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.