Froyo (following Google's adorable alphabetized dessert naming convention) is the latest iteration of Android, Google's mobile operating system. Simple enough! If you bought an Android phone recently, Froyo's what it will eventually be running.
...with a slightly different look...
Aside from the nice touch of being greeted by an Android icon at start-up, Froyo users can also expect a new homescreen widget. 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 we'd heard 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's way faster than its predecessor...
We'd heard previous reports that Android 2.2 was going to be ridiculously faster than Android 2.1, and today we saw it first hand: Froyo is up to 5x faster than Eclair, thanks to a just-in-time compiler. And that's just the OS; Google's also claiming that Froyo has the world's fastest mobile browser, period.
...that supports Flash 10.1...
Android 2.2 supports Flash 10.1—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 updates apps and music OTA...
Speaking of leapfrogging the iPhone: with Froyo, when you download an app to your computer you don't need to tether your phone. Instead, the update will automatically be installed over-the-air to your device. Same goes with music you buy. Hear that, iPhone users? No syncing required.
...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.
Change Log:
* General Android OS speed, memory, and performance optimizations
* Additional application speed improvements courtesy of JIT implementation
* Integration of Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine into the Browser application
* Increased Microsoft Exchange support (security policies, auto-discovery, GAL look-up, calendar synchronization, remote wipe)
* Improved application launcher with shortcuts to Phone and Browser applications
* USB tethering and Wi-Fi hotspot functionality
* Added an option to disable data access over mobile network
* Updated Market application with batch and automatic update features
* Quick switching between multiple keyboard languages and their dictionaries
* Voice dialing and contact sharing over Bluetooth
* Support for numeric and alphanumeric passwords
* Support for file upload fields in the Browser application
* Support for installing applications to the expandable memory
* Adobe Flash 10.1 support
* Support for extra high DPI screens (320 dpi), such as 4" 720p
Froyo articles from http://gizmodo.com/5543853/what-is-froyo and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_%28operating_system%29
Great article, thank you. I will recommend your readers to read about "How to Make a Mobile Wallet App". Here we detail how to create a wallet app for both Android and iOS? Reading this blog is essential for creating a digital wallet app that leads your market niche.
ReplyDelete