Open Source Android Operating System (OS) Versions
Android 1.5 vs Android 1.6 vs Android 2.1 vs Android 2.2 vs Android 2.2.1 vs Androud 2.2.2 vs Android 2.3 vs Android 2.3.3 vs Android 2.3.4 Android 2.3.5 vs Android 2.3.6 vs Android 2.3.7 vs Android 3.0 vs Android 3.1 vs Android 3.2 vs Android 4.0
Android 1.5 (Cupcake), Android 1.6 (Donut), Android 2.1 (Eclair), Android 2.2 (FroYo), Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), Android 2.3.3, Android 2.3.4, Android 2.3.5 to 2.3.7, Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), Android 3.1, Android 3.2, and Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) are the Android mobile operating system versions that were released since its inception until Q4 2011. Android is an open source software stack developed for mobile phones and other mobile devices. Android was initially created by Android Inc. based on a modified version of the Linux kernel. Google bought Android in 2005 and formed the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) in collaboration with Open Handset Alliance to maintain the Android system and to develop it further. AOSP was formed with the primary intention of developing an excellent open platform for mobile devices and give users a real mobile experience. Today many companies have invested in AOSP and allocated resources to develop Android further with the goal. Most of the smartphones released during Q4 2010 and Q1 2011 are Android phones. Android has surpassed Apple in the market share by Q4 2010.
As Android is an open source software platform, there can be incompatible implementation due to uncontrolled customization; AOSP has taken care to avoid those through ‘Android Compatibility Program’. Anyone can use the Android source code, but if they wish to use Android brand then they must be included in the ACP.
Android 1.0 was the first release of Android and has an API level of 1, it was released on September 2008. The next updates were Android 1.1 (Petit Four) with API Level 2 on February 2009, Android 1.5 (Cupcake) with API Level 3 on April 2009, and Android 1.6 (Donut) with API Level 4 on September 2009. There were two more upgrades Android 2.0 with API Level 5 on October 2009 and Android 2.0.1 with API Level 6 on December 2009. But as there was no compatibility program these two were taken off immediately and made obsolete with Android 2.1 (Éclair). So what was officially released after Android 1.6 was Android 2.1 (Éclair) with API Level 7 on January 2010. This was followed by Android 2.2 (FroYo) with API Level 8 on May 2010, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) with API Level 9 on December 2010. Android 2.3 had 4 revisions so far, 2.3.1 was issued to fix a SMS bug and 2.3.2 was issued OTA to include support for Google Map 5.0. Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) with API Level 10 was released in January 2011 and 2.3.4 was issued in May 2010 that introduced the voice/video chat over Google Talk. Android 2.3.5 to Android 2.3.7 were minor releases for small improvements and bug fixes. In addition to these Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) was released in January 2011 which was developed exclusively for larger screens such as tablets. The first update to Honeycomb, Android 3.1, was issued on 10 May 2011, it was a major release. The newest version of the tablet specific OS is Android 3.2, it is a minor update . Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is the latest released Android version, and it is a combo of Gingerbread and Honeycomb. It was released on 18 October 2011 along with Galaxy Nexus by Samsung. Ice Cream Sandwich is a universal operating system that will be compatible with all Android based devices.
Android 4.0
The Android version designed to be used on both phones and tables was officially released in October 2011 alongside the announcement of Galaxy Nexus. Android 4.0 also known as “Ice cream sandwich” combines the features of both Android 2.3(Gingerbread) and Android 3.0 (Honeycomb).
The biggest improvement of Android 4.0 is the user interface enhancement. Further confirming the commitment to more user friendly mobile operating system, Android 4.0 comes with a new typeface called ‘Roboto’ which is more suitable for high resolution screens. The virtual buttons in the Systems bar (Similar to Honeycomb) allow users to navigate back, to Home and to recent applications. The folders in the home screen allow users to organize applications by category simply by drag and drop. The widgets have been designed to be re sizable and allow users to view content using the widget without launching the application.
Multitasking is one of the strong features in Android. In Android 4.0 (Ice cream Sandwich), the recent apps button allows users switch between recent applications easily. The systems bar shows a list of recent applications and has thumbnails of applications; users may instantly access an application by tapping the thumbnail. The notifications are also enhanced in Android 4.0 (Ice cream Sandwich). In smaller screens, notifications will appear at the top of the screen, and in bigger screens, notifications will appear in the System bar. Users can also dismiss individual notifications.
