The folks at the xda-developers forum have discovered yet-another updated ROM for the Google Nexus One. While some folks had been hoping that the next build would bring Android 3.0 Gingerbread, this appears to be a minor update to Android 2.2 Froyo with some bug fixes and a new version of the radio. Some folks say the operating system also seems to run faster.

A member of the Modaco forums also posted some benchmark scores showing the device running a little faster after the update.

Paul O’Brien and Modaco has repackaged the ROM so that it can be easily installed on any Android phone. Bear in mind that the stock image will futz with the Android Market, since it won’t allow you to see or download signed apps. So if you’re thinking about updating your phone, you might want to grab one of Paul’s images that says “FRF91 fingerprint,” which tricks the Market into thinking you’re still using an older version of Android.

The new update has the build name of FRG33.

We’ve already seen that it’s possible to install Windows 3.1 on an Android phone by using aDOSBox. But if you’re looking for a slightly more modern alternative to Google’s Android operating system, Nexus One Hacks has a tutorial for installing Ubuntu Linux on a Google Nexus One Android smartphone.

Installing Ubuntu doesn’t require wiping Android off of your device. Instead, Ubuntu runs as a sub-system and you use a VNC client to access the operating system. This way you can still use your phone to make calls… and to run Ubuntu apps.

You’ll need a rooted Android phone to get Ubuntu up and running — and a bit of patience and Linux know-how (or at leas the ability to follow a very long and somewhat complicated set of instructions).

The 13 minute video below shows the entire install process, which really doesn’t take very long at all once you’ve downloaded all the necessary files.

via Android Community

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Image credit: Ars Technica

When Google introduced Android 2.2, the company announced that one of the biggest changes was a new Just In Time (JIT) compiler which dramatically sped up Javascript performance. That means that most third party apps run faster on Android 2.2 than Android 2.1, and many web sites with Javascript elements render more quickly.

But how does Google’s latest mobile operating system stack up against Apple’s? The folks at Ars Technica ran a set of benchmarks on a Google Nexus One running Android 2.2 Froyo and an iPhone 4 running iOS 4. The results? The Nexus One won… by a wide margin.

In fact, the Nexus One performed almost twice as well using the SunSpider benchmark, and more than 3 times better in the V8 test.

It’s worth keeping in mind that the differences aren’t just due to the software. While the Nexus One and iPhone 4 both have ARM-based processors, they each use very different chips, with the Nexus One powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU and the iPhone 4 using an Apple A4 processor. And of course, Javascript isn’t the only performance measure that matters. But it looks like if you visit a lot of Javascript-heavy web sites in your mobile browser, Android 2.2 might be a better bet than iOS 4.

Update: Chippy at CarryPad ran the SunSpider test on an Aava prototype phone running MeeGo Linux. His socre came in at 4,215.2ms, trouncing both the Nexus One and the iPhone 4. Of course, the Aava also has a 1.5GHz dual core Atom processor. While Javascript doesn’t take advantage of multicore processors, it’s tough to say whether it was the fast CPU or the fact that the device was running MeeGo that gave the Aava prototype the edge.

Oh, and just for kicks, I ran SunSpider on my 2nd generation iPod touch running iOS. It scored 30,708 — almost three times slower than the iPhone 4. Clearly the CPU is at least as important as the operating system.

Google has been pushing out test builds of Android 2.2 Froyo to a small group of users with Google Nexus One phones for the past month or so. But as we’ve repeatedly been told, those early builds weren’t the official release that would be made available to the general public — so if you somehow managed to find and download the updates through some link you found on the web, you weren’t necessarily running the final version of Froyo on your Nexus One.

Starting today, that all changes. Google has announced that it has begun rolling out Android 2.2 for Nexus One handsets. Some users have already received notifications that the update is available, and Google promises that most users should get the update by the end of the week. I guess that means the build that leaked last night really was the final build — and if you’re the impatient sort, you can probably download it now by following one of the links from the xda-developers forum.

The Google Nexus One is the first phone to receive the Android 2.2 update because it’s the phone Google has the closest connection to. Up until recently the company had been selling the phone directly to consumers through its web site. But now that Froyo is available for one phone, I suspect it won’t be too long before we start to see other phone makers and wireless carriers start to offer updates for other devices.

Some of the new features in Android 2.2 Froyo include a major speed boost — particularly for third party applications, support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1, USB tethering and WiFi hotspot capabilities, and a new Home Screen design featuring phone and web browser buttons that show up at the bottom of all five home screens.

Yet another build of Google Android 2.2 Froyo for the Nexus One phone has started rolling out. The difference is that some users are reporting that they’ve been getting the latest build as an over the air update — leading some people to concluded that this is the final build of Android 2.2 for the Nexus One. The fact that the Froyo source code was released yesterday lends some credence to that idea.

For those keeping count, this is the third version of Android 2.2 Froyo for the Google Nexus One. The first was FRF50, followed by FRF72. The new version is FRF83.

If you haven’t received an over the air update yet, there are two different installers you can use. One lets you updated from FRF50, while the other updates from FRF72. If you’re not already running a prior version of Android 2.2, you may have to wait a little longer… or download a hacked custom ROM developed around the latest Froyo build.

The instructions for installing the update are pretty much the same as usual. Download the appropriate file, rename it to update.zip and copy it to your SD card and then follow the same steps as last time.

