Once And For All, Android 2.4 is Still Gingerbread
We’ve been saying it over and over again, but just in case anyone still had their doubts, we’ll say it one last time: Android 2.4 is still Gingerbread. The changes made to it over 2.3 won’t be noticeable by the end-user unless they fix glaring bugs. (Like that damned reset bug we hear still has yet to be fixed on the Nexus S.)
It’s not unlike the Motorola DROID being the only device launching with Android 2.0, while devices from the Nexus One onward just debuted with Android 2.1. (Both versions were also called Eclair.) Differences between these versions are so minimal that no new name is justified, but significant enough to warrant a version number increase. (2.4 is said to add multi-core support which is a very significant under-the-hood addition, but something most users probably won’t know or care about, thus the lack of a codename change.)
Ice Cream Sandwich may or may not be 3.1, 3.5, 2.5, 2.6, or whatever Google decides it’s going to be, but 2.4 is Gingerbread and you’ll likely see it on more phones than 2.3 ever was. (Only the Nexus S, officially.) [Android Central, Android Community]