oogle's out with Android 2.2 — codename: Froyo — and so far we're impressed. But what is it, exactly?
It's a mobile platform ...
Froyo (following Google's adorable alphabetized dessert naming convention) is the latest iteration of Android, Google's mobile operating system.
Simple enough! If you , Froyo's what it will eventually be running.
There are some other minor aesthetic changes, and transitions and animations seem a bit smoother, but the user experience isn't all that different from using 2.1 on a Nexus One.
... that supports USB tethering and acts as a portable hotspot ...
Another piece of news but are ecstatic to see confirmed: Froyo lets you turn your phone into a hotspot—including for your Wi-Fi iPad, if you're so inclined.
(Or any other Wi-Fi device.) It's still not confirmed if every Android carrier will support tethering (AT&T?), but Froyo's definitely capable.
... that supports Flash 10.1 ...
Android 2.2 — important, because Flash 10.1 is optimized to run on mobile devices. And more than finally killing off those little question mark cubes that litter the web on your phone, it'll also be a huge differentiator for Google in the fight against Apple. There's a line in the sand, and Adobe and Google are on the same side of it.
It may turn out that Flash on mobiles is a bad idea, but at least now you'll have a choice.
... that streams your music ...
You'll also be able to stream your (non-DRM) iTunes library wirelessly to your Froyo phone.
... that's introducing a bevy of new app features ...
Froyo gives hardware compass access to the browser, handy for orienting maps according to which direction you're facing. You'll be able to access the camera from the browser, as well. Google continues to blur the difference between native and web apps.
Other tidbits: voice recognition for search and for Google Translate — the latter of which, when plugged into text to speech, makes a handy speech-to-speech translator. There's also a handy new application manager that'll let you move apps to and run them off of an SD card and allows background updating.
... and that's coming soon (depending) ...
Congratulations, Nexus One users! You're guaranteed to be in the first Froyo update. Everyone else, you're just going to have to hold tight; firmware updates are largely up to the carriers and OEMs, and some poor saps only got their Android 2.1 upgrade . The more recent Android handsets should see an update in the next few months.
You're caught up on Froyo! Now you can check out what's going on with .