Voice input has also been improved in Android 4.0 (Ice cream Sandwich). The new voice input engine gives an ‘open microphone’ experience and allows users to give voice commands any time. It allows users to compose messages by dictation. Users may dictate the message continuously and if any errors are available they will be highlighted in gray.
The lock screen comes packed with improvements and innovation. On Android 4.0, users can do many actions while the screen is locked. It is possible to answer a call, see notifications and browse through music if the user is listening to music. The innovative feature added to the lock screen would be ‘Face Unlock’. With Android 4.0, users can now keep their face in front of the screen and unlock their phones adding an even more personalized experience.
The new People application on Android 4.0 (Ice cream Sandwich) allows users to search for contacts, their images across multiple social networking platforms. Users own contact details can be stored as ‘Me’ so that information can be shared easily.
The camera capabilities are another area much enhanced in Android 4.0. Image capturing is enhanced with continuous focus, zero shutter lag exposure and decreased shot-to-shot speed. After capturing the images, users can edit those images on the phone itself, using the image editing software. While recording video users can take full HD images simply by tapping the screen, as well. Another introducing feature on the camera application is the single-motion panorama mode for larger screens. Features such as face detection, tap to focus are also onboard Android 4.0. With “Live Effects”, users can add interesting changes to captured video and video chat. Live Effects enable changing the background to any available or custom images for captured video and video chat.
Android 4.0 is the mobile operating system, which takes Android platform into the future. There for it is no surprise that the new operating system has focused on the NFC capabilities of future Android smart phones and tablets. “Android Beam” is a NFC based sharing application, which allows two NFC enabled devices to share images, contacts, music, video and applications.
Android 4.0, also known as Ice cream Sandwich comes to the market with many interesting innovative features packed. However, the most important and noteworthy enhancement would be the upgrade the user interface has received to give it a much needed finishing touch. With fast passed release cycles, many previous Android versions seemed a little rough around the edges.
Android 3.2 (Honeycomb)
Android 3.2 is the last released version of the tablet specific Honeycomb. It was released in July 2011. It is a small add on to previous versions.
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Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) API Level: 13 Release: July 2011 |
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New Features 1. Optimization for wider range of tablet devices. 2. A pixel scaled compatibility zoom mode for fixed size apps – offers better viewing experience for apps that are not designed to run on larger devices. 3. Media sync direct from SD card. 4. Extended screen support API for developers – to manage application UI across wide range of tablet devices.
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Android 3.1 (Honeycomb)
Android 3.1 is the first major release to Honeycomb, this is an add on to the Android 3.0 features and the UI. It enhances the capabilities of the OS for both users as well as the developers. With the update, the UI is refined to make it more intuitive and efficient. Navigation between the five home screens is made easy, a touch of the home button in system bar will take you to frequently used homes screen. The home screen widget can be customized to add more information. And the recent apps list is expanded to more number of applications. The update also supports more varieties of input devices and USB connected accessories.
In addition to these new features, some of the standard applications are improved in order to optimize the larger screen. The improved applications are Browser, Gallery, Calendar and Enterprise Support. The improved browser supports CSS 3D, animations and CSS fixed positioning, embedded playback of HTML5 video content and plugins that use hardware accelerated tendering. Web pages can now be saved locally for offline viewing with all styling and imaging. Page Zoom performance also improved, giving a better browsing experience.
