Sprint has just made available the Android 2.2 update for the HTC EVO, making it the first mass-market phone with Android 2.2 and (finally) full Flash browsing!
According to Sprint, the Android 2.2 release for the EVO will provide a number of feature enhancements, including:
- Voice Dialing Over Bluetooth.
- Application Storage on External Memory, giving users more storage room for all their apps.
- Camera 4-way rotation allows the camera icons to rotate with the camera.
- Improved Browser Performance including a faster JavaScript engine and Flash 10x Support improving the user’s ability to view videos and available content associated with web pages.
I especially welcome the Flash 10x support, which will (finally) provide full web browsing capabilities on phone. The ability to store applications on external memory is also very helpful, since Android 2.1 and earlier limits applications to internal storage, which is smaller and can fill up quickly if you download large apps.
Sprint will begin sending update notifications to users beginning today and the upgrade should be available for all HTC EVO users by the middle of August.
The notification will provide a simple two-step over-the-air download process.
- Users will receive a notification that Android 2.2 is available for download.
- Once the user has downloaded the update, they will be prompted to install the update. The EVO will be disabled during the installation process and be ready to use once the process completes.
EVO owners can also initiate the Android 2.2 update themselves through the HTC EVO under the Settings Menu > System Updates > HTC Software Update.
Other carriers are expected to rollout their versions of Android 2.2 soon. Verizon has already announced they will be rolling out Android 2.2 for the DROID X shortly. And we expect to get a similar announcement for the Samsung Vibrant on T-Mobile, but don't have confirmation yet.
From BrianO on August 03, 2010 :: 2:36 pm
I am anxiously waiting for Froyo release for the HTC Incredible - which is rumored to be this coming weekend.
Voice dialing over Bluetooth….from a smart phone…no way! Who woulda ever thought! It blows me away that Android devices did not offer this prior to Froyo. I use the voice to text feature for the majority of my text messages and emails and still am amazed with how well this works - I just hope the voice dialing works as good as the voice to text feature.
In my humble opinion, adding the full web browsing with Flash support (which really only partially worked with Android 2.1), no ‘death grip’ issues, and on a ‘non-AT&T’ network make Android phones extremely competitive with the iPhone.
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