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Google's Android Eclair Unveiled

Just a few months ago Google finished off Donut, the latest version of Android. Now, a giant eclair has been seen at the Google offices. Nothing is official, but it is likely that the newest revision of the Android platform is just around the corner.

Android and Me has a shot of the video of the giant eclair being delivered and sat down to a huge cupcake, which was also a codename for an Android release before Donut was released.

No information has been released yet as to what Android 2.0 will have. The video though was supposedly shot with an Android phone and the quality is better than what Android devices currently do. The Android and Me site speculates that a 2.0 device could be released in as little as one month.

Years ago, people were generally content to buy a phone and use it until it broke or they got tired of it and moved on. Upgrades and updates were unthinkable. When Windows Mobile and Palm phones came out, there were some upgrades, but not nearly enough. People think of a smartphone as they think of a computer. It should be upgradable, but rarely was.

Apple changed all of that and has routinely released annual upgrades since the iPhone launched in 2007. Those original devices can be upgraded to the latest OS too. The only things missing are features not supported by the hardware (3G on the original 2G phone for example) or things too big for the memory where the OS is stored.

Google is taking it up a notch. Eclair makes the third major revision in less than a year, after Cupcake and Donut. That is what users want. Small incremental improvements in a short period of time. Not big mammoth releases 18-24 months apart, which often won't work on old hardware.

Stay tuned for the updates in Android 2.0. We should see some details soon.

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