Today at Google I/O the official details of Android 2.2 (FroYo) have been announced. Our previous article included most of the predictions correctly. The new surprises were the added docking feature and major camera enhancements.
FroYo Android 2.2 is faster than previous versions of Android (faster than iPad too) and has close to twenty improvements that include supporting Adobe Flash 10.1, MS Exchange support, and a uniifed inbox. FroYo Android 2.2 offers multiple e-mail account support, camera improvements, a better
browser, and a re-designed calendar. A major improvement is the ability to store apps on the microSD card, allowing for more space for apps.
USB tethering in FroYo Android 2.2 allows for use as a modem and mobile hostpot sharing.
There is now an app launcher bar, instead of the pop-out app launcher
tray.
Instead of having a hidden
settings menu in the FroYo Android 2.2 camera app, there are settings icons inside of the
camera frame
instead. There are 13 in-between levels of digital zoom over
the previous 5 levels. There are four video settings. Photos now have
EXIF metadata allowing them to be edited in Adobe Photoshop correction
tools
Three's a dock function for when you dock the FroYo Android 2.2 smartphone for
music playing and you can change the settings associated with the dock.
It has been reported that although Android 2.2 FroYo supports Adobe
Flash, not all Flash websites will run on Android smartphones with 2.2
installed, the responsibility will fall on the web designer
Updated 5/21/10:Android 2.2 has more Exchange support.
Improved security with the addition of numeric pin or alpha-numeric password options to unlock device, remote wipe, support of the Exchange Calendar application, auto-discovery and auto address look-up, enabling users to auto-complete recipient names from the directory.
What's next for Android? The next version out around the holidays is
called Android 3.0 or Gingerbread.