We know the press release for the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc confirms the handset runs Android 2.3, but how’s this for a twist in the Google puzzle. A prototype of the Xperia Arc, currently being handled by the Dutch site Tweakers.net, shows the phone running a new version of Android — Android 2.4 Gingerbread. Is Google planning on releasing more versions of 2.X for phones instead of making the move to Honeycomb?
Here’s what we know about Android 2.4 Gingerbread. If we are to assume Tweakers.net is in fact using the purported OS and not simply pulling our leg — Android 2.4 will be an incremental upgrade with “miscellaneous stuff Google might not have had time to include 2.3”. This miscellaneous stuff would include things like new animations or possibly even something bigger — like video calling in Google Talk, as seen on Android 3.0 Honeycomb.
For now take this news with a grain of salt. We’ll have to do some digging to see if there’s any other evidence out there to suggest Android 2.4 Gingerbread is in fact legitimate. It’s not completely out of the realm of possibility for Google to want to increment their smartphones with 2.X for a while since Android 3.0 is a couple month out.
Let us know what you think about the Android 2.4 Gingerbread news. Do you think this is a real build or is this simply some sort of cooked ROM being used by Tweakers.net.
