HTC Desire to get Gingerbread soon!

HTC has announced that its Incredible S phone would be getting Gingerbread update in the month of June. The phone was unveiled at Mobile World Congress a few weeks back. At that time, the company said that the phone will be updated to Android 2.3 ‘quickly’. Seems like, for HTC, 4 months of time period for software update come under the realm of ‘quick’.

Anyhow, Incredible S is not the only lucky HTC phone. Apparently, the company’s older models such as Desire HD and Desire Z would be getting 2.3 update as well. And let’s not forget the grand old daddy of Desire series, the original HTC Desire. All these phones will be upgraded alongside Incredible S. As for the recently announced HTC phones, Wildfire S and Desire S, these babies will come pre-loaded with Gingerbread flavor of Android.

When you purchase an Android phone chances are it won’t come pre-installed with the latest version of the popular mobile operating system. This isn’t Google’s fault as their engineers are great at getting the latest versions of Android out of development and onto the streets but instead the manufacturers and wireless carriers. Luckily, as of late, those involved seem to be kicking things into high gear getting the Android 2.2 update out for many devices that have lagged behind.

Rumor: Gingerbread comes out of the oven on November 11

"A trusted source has tipped us to the potential launch date for Gingerbread, the 2.3 version of Android. According to our source, the SDK for this upcoming revision will debut on November 11th. The timing is àpropos as Samsung is slated to have a big event in New York City  next week on the 8th and the confirmation of a Gingerbread-powered Nexus Two is a possible topic for this event."

IntoMobile is reporting today that the next release of Android--Gingerbread--is expected to debut November 11. Likely to be marked as v2.3, Gingerbread is said to focus more on aesthetics as opposed to additional features. Other details include WebM support, better copy and paste functionality, and improved social-networking features.

Reading the tea leaves, it certainly appears that an SDK announcement is around the corner. A giant gingerbread man statue was dropped off at Google headquarters two weeks ago, where he now stands next to previous delicious builds of Android, including Froyo (2.1) and Eclair (2.0).

Typically, Google announces an SDK or a phone within a few weeks of new lawn ornaments. Samsung was recently tied to "Nexus Two" rumors where it will reportedly debut the 2.3 build. A few Android blogs have also spotted Android 2.3 and 3.0 (Honeycomb?) in their recent traffic analytics reports, leading many to believe testing is being actively conducted.

The latest release of Google Maps might be our first glimpse into how applications and menus will look. A clever Freenode IRC member, canadiancow, noticed that the app came with a folder hiding new graphics and interface tweaks. Look for a crisper, sharpened appearance to the overall user experience with a hint of green.

Verizon has a couple of devices expected to launch November 11, but I don't expect to see Gingerbread loaded on them just yet. If recent history is any indication, it will be at least a few weeks or more between the SDK release and the first phone or OTA update.