Pocket-lint.com has learned that Google could ship Android 2.4 as early as April. The news comes from a ViewSonic source who indicates that the company plans to be among the first manufacturers to ship devices based on this newest Android version.
One key Android 2.4 feature (and possibly also the only feature) will allow dual-core apps designed for Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) will work with single-core devices. This will apparently not be possible under Android 2.3 and older versions.
Google is also looking to call Android 2.4 Gingerbread. Does this mean that manufacturers will now skip 2.3 entirely and simply go with 2.4?
Pocket-lint.com’s source also claims that the next version of Android, codenamed Ice Cream, will be version 3.1. It does appear that Google is, at least for now, forking Android into smartphone and tablet versions.
Meanwhile, ViewSonic will release the ViewPad 4 with Android 2.4, a 4.1-inch display, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, a 5MP camera with HP 720p video recording, and a mini-HDMI output. Look for an April release date (although it’s not clear if North America fits into those plans).