Life without tech rumors would be boring, wouldn't it? Actually, that's debatable, but if you are a tech junkie, you know that rumors of upcoming products and technologies seem to come on a daily basis. Google's Android platform is not exempt from the rumor mills, and there are some recent rumblings regarding the operating system's next big release.

Google's next major release of its mobile operating system will supposedly carry the Honeycomb moniker.  Many people have speculated that Honeycomb will bring many new and advanced features to the Android world, including full optimization for the increasingly popular niche of tablet devices. The Honeycomb rumors seem to have come at a furious pace, considering that Google just released its Android 2.3 version, aka Gingerbread, in early December. Gingerbread is still quite new itself, and is not found on too many new phones other than the Samsung Nexus S. Regardless, smartphone enthusiasts are already clamoring for Honeycomb and all the goodies it will bring, even if many of those enthusiasts have yet to upgrade to the older Android 2.2. OS. 

A recently released rumor from Digitimes, a newspaper based in Taiwan, states that Honeycomb could be introduced in March. Digitimes claims that Honeycomb will be released as the 3.0 version of Android, although nobody can really be sure of such numbering. Some within the industry believe that the next Android version will be 2.4. Google has not made any official comments on the matter, so only time will tell.

The Digitimes declaration of the March 2011 release date for Honeycomb was made in a subtle fashion.  The paper was actually discussing the upcoming release of a new tablet PC from MSI. It stated that the tablet would go on sale in April or May following Android 3.0's release in March. 

Such a statement seems to be firm and confident, so Digitimes may have some insider information that others have not yet received. The March prediction could be false speculation as well, however, since Digitimes has made predictions in the past that were incorrect. By that same token, the Taiwanese paper has also been accurate on past predictions as well, so it cannot be completely discounted. 

While Digitimes' prediction is unofficial, what is official is that Google announced that Android Honeycomb would become available sometime in 2011, and some signs point at a release early in the year. January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas saw the introduction of a new Android tablet from Motorola. The tablet was supposed to come equipped with the Honeycomb OS, so an early official release date could mean that Android fans will be able to get their hands on Honeycomb sooner rather than later. 

In addition, a prototype of a Motorola Android tablet has been making the rounds, and Google Android's Andy Rubin has demonstrated its capabilities. If the prototype was the model that was unveiled at CES, the March release Honeycomb rumors could pick up more steam. Either way, as we enter 2011, thing will become much clearer regarding the next Android OS release.

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