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The release of the tablet oriented Android version, Honeycomb, threatens to fragment the Google OS still further, but harmony will be restored this summer with the launch of the Ice Cream iteration. This is expected to have tablet and phone implementations, and serve as an update both for Honeycomb and for the latest release for smaller-screened devices, Gingerbread.

According to the PocketLint blog, Ice Cream is due in June or July, as Google slows down the rate of new Android releases to two per year, another antidote to fragmentation as the OS matures. Ice Cream is expected to be launched officially in May. After Ice Cream, another new Android version is not expected until the end of 2011.

Last week, there was high excitement among Android watchers when Sony Ericsson’s new Xperia Arc was demonstrated at the CES show, apparently running ‘Android 2.4’. However, the vendor denied it had an early release of Ice Cream, and blamed a configuration error.

Although the slowing of Android’s rapid-fire upgrade cycle will be welcome to developers, Google knows it will need to maintain its momentum in terms of functionality, in order to continue to steal share from Apple iOS. This will be particularly true in the important US market, once the iPhone’s channels are broadened by Verizon’s launch. On the bright side for Google, AT&T is expected to place significantly more effort behind its own Android handsets once it no longer has the iPhone exclusive.

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