?

  • Anonymous

    I thought 2.3(Honeycomb) was strictly for Tablets. Either way, that’s good news.

    • Anonymous

      FYI: Android 2.3 is named Gingerbread, and it’s strictly for smartphones. Android 3.0 is named Honeycomb, and it’s strictly for tablets.

  • http://twitter.com/simoncabron Simon Cabron

    Awesome!! From the company that first brought us pretty decent mid-range monitors, then shitty eReaders, subpar and overpriced tablets, and now —— cell phones. Can’t wait to see how this goes.

    • Senor Chang

      That viewsonic looks like garbage. Looks like someone gutted my portable hard drive and put a screen on it. Ugh.

    • Sean

      Haha… One of my first thoughts… It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

  • http://twitter.com/jimbob0789 jimmy king

    evey othe tech site is saying this 2.4 will be gingebead fo dual coe phones and i did not miss spell those wods my dog peed on my laptop so i cant use the lette between e and t

    • http://twitter.com/simoncabron Simon Cabron

      This is the best thing I’ve read all day.

      • http://twitter.com/iMarky_Marc Marc Jarvis

        ditto! lol

    • Anonymous

      lol

  • http://twitter.com/DavisDarvish Davis Darvish

    the answer to people who are worried about updates…. Buy a cyanogen mod supported phone. they you will always have the latest and greatest

  • Anonymous

    I just don’t think that looks very attractive.

  • Geoff Gohlke

    This doesn’t make sense. They made 3.0 specifically to separate their phones from their tablets. Why would they then come out with something that brings the 2 back together in the next update? If this is true then that’ll be the second mistake Google has made (the first being making the Nexus S exclusive to T-Mobile).

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