Android 2.2 Coming To Most HTC Phones

Most Android phones released this year will receive an upgrade to Android 2.2, code named Froyo, in the second half of the year, HTC has announced.

This includes the Desire and Droid Incredible as well as upcoming phones such as the Evo 4G, the MyTouch slide and other future models. HTC said that all its models released this year will "most likely" be bumped up to Android OS 2.2, but made no mention of models released in 2009.

"We are working closely with Google and our other partners to ensure we have the earliest access to everything we need to provide a complete and solid Sense experience on Froyo," the company said in a statement.

Google officially unveiled Android OS 2.2 Thursday, but hasn't finished working on it yet. The company has promised the next version of this operating system will be given to device makers "in the coming weeks."

The next version of Google's mobile operating system is expected to include tethering and portable hotspot software. The upgraded software is required for devices to run Adobe Flash Player 10.1, which will allow the Web browser to fully make use of sites that use Flash for navigation, games, and showing video.

Other upgrades will include faster speeds and an increase in Microsoft Exchange enterprise capabilities. The Android platform has been criticized for lacking enterprise-focused features, such as complex passwords and remote wipe.

But at the Google IO developer conference Thursday, Froyo was touted as an antidote to Apple's iPhone. After demonstrating a cloud-to-device messaging API, Google VP of engineering Vic Gundotra mocked the iPhone's more limited push notification service.

Looking further down the OS development road, Google's WebM VP8 codec website reported that Android 2.3, the so-called Gingerbread build, could be ready as soon as the fourth quarter of this year.

For Further Reading:
First Impressions Of Android 2.2 Froyo
Strange Bedfellows, Google And Adobe Gang Up On Apple
Android 2.2 To Add Tethering, Wi-Fi Hotspot
Google Previews Android 2.2 As Apple Antidote