When Google introduced Android 3.0 Honeycomb in January the company made it pretty clear that it was Android designed for tablets. But it wasn’t entirely clear at the time if that meant it wasn’t designed for smartphones, and some signs actually pointed to Honeycomb running on phones as well as tablets.

Now it looks like Google plans to keep things separate… for now. But the next version of Android for phones will reportedly incorporate many of the elements of Honeycomb, and eventually all Honeycomb features will be available for phones “in some form.”

The next version of Android for smartphones is code-named Ice Cream, and word is that it will bring the action bar that runs at the top of apps in Honeycomb. Buttons on the action bar can change depending on context, removing the need for tap-and-hold motions.Ice Cream may also bring the new Hologram look and feel of Honeycomb and the new app switcher with thumbnail images of running apps.

Phone users may never get the system bar that hangs out on the bottom of the screen on tablets though, because screen real estate is at a premium on phones. So it’s likely we’ll continue to see physical home and back buttons on Android handsets.

One of the new feature Apple had been promoting for the upcoming iOS 4.2 mobile operating system was a feature called AirPrint, which would let you send print jobs from an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad directly to a supported printer or to any shared printer on your home network as long as it was connected to a PC running Windows or OS X 10.6.5. But now it looks like Apple may have nixed the support for shared network printers.

MacStories has received a number of tips suggesting that you’ll be able to send AirPrint directly to of supported printers from HP. But Windows and Mac AirPrint support has been cancelled… at least for now.

Word on the street is that developers using earlier builds of iOS 4.2 and beta builds of OS X 10.6.5 were able to use AirPrint with shared printers… but that it may have been too buggy, causing Apple to cancel the feature for now. Hopefully if the rumors are true, they just mean that PC and Mac support has been delayed, not ended altogether. It’d be nice to be able to use AirPrint without having to buy a new printer.

First Generation Zune HD

Want some of the cool new features of Windows Phone 7 Series, but don’t feel like shelling out the cash for a new phone and a monthly data plan? It looks like you may be able to pick up the equivalent of an iPod Touch. ZDNet is reporting that Microsoft is working on a Zune HD2.

The next-generation Zune HD will reportedly run Windows Phone 7 Series and allow you to run the same third party apps you would get on a smartphone. And that includes games based on the upcoming XNA Game Studio 4.0.

Unfortunately, the original Zune HD will only support XNA Game Studio 3.1, which means it will likely not be able to run all of the apps designed for Windows 7 Phones and the next-generation Zune HD.

This is all a rumor for now, but it’s one that I’m really hoping is true. There’s no word on how much the next-generation Zune HD would cost or what kind of specs it would have.

via Gizmodo