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API Level: 12 Release: 10 May 2011
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New Features 1. Refined UI – Launcher animation optimized for faster, smoother transition to/from app list – Adjustments in color, positioning and text – Audible feedback for improved accessibility – Customizable touch-hold interval – Navigation to/from five home screens made easy. Touching the home button in system bar will return you to most frequently used home screen. – Improved view of internal storage used by apps 2. Support for more varieties of input devices such as keyboards, mouse, trackballs, game controllers and accessories such as digital cameras musical instrument, kiosks and card readers. – Any type of external keyboards, mouse and trackballs can be connected – Most of the PC joysticks, game controllers and game pads can be connected except for some proprietary controllers – More than one device can be attached simultaneously via USB and/or Blutooth HID – No configuration or drivers required – Support for USB accessories as host to launch related applications, if application not available the accessories can give the URL to download the application. – Users can interact with application to control the accessories. 3. Recent Apps list is expandable to include larger number of apps. The list will have all the apps in use and recently used apps. 4. Customizable Home screen – Re-sizable home screen widgets. widgets can be expanded in both vertically and horizontally. – Updated home screen widget for Email app gives quick access to emails 5. New high performance Wi-Fi lock added for uninterrupted connectivity even when the device screen is off. This will be useful for streaming long duration music, video and voice services. – HTTP proxy for each individual Wi-Fi access point can be configured. This will be used by the browser when communicating with the networks. Other Apps also may use this. – Configuration is made easy by touch-hold of the access point in the setting – Back up and restore the user defined IP and proxy setting – Support for Preferred Network Offload (PNO), which works in the background and conserves battery power in case where Wi-Fi connectivity needed for longer time. Improvements to Standard Applications 6. Improved Browser app – new features added and UI improved – Quick Controls UI is extended and redesigned. Users can use it to view thumbnails of open tabs, to close the active tabs, access overflow menu for instant access to settings and many other. – Supports CSS 3D, animations, and CSS fixed positioning to all sites. – Supports embedded playback of HTML5 video content – Save the webpage locally for offline viewing with all styling and imaging – Improved auto login UI let users quickly sign in to Google sites and manage access when multiple users sharing the same device – Support for plugins that use hardware accelerated rendering – Page Zoom performance improved 7. Gallery apps improved to support Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP). – Users can connect external cameras over USB and import pictures to Gallery with one touch – The imported pictures are copied to local storages and it will show the balance space available. 8. Calender grids are made larger for better readability and accurate targeting – Controls in data picker are redesigned – Calender list controls can be hidden to create larger viewing area for grids 9. Contacts app allows full text search making it quicker to locate contacts and the results are shown from all the fields stored in the contact. 10. Email app improved – When replying or forwarding HTML message the improved Email app sends both plain text and HTML bodies as multi-part mime message. – Folder prefixes for IMAP accounts are made easier to define and manage – Prefetches emails from server only when the device is connected to a Wi-Fi access point. This is done to conserve battery power and minimize data usage – Improved home screen widget gives quick access to emails and users can cycle through email labels with the touch of the Email icon at the top of the widget 11. Improved Enterprise support – Administrators can use the configurable HTTP proxy for each Wi-Fi access point – Allows encrypted storage card device policy with emulated storage cards and encrypted primary storage
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Compatible Devices: Android Honeycomb Tablets, Google TV
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Android 3.0 (Honeycomb)
Honeycomb is the first Android platform entirely designed for devices with large screens such as tablets and it is the first version of the platform designed to support symmetric multi processing in a multi core environment. Honeycomb took the advantage of the larger real estate in mind and designed the UI, the new UI looks awesome. Android 3.0 offers 5 home screens that can be customized and scrollable, and offers new wall papers. The widgets are redesigned to enhance the appearance on a large screen. The key board also redesigned with keys reshaped and repositioned and new keys are added. With Honeycomb, the tablets do not need physical buttons; the soft buttons appear on the bottom of the screen regardless of which way you orient the device.
The other new features in Honeycomb include 3D transition, bookmark syncing, private browsing, pinned widgets – create your own widget for individuals in the contact list, video chat using Google Talk and auto-form fill. It has integrated the redesigned YouTube for 3D, tablet optimized eBooks, Google Map 5.0 with 3D interaction, wallpapers and many of the updated Android phone applications.
Android fully optimized the large screen to provide smooth multitasking experience with multiple user panels that appear side by side. The redesigned Gmail displays the folders, contacts and messages side by side in columns. Also with the new Gmail application, you can open more messages from the inbox in new panes while keeping you active view intact on the screen. The new panes will appear side by side.
With the improved web browser, surfing the net is amazing, it gives a full web browsing experience with the support of Adobe Flash Player 10.2. Honeycomb also has incorporated all Google apps such as Gmail, Google Calender, Google talk, Google Search, Google maps and of course a redesigned YouTube. In additon it has integrated ebooks. Google proudly boasts that it has millions of books to go with Google ebooks, currently it’s having 3 million ebooks. The eBook widget on the home screen gives you access to scroll through the list of bookmarks.
The other features that you will be bewildered with Honeycomb tablets are the face to face chat with millions of Google talk users and the 3D effect in Google Map 5.0.
