Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, was scheduled to appear at the Web 2.0 Summit today, and while some speculated that he might finally announce Gingerbread to the world, I had my doubts about whether he would actually announce the update rather than talking about it on some tangent. Unfortunately, the truth ended up being somewhere in the middle, with Eric only brushing up on a few things and then going off about the general strategy.

Here's what went down, in my favorite bullet point style:

  • Eric came out and was asked about Android right off the bat.
  • He then pulled out a device that he said he was carrying with him for a while, which by the looks of it was none other than the Nexus S. We were able to catch a very quick glimpse of the UI, which was nothing unexpected (more black and more green).
  • The biggest tidbit Eric announced about Gingerbread was its support for NFC technology, which stands for Near Field Communication. Google wants our phones to become our credit cards and IDs in the future, and NFC support will enable them to do just that. NFC is basically a short-range wireless sensor that can exchange information at about 4 inches apart.
  • "Gingerbread is coming in the next few weeks" was all Eric had to say about the release date before going on to talk about other things.
  • When asked about why Eric previously mentioned that Google would not be making a Nexus Two, he said he wasn't incorrect, hinting at the new "Nexus S" name. Very tongue-in-cheek.

The live stream is still happening over at web2summit.com.

Unfortunately, I didn't grab any Nexus S screenshots, but you can see Engadget's below:

Photos from Engadget