Google announces Android 2.2

Asavin Wattanajantra

Google has officially announced the latest update to its mobile device platform in Android with 2.2, codenamed Froyo.

New features from the update includes portable hotspot functionality, support for Adobe Flash within Android, and improvements in Android market.

It also offers new tools for developers such as performance and speed enhancements, new enterprise capabilities, the addition of the V8 Javascript engine to the Android browser, and a new set of APIs and services.

At its annual I/O developers conference, Google also previewed a web-based version of Android Market and an update to the native Music app, which means that users will be able to access music from Android-based handsets.

"The growth of the Android ecosystem continues to exceed our expectations," said Andy Rubin, VP, Engineering. "Every day, 100,000 new people start using Android-based handsets.”

“There are now more than 180,000 active Android developers who have contributed over 50,000 apps to the Android Market. Froyo is another step toward making Android an even better platform for developers, enterprises and consumers."

Developers can download the Android 2.2 SDK and Android NDK, Revision 4 now from the Android developer site. Froyo will also be made available to OEMs and the open source community in the coming weeks