Google introduced Honeycomb with Motorola Xoom, a 10.1″ tablet with dual core processor from Motorola.
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Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) API Level: 11 Release: February 2011
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New User Features 1. New UI – holographic UI newly designed for large screen displays with content focused interaction, the UI is backward compatible, applications designed for earlier versions can be used with new UI. 2. Refined multitasking 3. Rich notification, no more popups 4. System bar at the bottom of the screen for system status, notification and it accomodates navigation buttons, as like in Google Chrome. 5. Customizable homescreen (5 homescreens) and dynamic widgets for 3D experience 6. Action bar for application control for all applications 7. Redesigned keyboard for larger screen, keys are reshaped and repositioned and new keys added such as Tab key. button in system bar to switch between text/voice input mode 8. Improvement to text selection, copy and paste; very close to what we do in computer. 9. Buil in support for Media/Picture Transfer Protocol – you can instantly sync media files through USB cable. 10. Connect full keyboard over USB or Bluetooth 11. Improved Wi-Fi connectivity 12. New support for Bluetooth tethering – you can connect more types of devices 13. Improved browser for efficient browsing and better browsing experience using the large screen – some of the new features are: – multiple tabbed browsing instead of windows, – incognito mode for anonymous browsing. – single unified view for Bookmarks and History. – multi-touch support to JavaScript and plugins – improved zoom and viewport model, overflow scrolling, support for fixed positioning 14. Redesigned camera application for larger screen – quick access to exposure, focus, flash, zoom, etc. – built-in support for time- lapse video recording – gallery application for full screen mode viewing and easy access to thumbnails 15. Redesigned contacts applications features for larger screen – new two-pane UI for contacts applications – improved formatting for international phone numbers based on home country – contact information view in card like format for easy reading and editing 16. Redesigned Email appliations – two-pane UI for viewing and organizing mails – sync mail attachments for later viewing – track emails using email widgets in the homescreen |
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New Developer Features 1. New UI Framework – to fragment and combine activities in different ways to create richer and more interactive applications 2. Redesigned UI Widgets for larger screen and new holographic UI theme – developers can quickly add new types of content to relevant applications and can interact with users in new ways – new types of widgets included such as 3D stack, search box, date/time picker, number picker, calendar, popup menu 3. Action Bar at the top of the screen can be customized by developers according to application 4. A new builder class to create notifications that include large and small icons, title, a priority flag, and any properties already available in previous versions 5. Developers can use mulitiselect, clipboard and drag and drop features to offer users more enjoyable gaming experience 6. Performance improvement to 2D and 3D graphics – new animation framework – new hardware accelerated OpenGL renderer to improve the performance of 2D graphics based applications – Renderscript 3D graphics engine for accelerated graphics operations and create high performance 3D effects in applications. 7. Support for multicore processor architectures – support symmetric mulitprocessing in multicore environments, even an application designed for single core environment will enjoy the performance boost. 8. HTTP Live streaming – media framwork supports most of the HTTP Live streaming specification. 9. Pluggable DRM framework – for applications to manage protected content, Android 3.0 offers unified API for simplified management of protected contents. 10. Built-in support for MTP/PTP over USB 11. API support for Bluetooth A2DP and HSP profiles For Enterprises Device administration applications can include new types of policies, such as policies for encrypted storage, password expiration, password history, and requirement of complex characters for passwords.
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Android 2.3. 5, 2.3.6 and 2.3.7
Android 2.3.5 to 2.37 are minor updates that include few improvements and mainly bug fixes.
| Android 2.3.5 – Android 2.3.7 |
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Android 2.3.5 Upgrades 1. Improved Gmail application. 2. Network performance improvement for Nexus S 4G. 3. Bug fixes and improvements 4. Fixed Bluetooth bug on Galaxy S
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Android 2.3.6 Upgrades 1. Fixed Voice Search bug
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Android 2.3.7 Upgrades 1. Support Google Wallet (Nexus S 4G)
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Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread)
Android 2.3.4, the latest over the air Android version update to Gingerbread brings an exciting new feature to Android based devices. With the upgrade to Android 2.3.4 you can video or voice chat using Google Talk. Once updated you will notice a voice/video chat button next to your contact in Google Talk contact list. With one touch you can send an invitation to start a voice/video chat. You can make video calls via 3G/4G network or via Wi-Fi. The Android 2.3.4 update in addition to this new feature also include some bug fixes.
