As widely expected, Google announced Android 2.2 (codename Froyo) today during Google I/O. This is the seventh update that Google has released since the launch of the first Android-powered phone with T-Mobile in October 2008.
Android has now made its way onto 60 devices from over 20 manufacturers. Some 100,000 Android-powered devices are now sold every day in 48 countries from 59 carriers. Further reinforcing Android’s momentum is the fact that the Android Marketplace has now topped 50,000 applications.
So, what is new in Android 2.2? Google touched upon 5 key areas:
- Performance & speed: The new Dalvik JIT compiler in Android 2.2 delivers between a 2-5X performance improvement in CPU-bound code vs. Android 2.1 according to various benchmarks.
- New enterprise capabilities: We’ve added Exchange capabilities such as account auto-discovery and calendar sync. Device policy management APIs allow developers to write applications that can control security features of the device such as the remote wipe, minimum password, lockscreen timeout etc.
- Faster, more powerful browser: We have brought the V8 JavaScript engine to the Android browser as part of 2.2. This has resulted in a 2-3X improvement in JavaScript performance vs. 2.1.
- Rich set of new APIs and services: New data backup APIs enable apps to participate in data backup and restore, allowing an application’s last data to be restored when installed on a new or a reset device. Apps can utilize Android Cloud to Device Messaging to enable mobile alert, send to phone, and two-way push sync functionality. Developers can now declare whether their app should be installed on internal memory or an SD card. They can also let the system automatically determine the install location. On the native side, a new API now gives access to Skia bitmaps.
- Additions to Android Market: Android Market provides Android Application Error Reports, a new bug reporting feature, giving developers access to crash and freeze reports from users. Developers will be able to access these reports via their account on the Android Market publisher website.
And that’s not all: You can also add native USB and Wi-Fi tethering and support for Adobe Flash and Adobe Air to the list of Android 2.2 features.
The new Android 2.2 SDK and Android NDK are now available for download.
As for the more important question, Google has promised that some devices could get an update as early as “in the coming weeks.”