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Google’s out with Android 2.2—codename: Froyo—and so far we’re impressed. But what is it, exactly? More »

Sure sure, Froyo is great and all, but Google just blew our minds with two previews of upcoming Android features at I/O: OTA application installation and remote music streaming. OTA installation is just as simple as you’d expect — after browsing to an app on your desktop, you can push it to your phone and install it with just a single click, all done over the air. Interestingly, Google also showed music being purchased and transferred from Android Marketplace in the same way, which could indicate a deeper push towards music integration, or just be a nice demo. Either way, it’s pretty slick stuff — the fewer wires we have to carry, the better.

The remote music streaming is a little crazier: Google bought a company called Simplify Media, which makes a bit of desktop software that can stream all your music directly from iTunes to your phone. The demo was quite slick — you just open the app and push “all,” and all your music is instantly available. Whether or not this’ll work over 3G or be limited to the local network is still up in the air, but we’re dying to try it out.

Google adding over-the-air app installation and iTunes streaming to Android originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 May 2010 12:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Much to our surprise at the time, when Adobe sent us a Flash 10.1-enabled Nexus One for testing, the phone came preloaded with a preview build of Android 2.2 — a.k.a. “Froyo” — the apparent turning point for curbing Android fragmentation due for a very public unveiling today at Google I/O. We’ve had a day or two to dig into it, and while we’re surely missing some improvements here or there (Google was unable to provide us a changelog as of this writing), we’ve spent pretty much all our waking moments combing through every virtual nook and cranny. So what can Eclair alumni expect from the revised platform? Read on for more!

Continue reading Android 2.2 ‘Froyo’ beta hands-on: Flash 10.1, WiFi hotspots, and some killer benchmark scores

Android 2.2 ‘Froyo’ beta hands-on: Flash 10.1, WiFi hotspots, and some killer benchmark scores originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 May 2010 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No huge surprises here, but Google just announced Android 2.2 “Froyo” at I/O, and the big addition is a just-in-time compiler, which brings a 2-5x speed boost to the system. There are also 20 new enterprise features, including better Exchange integration and device administration APIs, as well as a new device backup app that’ll let you transfer personal data to a new device. Android 2.2 also features a new cloud-to-device messaging API that Google called “much more than a push notification service designed to make up for a lack of basic features like multitasking,” and of course, WiFi tethering — which was used to get a WiFi iPad online during the demo to great cheers. Google also demoed a new JavaScript engine in the Android browser, which is billed as “the world’s fastest web browser,” and a Chrome browser plugin that allows you to send directions from Maps on your desktop directly to your phone.

It’s all going on live right now, so make sure to go hit our I/O liveblog!

Android 2.2 Froyo officially announced originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 May 2010 11:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yesterday’s Google I/O keynote brought about a number of big newsbits — a Chrome web app store, the open WebM video format, and so forth — but even more tantalizing were Vic Gundotra’s not-so-subtle hints at some major announcements coming at today’s keynote. Will we finally get some details on Android’s latest updates on the food roadmap?

Continue reading Live from the Google I/O 2010 day 2 keynote!

Live from the Google I/O 2010 day 2 keynote! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 May 2010 11:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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