The update initially comes to Nexus S phones and will be launched to other Android 2.3 + at a later time.
Voice, Video Chat with Google Talk
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Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread) Kernel Version 2.6.35.7 Build No: GRJ22
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New Feature 1. Support voice and video chat using Google Talk 2. Bug fixes
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Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread)
Android 2.3.3 is a small update to Android 2.3, few features and APIs are added to Android 2.3. (API stands for Application Program Interface). The notable upgrade is the improvement for NFC, now applications can interact with more types of tags. NFC communication relies on wireless technology in the device hardware, and is not present in all Android devices. Improvement is made to API for developers to request filtering on Android Market, so that their applications are not discoverable to users whose devices do not support NFC.
There are some improvements on Bluetooth as well for non-secure socket connections. There are some more changes for developers in graphics, media and speech. The Android 2.3.3 API is identified as 10.
| Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) API Level 10 |
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1. Improved and extended support for NFC – this allows applications to interact with more types of tags and access them in new ways. The new APIs have included wider range of tag technologies and allow limited peer to peer communication. Also it has a feature for developers to request Android Market to not to show their applications to users if the device does not support NFC. In Android 2.3 when an application is called by a user and if the device does not support NFC it returns a null object. 2. Support for Bluetooth non-secure socket connections – this allows applications to communicate even with devices that is not having UI for authentication. 3. New bitmap region decoder added for applications to clip part of an image and features. 4. Unified interface for media – to retrieve frame and metadata from input media file. 5. New fields for specifying AMR-WB and ACC formats. 6. New constants added for speech recognition API – this supports developers to show in their application a different view for voice search results. |
Android 2.3.2 and 2.3.1 (Gingerbread)
Android 2.3.2 (OTA or GRH78C) and Android 2.3.1 are small upgrades to Android 2.3. Basically Android 2.3.1 OTA (Over The Air) came up with Google maps 5.0.
Android 2.3.2 build GRH78C is a major fix, possibly on SMS bug but official logs have not been released regarding this.
The file size of Android 2.3.1 is 1.9 MB and Android 2.3.2 is 600 KB.
Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
Android 2.3 is a version of the much famed open source mobile platform Android. This version is optimized for smart phones, but few tablets are available in the market with Android 2.3. This major version is available in two sub versions with few upgrades between them. Namely, they are Android 2.3.3 and Android 2.3.4. Android 2.3 was officially released in December 2010. Android 2.3 has included many user oriented and developer oriented features.
In comparison to previous versions, Android 2.3 has received an upgrade to the user interface. The user interface of Android evolved with each new release. New color schemes and widgets have been introduced to make the interface more intuitive and easy to learn. However, many would agree that even at the release of Android 2.3 the mobile operating system didn’t appear quite polished and finished in comparison to its other competitors in the market.
The virtual keyboard has also been improved in comparison to the previous version. The keyboard can now handle faster input. With many users still migrating to the keyboard on the touch screen, the keys on Android 2.3 keyboard has been re shaped and repositioned, to allow faster typing. Additional to typing users can give input using voice commands, as well.
Word selection and copy paste is another improved function on Android 2.3. Users can select a word easily by press-hold and then copy to clipboard. The users can change the selection area by dragging the bounding arrows.
Another notable improvement on Android 2.3 is the power management. Those who have used Android 2.2 and upgraded to Android 2.3 will experience the improvement more clearly. In Android 2.3, the power consumption is more productive, and applications, which run in the background unnecessarily, are closed in order to save power. Unlike previous versions, Android 2.3 gives more information about the power consumption to the user. Despite the many comments on not needing to close applications on Android platform, Android 2.3 introduces the ability to kill applications that are not necessary.
One important aspect in Android 2.3 was providing users many innovative channels to communicate. Being true the objectives of the version, Android 2.3 come with voice over IP directly integrated to the platform. Voice over IP is also known as internet calls. Near field communication was also initially introduced to Android platform with Android 2.3. It allows reading information from NFC tags embedded in stickers, advertisements, etc. In Countries like Japan, Near Field Communication is heavily used.
