GINGERBREAD - next Android serving after Froyo

Android users rejoiced when news of the vastly improved O/S ver 2.2 codename Froyo was announced on May 20 at the Google I/O conference. 
The initial builds of  FRF50, FRF72, FRF83 was progressively "leaked" out to users and the final build FRF85 was officially released on/about 29 Jun. Google Nexus One users were the first to receive the upgrade. During the last 3 days, various customized versions of rom based on FRF85 is already available for download at forum XDA Developers for Nexus One users. Official release of FRF85 for other Android phones,  example HTC Desire, Samsung Galaxy S, Motorola Droid X, HTC Evo 4 are expected to be available by Aug to Sept.

Immediately after the official release, there is already leaked news of ver 3.0 codename Gingerbread. Unwired.com had based on a Russian podcast Digestiv release more information on Gingerbread. Apaprently the release is expected to be in October with handsets available by December.

Based on this and several other websites info,  summarized below are the new features :

New User Interface :
Gingerbread is a completely new UI that will provide a better and richer  user experience. Its aim is to make third-party customized  interfaces such as htc Sense, Samsung Touch Wiz, Motorola MotoBlur etc as pointless . These customizations causes temporary fragmentation as the skin has to be reworked for each subsequent OS release.

New hardware requirements :
Minimum 1GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, and a touchscreen of at least 3.5 inches. Support for a new resolution of 1280 x 760 will be available for devices with at least a 4″ screen - this should prove especially useful for the Android tablets due from Motorola, Samsung and LG by years end.

It would appear that Gingerbread Ver 3.0 will be for  for top of the line/high end devices. Cheap, low-end mass market handsets will use Android 2.1 Eclair or Froyo 2.2.
Current devices that fall short of these specs will probably see the end of their shelf lives at Froyo and will not get an upgrade to Gingerbread if these speculations hold accurate.

Links :
http://www.unwiredview.com/2010/06/30/android-3-0-gingerbread-details-1280x760-resolution-1ghz-minimum-specs-mid-oct-release/
http://androidandme.com/2010/06/news/gingerbread/
http://phandroid.com/2010/06/30/rumor-android-3-0-gingerbread-details-outed-1ghz-minimum-specification/
http://pocketnow.com/tech-news/android-gingerbread-build-to-require-minimum-specs