About 2 weeks ago, Taylor from Android And Me posted a rumor targeting the previous assumption regarding the version number of the next Android iteration, codenamed Honeycomb. Specifically, for no reason whatsoever, everyone assumed Honeycomb would be released as Android 3.0. However, citing a trustworthy source, Taylor had some information pointing at a different, more incremental number – 2.4.
Because the rumor was unconfirmed, we decided to hold off until we could get more information. Today, after seeing this post at pocketnow, I decided to check our own visitor statistics and found nothing but evidence indeed pointing at Honeycomb 2.4 and not 3.0.
Specifically, in the last 30 days, we have had 15 visits with Android 2.4. On another hand, we had 0 visits with Android 3.0. Sure, the OS version can be faked, but I find it pretty unlikely that there are suddenly multiple sightings of 2.4, completely independently from each other and all around the same time (see below) and, at the same time, no sightings of 3.0 whatsoever.
Considering that Honeycomb is supposed to merely bring tablet related UI (user interface) and UX (user experience) improvements to Android, it is quite understandable why Google went with 2.4, rather than 3.0. If the timing is right somehow, I would expect them saving 3.0 for something like Google I/O, which will be happening on May 10-11th in 2011.
