Google made two announcements this morning with pretty big product announcements. The first is relevant to any Android fans and the second has to do with Google entering the eBookstore industry. Both of these announcements were made via the Official Google Blog.
Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and Nexus S
The latest version of the Android platform was introduced today, codenamed Gingerbread. Gingerbread is Android version 2.3. It’s hard to get excited about this version being released because it will probably be a long time off until this Android update comes to already owned phones. I’m still waiting for Android 2.2/Froyo on my Samsung Epic 4G.
You can find out some of the Android 2.3 features from the following video or check out more platform highlights at the Android Developers SDK site: http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-2.3-highlights.html
Along with the Android version, the announcement was also partnered with a new phone called the Nexus S. Manufactured by Samsung, the Nexus S has all of the hardware needed to take advantage of the features introduced with Gingerbread.
Nexus S is the first smartphone to feature a 4” Contour Display designed to fit comfortably in the palm of your hand and along the side of your face. It also features a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, front and rear facing cameras, 16GB of internal memory, and NFC (near field communication) hardware that lets you read information from NFC tags. NFC is a fast, versatile short-range wireless technology that can be embedded in all kinds of everyday objects like movie posters, stickers and t-shirts.
Gingerbread is the fastest version of Android yet, and it delivers a number of improvements, such as user interface refinements, NFC support, a new keyboard and text selection tool, Internet (VoIP/SIP) calling, improved copy/paste functionality and gyroscope sensor support.
and one weird 2 minute commercial for the Nexus S:
Check out Google.com/nexus for more information about the phone.
Google Blog Announcement: Introducing Nexus S with Gingerbread.
Google eBooks
Google eBooks is a bigger change for Google. It expands their previous Google Books efforts and adds new books to their collection for purchase. Google’s ebookstore has an app for Android, iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch while also working on Mac and PC and Nook and Sony Reader by embracing open formats. Google’s innovation to the industry is storing your book collection in the “cloud” so you can access them anywhere and remember your spots as you transition from one device to another.
We designed Google eBooks to be open. Many devices are compatible with Google eBooks—everything from laptops to netbooks to tablets to smartphones to e-readers. With the new Google eBooks Web Reader, you can buy, store and read Google eBooks in the cloud. That means you can access your ebooks like you would messages in Gmail or photos in Picasa—using a free, password-protected Google account with unlimited ebooks storage.
In addition to a full-featured web reader, free apps for Android and Apple devices will make it possible to shop and read on the go. For many books you can select which font, font size, day/night reading mode and line spacing suits you—and pick up on the page where you left off when switching devices.
You can discover and buy new ebooks from the Google eBookstore or get them from one of our independent bookseller partners: Powell’s, Alibris and participating members of the American Booksellers Association. You can choose where to buy your ebooks like you choose where to buy your print books, and keep them all on the same bookshelf regardless of where you got them.
You can start shopping at Books.Google.com/ebooks
Google Blog Announcement: Discover more than 3 million Google eBooks from your choice of booksellers and devices.