Here in the Android-watching world, the air has smelled of uncertainty for quite some time. Ever since Google announcedAndroid Honeycomb, the tablet-optimized edition of its mobile OS, there's been no shortage of questions about the platform's future and the direction in which it's headed.

Google's Android Road Map: What's Next

Fast-forward now to today. Duringa keynote address at the Mobile World Congress, Google CEO Eric Schmidt was asked about Android's various versions and where things were headed. His response was very telling.
"We have an OS called Gingerbread for phones. We have an OS being previewed now for tablets called Honeycomb," Schmidt said. "You can imagine the follow-up will start with an 'I,' be named after a dessert, and will combine these two."
So there you have it: Android's smartphone and tablet paths, in one form or another, will soon converge. Hang on, though -- there's more.Also at MWC today, HTC announced a slew of new Android devices, including a 7-inch tablet that'llrun a version of Gingerbread known as Android 2.4. That presumably means we'll see at least one more significant phone-focused Gingerbread release before the unifying "I" edition of Android arrives.For anyone who keeps up with rumors, this is no huge surprise; we've been hearing aboutthe possibility of a 2.4 releasefor some time now. Earlier this month, Android blogPhandroidpublished a rumor that Google was working on a 2.4 release that'd bring some of Honeycomb's features into Gingerbread-level devices. A website calledPocket-linkfollowed up that report with hearsay suggesting the 2.4 software would be able to run apps designed specifically for Honeycomb. The site also predicted the release would arrive in April.Those specifics, of course, are still unconfirmed, but they certainly are starting to gel with everything else we're hearing. And in case you're wondering, by the way, that upcoming Android "I" release isbelieved to be calledIce Cream Sandwich.There's one more factor in Google's operating system puzzle:Chrome OS. During his MWC speech this week, Schmidt reinforced what Google has said about Chrome OS all along: That software is being targeted to notebook-**** devices with keyboards. Android is made with phones and tablets in mind. The two are separate entities with separate purposes. Schmidt said the first commercial Chrome OS devices should hit the market sometime this spring.
The Xoom, meanwhile, is expected to launch within the next couple of weeks. Numerous otherHoneycomb tabletsare slated to follow.

And that, my friends, is the current state of the Google Android road map. We'll undoubtedly be hearing more details about each twist and turn as time moves on, so stay tuned; in the world of Android, things never stay quiet for long.