• Download this file to update from FRF50
• Download this file to update from FRF72

If you’re wondering what’s new in the latest build, you’re not alone. While I’m sure there are a number of bug fixes, there’s one major change that I”m aware of: Support for protected apps. That means many paid apps and some free apps like the New York Times reader app which were missing from the Android Market if you were using earlier versions of Android 2.2 are now back.

via xda-developers

The Google Nexus One ships with a headset that you can use to listen to music or make phone calls. It also has a few hardware buttons that you can control music playback. But all you get is a play/pause button and forward and back buttons for skipping tracks.

If you want to fast forward, rewind, or control the volume, you’ll need to pull your phone out of your pocket, turn on the screen, and use the touchscreen controls. Or you can install RemoteVol, a new app that lets you control the volume using the headset.

Once installed, all you have to do is long-press on the previous track button go increase the volume and long-press the next track button to lower the volume.

The app works with the stock Android music player, but the developer plans to add support for HTC Sense.

Of course, you’ll need to use the default Google Nexus One headset for this app to work. Third party headphones need not apply.

The Google Nexus One smartphone has a 5MP camera, which lets you take high resolution photos. But when it comes to shooting video, the phone is stuck in the pre-HD era, topping out at VGA resolutions. Or at least that was the case yesterday. Today there’s a hack that will let you record 720p HD video on a Nexus One.

In order to get things working, you’ll need to root your phone and replace the stock firmware with a custom ROM. In other words, you’ll void your warranty. But hey, HD video recording!

You can check out a short demo video recorded on a Nexus One after the break.

via Android Central

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The whole point of a smartphone is that you don’t need a ton of peripherals to use it. But if you’ve ever wanted to plug a USB keyboard, webcam, or external monitor into your phone, it looks like there’s hope. And no, I’m not talking about Bluetooth accessories made for phones. I’m talking about full fledged computer peripherals.

Sven Killig figured out how to add USB host support to a Google Nexus One smartphone, although I imagine it should be possible with other Android handsets as well. In the video below, you can see what happens when he plugs in a USB keyboard, webcam, and monitor (using DisplayLink technology). At the risk of spoiling the surprise, they work.

via Engadget

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I’ve been playing around with Google Android 2.2 Froyo on my Nexus One for the last hour or so. While Google is slowly rolling out the over the air update to Nexus One users, there’s a way to download the update and install it manually if you’re the impatient type.

Overall, I like Froyo so far. Third party apps definitely feel a little faster. Fennec is actually pretty usable now, even though the mobile version of Firefox is still pre-Alpha software. And the ability to turn my phone into a portable WiFi hotspot is absolutely awesome — or it would be if I weren’t getting inconsistent 3G service today.

But if you were hoping Froyo would turn the Nexus One into a superphone, it won’t. The overall user interface isn’t any faster than it was with Android 2.1. Sure,the phone is still pretty zippy when flipping between home screens and opening the program launcher. But switching from one app to another isn’t any faster than it used to be. And every now and again you’ll find yourself waiting for the home screen to reappear for several seconds after you hit the home button.

Some of the changes are merely cosmetic. For instance, Google has removed the border that appears when you press and hold the home button to see the list of recently run apps. And when you enable debugging, the icon that appears in the notification area looks like an Android-bug instead of an exclamation point.

Other features just aren’t really widely available yet. When you open the Applications menu in the system settings, you’ll see an SD card option, because eventually you’ll be able to install apps to the SD card or move apps that are already installed on your phone’s main storage to the SD card. But we’re going to have to wait for developers to update their apps to support this feature before we can actually put apps on our SD cards.

The new web-based Android Market, which will allow you to install apps directly to your phone simply by clicking a button on your desktop web browser isn’t active yet.

But there are still some nice touches. The mobile version of the Android Market now has an “update all” button, which makes it much easier to keep all of your third party apps up to date. And there are now browser and phone buttons that hang out in a persistent dock that shows up at the bottom of every home screen — freeing up space for you to install widgets, shortcuts, and other icons on your home screen.

Support for Adobe Flash is a mixed bag. On the one hand, you can play some Flash video in the Android browser using Adobe Flash Player 10.1. And some Flash-based games, like Bookworm work as well. But for the most part, playback is a bit choppy and I found that some videos seemed to have audio issues — while I was watching choppy video of The Daily Show, it sounded like Jon Stewart was saying everything twice.

It’s very possible these Flash issues will be resolved in the future. Adobe Flash Player 10.1 for Android is still in beta, and the software doesn’t support hardware graphics acceleration yet — but future versions will.

You can check out my hands-on video with Google Android 2.2 Froyo on the Nexus One, and some screengrabs after the break.

Update: OK, I’m starting to notice a few problems with the new build — or at least with the way it interacts with third party apps. Google must have changed the way the Google Calendar app works, because I’ve noticed that several home screen calendar widgets I’ve used in the past no longer work properly . Smooth Calendar and Calendar Pad simply don’t show any upcoming appointments anymore.

I’ve also noticed that some streaming audio apps are broken. While Pandora still works, Android Online Radio has trouble streaming most online radio stations, and the NPR News app can play individual stories, but not live streams from public radio stations.

Froyo also turns eMobile Task Manager into a glorified task switcher. It can no longer actually terminate apps or services.

Have you had any problems with Android 2.2 Froyo and third party apps? Let us know in the comments.

Update 2: I’ve put together a second video which looks at more than 20 new features in Android 2.2.

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