We've heard rumors in the past that Motorola would be making the first Gingerbread device, but now it looks like Samsung may beat them to the punch. The folks at Android and Me, who originally reported on the Moto/Gingerbread rumor, now believe that Samsung plans to make a Google Experience device that will be one of the first to ship with the next version of the Android OS. It's said that since Motorola doesn't seem to focus on shipping products with the newest OS, Samsung will pick up the slack and include Gingerbread in an upcoming handset. The fact that Samsung doesn't have much of anything planned for the end of this year, save for the Continuum, adds credence to the rumor. This Samsung Gingerbread phone is believed to include either a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, like the one found in the Galaxy S line, or a refreshed version clocked at 1.2GHz. As for a release, don't expect to see this device on shelves in 2010; it's rumored to be arriving in testers hands this year. Samsung may announce it before the year is up, but if they don't, it'll likely show up at CES.
It would definitely be surprising to see Samsung launch a Gingerbread device so soon, especially one that's a Google Experience phone. There hasn't been a Google Experience device from Sammy in some time, but I would love to see one. While I'm all for manufacturer skins and additions, I'm definitely more of a vanilla-or-as-close-as-possible guy. On the other hand, Motorola hasn't been totally slacking when it comes to launching new products with the latest version of Android (DROID 2 and DROID X, anyone?). Plus, Moto was responsible for the DROID, the first handset to run Android 2.0, so perhaps Google would go to them again for Gingerbread. What do you all make of these rumors? Will Samsung be the first to market with a Gingerbread phone, is Moto still on track to win the race, or is this all just nonsense?
Via Android and Me
