So there you have it: Android's smartphone and tablet paths, in one form or another, will soon converge. Hang on, though -- there's more.

Also at MWC today, HTC announced a slew of new Android devices, including a 7-inch tablet that'll . That presumably means we'll see at least one more significant phone-focused Gingerbread release before the unifying "I" edition of Android arrives.

For anyone who keeps up with rumors, this is no huge surprise; we've been hearing about for some time now. Earlier this month, Android blog published a rumor that Google was working on a 2.4 release that'd bring some of Honeycomb's features into Gingerbread-level devices. A website called followed up that report with hearsay suggesting the 2.4 software would be able to run apps designed specifically for Honeycomb. The site also predicted the release would arrive in April.

Those specifics, of course, are still unconfirmed, but they certainly are starting to gel with everything else we're hearing. And in case you're wondering, by the way, that upcoming Android "I" release is Ice Cream Sandwich.

There's one more factor in Google's operating system puzzle: . During his MWC speech this week, Schmidt reinforced what Google has said about Chrome OS all along: That software is being targeted to notebook-style devices with keyboards. Android is made with phones and tablets in mind. The two are separate entities with separate purposes. Schmidt said the first commercial Chrome OS devices should hit the market sometime this spring.