Google has announced Android 2.2. According to the company, it will offer improved performance and speed, new enterprise capabilities, a faster and more powerful browser, a rich set of new application programming interfaces (APIs) and services, and additions to Android Market. Additionally, Google is releasing a new version of the Android SDK Tools, Revision 6, Eclipse plug-in ADT 0.9.7, and Android NDK, Revision 4.

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The platform will offer new user features as well. A tips widget on the Home screen will help new users configure the screen. The Phone, applications Launcher, and Browser will have dedicated shortcuts on the Home screen, making it easy to access them from any of the five home screen panels. Exchange support will include improved security, remote wipe, Exchange Calendar support, auto-discovery, and Global Address Lists look-up.

Further, the gallery will let users peek into picture stacks using a zoom gesture. Camera onscreen buttons will provide easy access to a new user interface for controlling zoom, flash, white balance, geo-tagging, focus, and exposure. The camcorder also provides an easy way to set video size/quality for MMS and YouTube. And with the LED flash now enabled for the camcoder, videos can be shot at night or in low-light settings.

Devices like the Nexus One can be turned into a portable Wi-Fi hotspot that can be shared between up to eight devices. Users can use their Android-powered phone as a 3G connection for a Windows or Linux laptop by connecting their phone to the computer with a USB cable. The two devices then share the connection.

The V8 engine enables faster loading of pages heavy with JavaScript, improving the browser’s performance. Also, the Dalvik Performance Boost accelerates CPU-heavy code by two to five times over Android 2.1 with Dalvik JIT. For example, LinPack is now more than five times faster. The Kernel Memory Management Boost improves memory reclaim by up to 20 times for faster app switching and smoother performance on memory-constrained devices. 

The Stagefright media framework supports local file playback and HTTP progressive streaming while providing continued support for OpenCore. Also, the platform supports voice dialing over Bluetooth, with the ability to share contacts with other phones, support for Bluetooth-enabled car and desk docks, and an improved compatibility matrix with car kits and headsets. The 2.6.32 kernel upgrade offers HIGHMEM support for RAM greater than 256 Mbytes as well as SDIO scheduling and BT improvements.

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