Android 2.4 expected in April 2011

Gadget site Pocket Lint spoke to Viewsonic and got to hear that the company's ViewPad 4 smartphone will feature the Android 2.4 operating system when it launches in April. According to the source, the update ensures compatibility with dual-core apps designed for Honeycomb (Android 3.0) but will still be called Gingerbread. This contradicts an earlier rumor that Android 2.4 would be called Ice Cream, but the ViewSonic mole believes Ice Cream will be Android 3.1.

Currently, our man on the inside says that’s not possible with version 2.3 (Gingerbread) hence the need to push to the next iteration and version number, but not change the name. It's most likely to be one of the main reasons we’ve yet to see any major manufacturer gunning to get Android 2.3 handsets out there.

“It’s to ensure compatibility with dual-core apps,” our agent explains before adding that “it will still be called Gingerbread.”

Wait, what?

That’s right, in a move that shows there is some kind of cover-up of the mistake of the lack of Android 2.3 devices on the market (aside from the Nexus S) 2.4 will still be called Gingerbread, as the only new feature it adds will be this ability to support dual-core apps on a single-core device.

Aside from Google's Android 2.4 OS, the ViewSonic ViewPad 4 smartphone will offer a 4.1-inch screen, 720p HD video playback and recording, mini-HDMI output, a 5MP digicam, Bluetooth 2.1 and 802.11b/g/n WiFi.