With Android 2.3, users can access multiple cameras on the device if available. The camera application is designed accordingly. Android 2.3 has added support for VP8/WebM video, plus AAC and AMR wideband encoding allowing developers to including rich audio effects to music players.
| Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
API Level 9 |
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User Features: 1. New user interface has a simple and attractive theme in black background, which is designed to give a vivid look while being power efficient too. Menu and settings are changed for ease of navigation. 2. Redesigned soft keyboard is optimized for quicker and accurate text input and editing. And the word being edited and dictionary suggestion is vivid and easy to read. 3. Multi touch key cording to input number and symbols without changing input mode 4. Selection of word and copy/paste made easy. 5. Improved power management through application control. 6. Provide user awareness on power consumption. Users can view how the battery is used and which consume more. 7. Internet calling – supports SIP calls to other users with SIP account 8. Support Near-field communication (NFC) – high frequency high speech data transfer within a short range (10 cm). This will be useful feature in m commerce. 9. A new download manager facility that supports easy storage and retrieval of downloads 10. Support for multiple cameras . |
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For Developers 1. Concurrent garbage collector to minimize application pauses and support increased responsiveness game like applications. 2. Touch and keyboard events handled better which minimizes the CPU utilization and Improve responsiveness, this feature is beneficial for 3D games and CPU intensive applications. 3. Use updated third party video drivers for faster 3D graphic performance 4. Native input and sensor events 5. New sensors including gyroscope is added for improved 3D motion processing 6. Provide Open API for audio controls and effects from native code. 7. Interface to manage graphic context. 8. Native access to activity lifecycle and window management. 9. Native access to assets and storage 10. Android NDk provide robust native development environment. 11. Near Field Communication 12. SIP based internet calling 13. New audio effects API to create rich audio environment by adding reverb, equalization, headphone virtualization, and bass boost 14. Built in support for video formats VP8, WebM, and audio formats AAC, AMR-WB 15. Support multiple camera 16. Support for extra large screen . |
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Android 2.3 Devices Google Nexus S, HTC Cha Cha, HTC Salsa, Samsung Galaxy S II (Galaxy S2), LG Optimus 3D, Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, Sony Ericsson Xperia neo, Sony Ericsson Xperia pro, Sony Ericsson Xperia mini, Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, Motorola Droid Bionic . |
Android 2.2 Revisions
Android 2.2.1 and Android 2.2.2 are two minor revisions to Android 2.2. There are no new features added in these revisions. The revisions only included some improvements and bug fixes. The first revision to Android 2.2 was released in May 2010. Android 2.2.1 included improvements mainly on Gmail application and Exchange Active Sync. It also received an update to Twitter and refreshed weather widget. Android 2.2.2 was released in June 2010. There were complains about an email bug that randomly select a recipient from the contact list and forward a random message in the inbox on its own. Android 2.2.2 update was released mainly to address this email bug that randomly forward the text messages in the inbox.
Android 2.2 Revisions
| Android 2.2.1
Kernel Version 2.6.32.9, Build Number FRG83D Table_1.1: Android 2.2 Revisions |
| 1. Updated Twitter application and improvements on authentication process.
2. Improvement to the Gmail application 3. Improvement to Exchange ActiveSync 4. Refreshed Amazon News and Weather widgets. |
| Android 2.2.2
Build Number FRG83G |
| 1. The bug in the email application fixed |
Android 2.2 (FroYo)
Android 2.2 is a minor release that included some new user features, developer features, API changes (API level 8), and bug fixes. The major differences between Android 2.1 and 2.2 are the support for extra high DPI screens (320dpi), such as 4″ 720p, USB tethering, Wi-Fi hotspot, Adobe Flash 10.1 support, integration of Chrome V8, speed enhancement and performance optimization.
