Google will update Nexus One and Nexus S to Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread

SMARTPHONE DEVELOPER Google has announced that it will be sending Nexus One and Nexus S owners Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread.

Google had been promising Nexus One owners Android 2.3 Gingerbread for months but with every passing week it's been pushing back the update, so 'in a few weeks' has started to carry less weight. Now it seems both Nexus One and Nexus S users will be getting Android 2.3.3, with Google saying that it will release over-the-air updates over the coming weeks.

For Nexus One owners the update will be the first taste of Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Last week popular third-party Android distribution Cyanogenmod released a beta that ran Android 2.3.1 on a number of handsets including the Nexus One. While Cyanogenmod 7 is still very much in beta, Google's decision to keep version parity between Nexus One and Nexus S users should mean that developers can continue to use either device for development work.

Last week Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt revealed that the next version of Android for smartphones will be Android 2.4, codenamed Ice Cream, which Viewsonic claims its upcoming Viewpad 4 will be running when it tips up in April. For those who haven't got Android 2.3 yet, there is hope that device manufacturers might bump to Android 2.4, thus skipping Android 2.3 altogether.

Google warned that the over-the-air update process might take weeks to complete. At least Nexus One and Nexus S owners have a timeline, while for the majority of Android users there is little to no information on when their device will be upgraded to Android 2.3. µ