Android’s Gingerbread has been on the market since the launch of the Nexus S in December 2010, but it still hasn’t made it to most Android handsets. AT&T is doing its part to change that, announcing yesterday that every Android phone released for AT&T in 2011 will have Gingerbread by the end of the year. It did state that not all updates will be possible over the air, and that some updates would either have to happen over Wi-Fi or require the phone being plugged into a computer.
There are only six phones on the upgrade list, but they are some of the most popular Android phones on AT&T. The list includes the HTC Inspire 4G, Motorola Atrix 4G, and Samsung Captivate. Even though the Captivate was released in 2010, AT&T has included it on the upgrade list. A full list of all the phones being updated is included below. The Motorola Atrix4G is on the list, but was upgraded last week, and the recently announced Nexus S comes pre-loaded with Gingerbread so it is not on the list.
Earlier this month we pointed out that Gingerbread (2.3) is catching up to Froyo (2.2) in market share, but at 59.4 percent, Froyo still has a lot of ground to give up. We have compiled a list of Gingerbread features, and some tips and tricks straight from Google.
Seeing as all of the devices on the list below have a customized user interface, most of the enhancements of Gingerbread will actually go unnoticed, or unusable. One feature that several phones won’t be able to take advantage of is built-in video chat, since most of the phones don’t have a front-facing camera. The feature most people will take advantage of will be the improved battery life via a more efficient multitasking system.
The AT&T smartphones planned for a Gingerbread update are:
HTC Inspire 4G
LG Phoenix
Motorola ATRIX 4G
Pantech Crossover
Samsung Captivate
Samsung Infuse 4G
