Speculation points to an early December launch for Android 2.3, Gingerbread

Is Andy Rubin's appearance at a technology conference Google's opportunity to launch Android 2.3?

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IntoMobile speculates that Andy Rubin's appearance at the D conference on December 6 and 7 will be the launching point of the next major release of the Android OS.

Mr. Android, aka Andy Rubin, will be making an appearance at an upcoming show in San Francisco on the 6th of December. The show is "D: Dive Into Mobile" (yeah, we like the name, too) and it's entirely possible that Rubin will be dropping some sweet, sweet knowledge on us concerning Gingerbread. This date is quite believable, as it falls right in line with Eric Schmidt's words saying that the Android update should be announced with in the next couple of weeks – the D: Dive Into Mobile show will be exactly three weeks since Schmidt hinted at the release.

Looking at the program, it isn't certain whether Rubin speaks on the 6th or 7th, however launching a new version of the Android OS at a non-Google event might be out of character.

Google (GOOG) has also told us that there would be a ChromeOS announcement event in the coming weeks, so they could possibly be lumped together, though Rubin isn't associated with the ChromeOS team.