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Hands-On: Flash Player 10.1 and Android 2.2 Froyo

Flash Player 10.1 Android 2.2 Comments 8

Phone Scoop had a chance to play with Android 2.2 Froyo on a Nexus One for a few days. To be quite honest, the changes are so subtle when compared to Android 2.1, that they are very hard to spot.

The one change that is immediately apparent is a slight change to the software button on the home screen. Android 2.1 offers just the button to open the main menu. With Android 2.2, that button has been expanded and now includes one button to the phone application and one button to open the browser. As far as I can tell, there is no way to adjust these buttons, they appear to be permanent.

The gmail application has been very slightly modified. Compared to Android 2.1, it now has arrows to make jumping to the next and/or previous email faster and easier. Before, the controls to get from email to email were termed "Older" and "Newer". Having buttons with arrows on them just makes it more obvious what to do.

Android 2.2 also now has baked-in tethering and Wi-Fi hotspot controls. I was able to turn on the hotspot creator and use T-Mobile's 3G network to supple my laptop with a Wi-Fi connection to the Internet. I didn't have to perform and account hijinks to get it to work, it just worked. My guess is wireless network operators are going to have something to say about this feature, so don't expect it to magically appear on all Android 2.2 devices.

According to Google, other changes to Android 2.2 Froyo include vastly improved system performance. I can say with authority that the Nexus One absolutely flies with the new system software on board. It is fast, Fast, FAST. So is the browser. Whether over 3G or Wi-Fi, the browser is blazing fast. Google says it has sped up JavaScript rendering, and it's true.

A deep inspection of all the settings, controls and applications on the device yielded very little information about other new features.

Android 2.2.

Here is some video of Android 2.2 in action.

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