Google to Roll Out Android 2.2 for Nexus One

Apparently, Google is starting to roll out the Android 2.2 Froyo update to Nexus One devices. According to Vice President for Google engineering Vic Gundotra at the Google IO conference, Android 2.2, codenamed Froyo, is going to be five times faster at running apps and three times faster at browsing. You will be able to use the camera and voice recognition in the browser with Froyo. Web page and games run faster because the Android browser has the same V8 JavaScript engine as Chrome. “We think we can claim Froyo has the fastest mobile browser,” said Gundotra.

The Froyo browser incorporates HTML 5 features; Gundotra mentioned  the ones that let the browser access hardware features like the accelerometer for rotating the screen, the camera for taking photos in web apps like Buzz, and the microphone. Using webapps with Google’s voice recognition and translation services, you will be able to search the web, tell your phone what to do or get a translation of another language. You’ll also be able to use Flash in the browser.

“We also have the world’s most comprehensive browser,” said Gundotra. “It turns out on the web, people use Flash and part of being open means you’re inclusive not exclusive. It’s great to work together to serve users; it’s much nicer than just saying no.”

Some of the features in Froyo has to be built into new apps, like the ability to back up not just the device but also the data inside applications and the cloud messaging service. Gundotra further demonstrated streaming (non DRM) music from a desktop PC to the phone (as long as the PC is switched on) as part of the future capability. You will also be able to link Ads directly to apps in the Android Marketplace and download them to the phone. You’ll finally be able to install apps onto the SD card and you can also update all or selected apps automatically or on demand.

Android 2.2 has also features to suit the business need; the operating system will be easier to plug into Exchange, it will sync calendars as well as email and companies will be able to set security policies. Further, you’ll be able to use Android 2.2 phones as a modem or as a portable hotspot.