Your Froyo is not official, but don't fret, you'll still get the official one too!

According to a couple of Google employees on the Nexus One forum, the version of 2.2 that floating around is not the official release. But you will still receive the official OTA when it is released and you will not void your warranty by jumping the gun. So if anything was holding you back from checking out so good ole Frozen Yogurt on your Nexus, this should be welcoming news!

Samsung i897 to release on AT&T?

So, you wanna stick with AT&T and you want an Android phone that's more than a "toy" (well that cancels the back flip), but you don't wanna pay $529 for the Nexus One. Well, Samsungs to the rescue. According to AndroidGuys, the 4" AMOLED display, Snapdragon packing, 5 megapixel camera totin', Android 2.1 device will land on ole "Ma'Bell" sometime in the near future. If that doesn't tickle your AT&T fancy, then nothing will.

Motorola's 4.3" Droid Shadow

Is this the Moto Droid Shadow? According to a tipster who sent this photo to Gizmodo, it is. The tipster says he found the phone a Verizon Company Gym and snapped a couple photos before the device was remotely locked & the owner came back to claim it. What do you think? Is the story believable or does it sound like BS? Let me know in the comments.

2.2 Being Pushed to Nexus One Devices?

Over the weekend, there have been several reports that the 2.2 update 'Froyo' is being pushed to Android devices. Various tech site have reported their review units have indeed received the 2.2 OTA update. My personal Nexus One has not yet received the OTA as of yet so it is believed that only the units handed out to the press have received the update. But if you're impatient & the adventurous type, XDA has come up with a solution. You can "jump the line" and do a manual install of the update as a copy of the update file has been found on Google's servers & copied over to the XDA devs forum. So if your feeling antsy & a brave soul. Click the link after the jump for direction & direct access to the update.zip file, but INSTALL AT YOUR RISK! Let me know how it goes for you in the comments section!

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=686631

Android 2.2 Overview

In the 18 months since Android's first debut, there are now over 60 Android devices. 21 OEMs, 48 countries, and 59 carriers have helped make Android what it is today. Today, Google is activating 100,000 Android devices. Google is now second only to RIM in U.S. Smartphone sales. In terms of total web and app usage, Android is now first. Google was hoping to have 500 million miles navigated with turn-by-turn by the end of the year. Today they're well over 1 billion. People love applications, and to help serve their needs there are now over 50,000 applications and 180,000 developers helping to keep Android front andcenter in the Smartphone world. And now to the big news... Android 2.2 aka FroYo! Here's what it's all about.

Google has done a lot of work. FroYo's Dalvik virtual machine has a JIT compiler that's good for a speedup anywhere from 2x to 5x.

For corporate users, there are a bunch of new Exchange policies. You know, good stuff like auto-discovery, security policies, global address books, remote wipe, etc.

Elsewhere, there's a cloud-to-device messaging API. Developers can send messages to Google's servers and it will send an Android intent to the device. For example, if you're looking to get to a nice Italian bakery, you can hit up Google maps on your desktop and send the directions to your Android Smartphone. It won't send some crummy text message or email, though. Oh, no. It will open up Google Maps Navigation and send you on your merry way.

Tethering and Hotspots The rumors were indeed true. Android will let you enable tethering at the platform level. Just open up the Wi-Fi settings, create a hotspot and you're good to go.

Browser FroYo brings major enhancements to the browsers. Javascript performs 2x to 3x faster. Google is working closely with standards bodies to make more capable and versatile browsers. Soon (and not necessarily in FroYo), you'll be able to do things like use the camera, magnometer and accelerometer from within the browser thanks to some clever APIs.

Google has upped its game with voice recognitions. In the future, again, not with FroYo, voice recognition will be able to better understand human intention. So if you tell it to look up a picture, it will do that in browser. But if you tell it to call your favorite restaurant, it will do that, too. You'll also be able to use voice commands with the Google Translate website. Just say whatever it is you want translated and Google will do the rest.

Google wants the most comprehensive mobile browser. "It turns out on the internet... people use Flash!" We saw a quick little demo of Flash running on Nickelodeon's site, and truthfully, it looked to run fairly smoothly.

The Quick Search box will allow you to easily search for applications. Developers can also tap into this. Say you bought something and plugged it into the Mint app. You can search for that particular transaction with the Quick Search bar.

You'll be free to shove games and apps to the microSD card and use them as if they were loaded on the devices on-board memory.

There will be an update all button for apps in the Android Market. If that's too much hassle, you can select any number of your apps to auto update. Very nice! Report feedback If an app crashes, you can send feedback directly to the developer and let them know what happened.

Developers can view the entire stack trace and isolate the problem andfix it.

You'll be able to take advantage of a little known as the "internet" and have it push the app directly to your phone. The same can be done for music and videos. *drool* Streaming Music Thanks to Google's acquisition of Simplify Media, you can now stream your non-DRM music collection from your computer straight to your Android Smartphone.

Sprint's HTC Hero Finally gets Android 2.1 Update

That's right folks! Its official. The Hero finally has it 2.1 update. Éclair for the Hero is fully baked & ready to go so all you Hero owners can enjoy more apps (because a lot of apps require OS 1.6 or higher) & The magic of Google Maps Navigation. The update is official but Sprint has not posted a direct link to the update ROM on its website, instead it has posted the directions to update through HTC Hotsync. So if you ready to bring your 2009 phone into the year 2010 head on over to the Sprint website OR click the link after the jump.

http://support.sprint.com/support/article/Find_and_update_the_software_version_on_your_HTC_Hero/case-gb746811-20091009-155624?&INTNAV=SU:DP:HDIA

General Motors & Google team up

Last week GM said it teamed up with a technology company to bolster its OnStar capabilities beyond the car, and as it turns out that partner is none other than Google. General Motors and Google have developed an Smartphone application to run on Android Phones for its up and coming Chevy Volt. The new app will be demonstrated this week at the Google I/O conference. Via the app you will be able to see your vehicles charging status, start & stop charging, locate your vehicle on Google maps, and enter addresses for your OnStar turn by turn navigation. But hey, since your using an Android phone running OS 1.6 or higher, you can always opt to use the built in turn by turn directions on the device. You can expect to see The Chevy Volt App 2.0 in the Android market this fall.