Android
Android
View Android Full Versions Android 2.2 (Froyo) and Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) are two versions of the Smartphone operating system developed by Google. Android 2.3 is the latest edition. In comparison between Android 2.2 and Android 2.3, Android 2.3 is a major release and there are number of differences between Android 2.2 and Android 2.3. Android platform was initially developed by Android Inc. Google, the internet giant acquired Android in year 2005. Basically Android did not start from scratch; it was developed from the versions of Linux kernel. Android 2.2 though mostly a stable system, had two revisions. Android 2.2 (Froyo) Rev 1.0 was released in May 2010 and Rev. 2.0 was released in July 2010. Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) was released on 6th Dec 2010. There are a lot of improvements and new features included in Gingerbread. Of course Android 2.3 is a major release. However Android 2.2 was a minor release, speed improvement was brought in with the integration of Chrome V8 JavaScript engine and JIT optimization, Wi-Fi hotspot feature was added and a new clean UI with tip widget and app market widget was introduced and some of the other app widgets were given a facelift. A considerable number of new features were introduced in Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), that include new UI themes, redesigned keyboards, new copy and paste functionality, improved power management, better application management, new download manager, NFC (Near Field Communication), support for VoIP/SIP calls, new Camera application for accessing multiple cameras and supports extra large screens. Update: The latest version of Android platform is 2.3.3 (see Table_ 03 for additional features). Kernel: Android 2.2 Linux Kernel 2.6.32 Android 2.3 Linux Kernel 2.6.35 Networking:
Android 2.2 supports Bluetooth as well as Wi-Fi. On top of these, Android 2.2 supports Wi-Fi hotspot functionality that can connect 6 devices. In the sense, you can use Android 2.2 phone as a wireless broadband router. Android 2.3(Gingerbread), in addition to all existing features, supports for NFC (Near Field Communication) which is a high speed data communication mechanism operates in high frequency within a short range (10 cm). Communication: In addition to standard voice calling, Android 2.3 supports for SIP audio and video calling. If you have a good 3G or Wi-Fi connection and a SIP account you can make internet calling. It breaks the boundary of regionalist concept and flies in the global domain. Power Management: Power Management is one the critical tasks in these kind of Mobile operating systems. Even if you have all these fancy features, if the battery life of the device is couple of hours, then there is no use in the added features. Android 2.3 handles it in a better way than Android 2.2. Here in 2.3 the OS manages the applications and daemon application which are running at the background and closes the unnecessary applications. Android 2.2 (Froyo) supports the following features:
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Integration of Chromes V8 JavaScript engine into the Browser application Advanced Microsoft Exchange support Wi-Fi hotspot functionality USB Tethering Voice dialling and contact sharing over Bluetooth Support for file upload fields in the Browser application Animated GIFs supported in browser. Adobe Flash 10.1 supported Support for extra high DPI screens
Android 2.2 had two revisions. Android 2.2.1 was the first revision released in May 2010. Android 2.2.1 included some improvements and bug fixes. Improvements were 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. It was released mainly to address the email bug that randomly forward the text messages in the inbox. The email bug randomly select a recipient from the contact list and forward a random message in the inbox on its own. This bug was fixed with the Android 2.2.2 update. Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) supports the following features in addition to existing 2.2 features:
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New user interface design with new themes (Black themes save power)
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Extra Large Screen Size supported SIP Communication Supported (SIP Video and Audio Calling, In an operator point of view, this is feature will decrease their voice calling revenue where as user can call each other for lower rates or even free if they have good data connection) Supports for NFC (High Frequency High Speech Data Transfer in short range) Support for WebM/VP8 video playback, and AAC audio encoding New audio effects such as reverb, equalization, headphone virtualization, and bass boost Improved Copy and Paste functionality Redesigned Multi Touch Software Keyboard Audio, graphical, and input enhancements for game developers New sensors support (i.e gyroscope) Download manager for long running HTTP downloads Enhanced support for native code Improved power management and application control Support for multiple cameras Android SmartPhones 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, SE Xperia X10 Samsung Vibrant 4G, Samsung Galaxy S 4G, HTC Inspire 4G, HTC Evo Shift 4G, HTC Thunderbolt, HTC T-Mobile myTouch 4G, Motorola Atrix 4G, HTC Evo 4G, Google Nexus S, HTC Cha Cha, HTC Salsa, Samsung Galaxy S II (Galaxy S2), HTC Desire S, HTC Thunderbolt, LG Optimus 3D, Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, Motorola Droid Bionic, HTC Pyramid (2.3.2)
Android 2.2
Android 2.3
Related Links 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Difference Between Open Source Android Operating System (OS) Versions Difference Between Android 2.1 (Eclair) and Android 2.2 (Froyo) Difference Between Android 2.1 (Eclair) and Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) Difference Between Android 2.2 and Android 2.3.3 Difference Between Android 2.3 and 2.3.3
6. Difference Between Android 2.2 (Froyo) and Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) for Tablets 7. Difference Between Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) for Tablet 8. Difference Between Android 2.3 Gingerbread and Android Ice Cream 9. Difference Between Android 2.3 and Android 2.4 10. Difference Between Android 2.2.1 and Android 2.2.2
