Big news! The Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) SDK has been released! Hold on to your butts:




Here are a preliminary list of features:

• UI refinements
• Faster, better keyboard
• Better power management
• Task manager is easier to get to.
• Internet calling -- SIP support!
• Near-field communications (NFC) for purchases and the like
• Better downloads management.

Woah! SIP support?! Baked right in? Wow.

I'm going to poke my head inside and relay what I've found, but this is exciting!

Here's a link to the official Google site regarding Gingerbread:
http://developer.android.com/sdk/and...ighlights.html

The web is a twitter (heh) today with Android posts. It seems that Google has released a ebook store with some 3 Million titles!!


http://www.droiddog.com/android-blog...r-3mil-titles/

The best part? There's an android and iOS e-reader with all of the regular features.

Here's a video brief of Android 2.3 features!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx3pdWBlZ34

Gingerbread looks like quite an impressive update with new features and
great optimizations!

Here's a link to the developer notes in more depth:
http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-2.3.html

I'm really excited about the power-saving optimizations, the UI refinements, and the built-in SIP stack (huge).

The power saving optimizations is very interesting. When the Tab gets hold of Gingerbread, it may indeed see a significant leap in battery life!

The UI refinements look really, really good. Based on the images, the UI looks far cleaners, sleeker, more refined and consistent. It pops a little more, which is very welcome. Based on the Romain Guy blog, it seems that 32-Bit colourspacing will be default for all apps, which will improve quality and decrease display latency by up to 3x (smoother UI, battery savings)!!!

I don't think people understand how huge the built in SIP stack is. By being built in and available directly via phones, it is the beginning of the end of carrier dependency. Look forward to MANY companies offering phone numbers specifically built towards this feature -- numbers which will work over WiFi, follow you between carriers, follow you around the world, and cost next to nothing to use.

I hope that Samsung plans to push Gingerbread to the Tab quickly. Something tells me that they will, as it will put them on more even footing with the upcoming competitors.

In the meantime, look for youtube videos of Gingerbread really soon, as Nexus One owners are ALREADY receiving their updates!

Here's the official Google ebookstore video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKEaypYJbb4

Check out the official site here:
http://books.google.com/ebooks

This is going to be *perfect* with the Galaxy Tab. I am looking forward to trying it out!

Amazon has another very serious contender.

EDIT: On second thought, they seem to be missing quite a few recent titles. My first two searches came up blank! It looks like Amazon is still sitting in a good position!

Anyway, competition is good, no?

Here's a hands-on video with Gingerbread.. Get your Tabs ready:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQYbGBbRQjw

Nope... from the article's update:
"Looks like our flood of tips came from people who were seeing their N1s get a different, less-interesting update."

Here's a link to the official (and long) Gingerbread users guide (PDF):
http://www.google.com/support/mobile...&answer=182077

Looking to consume some Google ebooks? Download the ebookreader here:
http://books.google.com/help/ebooks/android.html

Let us know how this is on the Tab!