| Android 2.2 (FroYo)
API Level 8 |
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User Features: 1. Tips Widget – the new tips widget at the home screen provide support to users to configure home screen and add new widgets. 2. Exchange Calendars are now supported in the Calendar application. 3. Easy set up and sync an Exchange account, you just have to enter your user-name and password. 4. In composing an email, users can now auto-complete recipient names from the directory with the global address list look up feature. 5. Multiple language recognition simultaneously. 6. Onscreen buttons give easy access to UI to control camera features such as zoom, focus, flash, etc. 7. USB tethering and Wi-Fi hotspot (your phone works as a wireless broadband router. 8. Enhance browser performance using Chrome V8 engine, which enhance faster loading of pages, more than 3, 4 times compared to Android 2.1 9. Better memory management, you can experience smooth multi tasking even on memory constrained devices. 10. New media framework supports local file playback and HTTP progressive streaming. 11. Support applications over Bluetooth such as voice dialling, share contacts with other phones, Bluetooth enabled car kits and headsets. . |
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For Network Providers 1. Improved security with numeric pin or alpha-numeric password options to unlock device. 2. Remote Wipe – remotely reset the device to factory defaults to secure data in case device is lost or stolen. . For Developers 1. Applications can now request installation on the shared external storage (such as an SD card). 2. Apps can utilize Android Cloud to Device Messaging to enable mobile alert, send to phone, and two-way push sync functionality. 3. New bug reporting feature for Android Market apps enables developers to receive crash and freeze reports from their users. 4. Provides new APIs for audio focus, routing audio to SCO, and auto-scan of files to media database. Also provides APIs to let applications detect completion of sound loading and auto-pause and auto-resume audio playback. 5. Camera now supports portrait orientation, zoom controls, access to exposure data, and a thumbnail utility. A new camcorder profile enables apps to determine device hardware capabilities. 6. New APIs for OpenGL ES 2.0, working with YUV image format, and ETC1 for texture compression. 7. New “car mode” and “night mode” controls and configurations allow applications to adjust their UI for these situations. 8. A scale gesture detector API provides improved definition of multi-touch events. 9. Tab widget at the bottom of the screen can be customized by applications. . |
| Android 2.2 Devices
Samsung Captivate, Samsung Vibrant, Samsung Acclaim, Samsung Galaxy Indulge, Galaxy Mini, Galaxy Ace, Samsung Galaxy 551, Samsung Galaxy 580, Galaxy 5. HTC T-Mobile G2, HTC Merge, HTC Wildfire S, HTC Desire HD, HTC Desire S, HTC Desire Z, HTC Incredible S, HTC Aria, Motorola Droid Pro, Motorola Droid 2, Motorola CLIQ 2, Motorola Droid 2 Global, LG Optimus S, LG Optimus T, LG Optimus 2X, LG Optimus One, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 . |
Android 2.1 (Éclair)
Android 2.1 is a minor update to Android 2.0, however the Android 2.1 is the officially released version. Android 2.0 was made obsolete with the release of Android 2.1. Android 2.1 gave totally a new experience to users when compared to Android 1.6. The major change from Android 1.6 is the improvement to virtual keyboard with muli-touch support.
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Android 2.1 (Eclair) API Level 7 |
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1. Screen support for low density small screens QVGA (240×320) to high density, normal screens WVGA800 (480×800) and WVGA854 (480×854). 2.Instant access to a contact’s information and communication modes. You can tap a contact photo and select to call, SMS, or email the person. 3. Universal Account – Combined inbox to browse email from multiple accounts in one page and all contact can be synchronized, including Exchange accounts. 4. Search feature for all saved SMS and MMS messages. Auto delete the oldest messages in a conversation when a defined limit is reached. 5. Improvement on camera – Built-in flash support, digital zoom, scene mode, white balance, color effect, macro focus. 6. Improved virtual keyboard layout for accurate character hits and improve typing speed. Virtual keys for HOME, MENU, BACK, and SEARCH, rather than physical keys. 7. Dynamic dictionary that learns from word usage and automatically includes contact names as suggestions. 8. Enhanced browser – the new UI with actionable browser URL bar enables users to directly tap the address bar for instant searches and navigation, bookmarks with web page thumbnails, support for double-tap zoom and support for HTML5: 9. Improved calendar – agenda view provides infinite scrolling, from the contact look up list you can invite for event and view attending status. 10. Revamped graphics architecture for improved performance that enables better hardware acceleration. 11. Support Bluetooth 2.1and included two new profiles Object Push Profile (OPP) and Phone Book Access Profile (PBAP) . |
| Android 2.1 Devices
Samsung Mesmerize, Samsung Showcase, Samsung Fascinate, Samsung Gem (CDMA), Samsung Transform, Samsung Intercept, Galaxy Europa, Galaxy Apollo, Galaxy S, HTC Gratia, HTC Droid Incredible, HTC Wildfire, HTC Desire, HTC Legend, Motorola Droid X, Motorola Droid, Motorola Bravo, Motorola Flipside, Motorola Flipout, Motorola Citrus, Motorola Defy, Motorola Charm . |