Two more handsets have been confirmed as getting the Android 2.2 Froyo platform in the near future – the Dell Streak and, more surprisingly, the HTC Magic mobile phones.
We say surprising because the HTC Magic was announced almost two years ago, in early 2009, and it features limited hardware capabilities. Nevertheless, Vodafone has announced on its forum that the OS for this HTC phone will be upgraded to the Froyo platform.
While not all the features of Froyo will be included in this upgrade, Vodafone has stated many benefits are. Vodafone placed on its forum: “Android 2.2.1 will give customers a number of improvements including: latest Gmail and Android Market clients; ability to save applications directly onto an SD card; support for USB tethering so the phone can be used as a modem; improved support for Active Sync Exchange (email, contacts and calendar sync); enhancements to Bluetooth; and enhancements to the camera. The update also includes the latest Google security patches.”
Vodafone customers will be notified when the upgrade is available, and recommends it’s downloaded via Wi-Fi connectivity. On its forum, Vodafone posted: “Customers’ devices will receive an automatic notification when the update is available for their handset. They can then choose to accept the update by following the on screen prompts or perform it later. The roll out of the software is phased, so not all customers will receive this notification at once. Because it is quite a large update, we’d recommend customers carry it out over WiFi, although it is possible to download it over 3G or GPRS.”
To get Froyo on HTC Magic offers, the download is in two steps. For further instructions, you can visit the Vodafone forum.
And it’s not only Vodafone and HTC Magic customers who are to get a taste of Froyo, as O2 has also announced the Dell 
Streak will get the new Android OS upgrade. This will be welcome news for Streak owners as the smartphone currently runs on the Android 1.6 OS – unless it was bought direct from Dell recently.
This upgrade should happen this week and bring with it many enhancements. These include Swype technology for messaging, Adobe Flash 10.1 support and the ability to update numerous apps at the same time from the Android Market.
When the Froyo upgrade arrives later this week, Dell Streak offers will also be complemented by the hotspot capabilities that this new OS brings.
Comments:
