The Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco unveiled its newest version of the Android operating system today, the so-called Ice Cream Sandwich. According to Google:
Over the past two and a half years, we’ve shipped eight releases of Android and there are now more than 310 Android devices around the world, of all shapes and sizes. This morning we talked about our next version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich. Our goal with Ice Cream Sandwich is to deliver one operating system that works everywhere, regardless of device. Ice Cream Sandwich will bring everything you love about Honeycomb on your tablet to your phone, including the holographic user interface, more multitasking, the new launcher and richer widgets.
The announcement is not exactly a surprise, because the Internet has been buzzing about Ice Cream almost since Android 3.0, or Honeycomb, was announced. The new version of Android is also likely to kill off the Android 2.0 series, a Google spokesman confirmed to Press: Here. There were few details released about the new operating system, but are expected to be released later in the conference.
The rest of the developer conference seems to focus primarily on Google's mobile unit, with sessions on developing games, near-field communications and apps for Google TV, Phandroid reported.
The emphasis on Google TV might be explained by the second announcement of Android@Home, an Android Open Accessory to help developers create hardware accessories for Android devices -- essentially apps to communicate with appliances and other machines in one's home.
I will continue to monitor the new development as they happen, or you, too, can see them streamed live at the Google I/O site.
