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Nobody besides Google insiders know when Android Gingerbread 2.3 will drop, but it’s supposed to be any day now. On November 12th, @GoogleMobile tweeted, “Our cafes are baking something sweet” with a link to a photo of gingerbread cookies. But what exactly are they cooking up for 2.3? To give Android application developers an idea of what features they will need to support in this new version, here are the top 9 most anticipated features users are hoping to see.
1. Video chat
“Perhaps the biggest addition (that we can confirm so far),” Quentyn Kennemer at Phandroid.com said, “has been support for video chat using the same protocols that powers video chat on the desktop version of Google Talk.” Now if Google can only get hardware manufacturers to put a front-facing camera on handsets.
2. Streaming Music from Home Computers
With Gingerbread, rumor has it that users will be able to stream music from their home computers to their Droid devices, according Marin Perez at IntoMobile.com. Details on how this will work are sketchy, but Google bought a company called Simplify Media, and according to Perez, Google “will use this technology to let you stream all of your unprotected music to your Android.” Google gave a sneak peak of this feature back in May.
3. Android Market Music Store
For users who don’t have terabytes of music at home to stream, the Android Market is expected to offer music for sale with Gingerbread. “An interesting thing,” Perez blogged, “is that Google said its market will be for more than just apps, as you’ll soon be able to purchase music from it. That’s a clear shot across the bow at Apple and its iTunes juggernaut.”