But there a lot of other new features and capabilities that might get missed, or you see on another device and don't know why they aren't on yours. User Features Home Addition of the Phone, Launcher and Browser shortcuts to Home Screen Tips Widget for setting up Home Screens Exchange Integration Pin Security instead of using the older pattern wipe Remote wipe and reset capability for enterprise users Exchange Calendar Support and Integration Auto discovery for setup Global Address lookup Support
Camera and Gallery Zoom and picture stacking On-screen feature access in camera (zoom, flash, etc) Integration direct from camera to social media site LED Flash enabled for video Portable Hotspot support Tethering and Wifi hotspot capable depending on device Input Swiping the keyboard now changes keyboard types and auto-correct for multiple language support Performance (against 2.1 benchmarks, values approximate) Browser is 4.5 times faster on Java heavy apps and pages 2x-5x performance for CPU Intensive apps from JIT 20x better memory performance and reclaimation Platform Features Media Stagefright local file playback and HTTP streaming OpenCore improved in 2.2 Bluetooth Voice Dial over BT Contact (vcard) sharing BT car and desk dock support Kernel Improvements Highmem support greater than 256Mb
Android 2.1 (Froyo) The well known Android 2.1 (Eclair) is a version upgrade from Android 2.0 with minor changes on API and bugs fixed. The new features of Android 2.1 as follows: 1. Screen support for low density small screens QVGA (240320) to high density, normal screens WVGA800 (480800) and WVGA854 (480854) 2.Instant access to a contacts 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 2.1 12. Improved Google Maps 3.1.2 13. Live Wallpapers Read more: http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-android-2-1-eclair-and-vsandroid-2-2-froyo/#ixzz1QEQaEwjX Difference between Android 2.1 (Eclair) and Android 2.2 (Froyo) For Users 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. Onscreen buttons give easy access to UI to control camera features such as zoom, focus, flash, etc. 6. Wi-Fi hotspot and USB tethering 7. Multiple language recognition simultaneously 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. For Network Providers 12. Improved security with numeric pin or alpha-numeric password options to unlock device. 13. Remote Wipe remotely reset the device to factory defaults to secure data in case device is lost or stolen. For Developers 14. Applications can now request installation on the shared external storage (such as an SD card). 15. Apps can utilize Android Cloud to Device Messaging to enable mobile alert, send to phone, and two-way push sync functionality. 16. New bug reporting feature for Android Market apps enables developers to receive crash and freeze reports from their users. 17. 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 autopause and auto-resume audio playback.
18. Camera supports portrait orientation, zoom controls, access to exposure data, and a thumbnail utility. A new camcorder profile enables apps to determine device hardware capabilities. 19. New APIs for OpenGL ES 2.0, working with YUV image format, and ETC1 for texture compression. 20. New car mode and night mode controls and configurations allow applications to adjust their UI for these situations. 21. A scale gesture detector API provides improved definition of multi-touch events. 22. Applications can customize the bottom strip of a TabWidget.
Difference between Android 1.5 and 1.6 The differences between the two versions are well described on Wikipedia, which I copy here (some features do not apply to Archos, such as the camera). For those of you who are pondering about whether or not to upgrade to the new firmware, this may help. Besides the copied features, I want to add that Google Navigation works on 1.6 and 2.0, which turns your device into a GPS unit. This won't work natively on Archos because the A5 needs wifi to connect to google maps. But potentially it may work with cached maps after some tweaking. 1.5 (Cupcake) Released: 30 April 2009 Features: Ability to record and watch videos with the camcorder mode Uploading videos to YouTube and pictures to Picasa directly from the phone A new soft keyboard with an "Autocomplete" feature Bluetooth A2DP support (which in turn broke Bluetooth connectivity with many popular cars and headsets. This has still yet to be fixed as of Dec-09) Ability to automatically connect to a Bluetooth headset within a certain distance New widgets and folders that can populate the desktop Animations between screens Expanded ability of Copy and paste to include web pages[26] 1.6 (Donut) Released: 15 September 2009 Features: An improved Android Market experience. An integrated camera, camcorder, and gallery interface.
Gallery now enables users to select multiple photos for deletion. Updated Voice Search, with faster response and deeper integration with native applications, including the ability to dial contacts. Updated search experience to allow searching bookmarks, history, contacts, and the web from the home screen. Updated Technology support for CDMA/EVDO, 802.1x VPN, Gestures, and a Text-to-speech engine Speed improvements for searching, the camera.[29] Android 1.6 vs Android 2.1 The Google Android is a relatively new operating system that is intended for smartphones. Since it is new, there is a constant stream of updates that include gradual improvements and new features. The 2.1 version of Android is code named clair while the older 1.6 version is known as Donut. For starters, clair is better optimized than Donut to take advantage of the hardware for faster processing. Another incremental upgrade in the clair is the addition of more screen resolutions. Although this would not affect Donut users if they upgrade, it lets manufacturers design handsets with bigger and better screenswith a wider choice of aspect ratios. Adding to the list of upgrade are the browser, keyboard, and contact applications. The browsers UI has been revamped and abilities like double tap to zoom has been added to make browsing better. Support for the HTML5 standard is now present in the clair browser, which should allow the user to browser just about any website. The virtual keyboard of clair has also been improved to support multi-touch devices along with the keyboard layout for faster typing. Itsadaptive dictionary would suggest words that you commonly use and even names that it finds in your contact list. Lastly, Quick Contacts Interface has been added to make it easier to communicate with a contact no matter the messaging app that is preferred. Selecting a contact would bring up a bar that contains links to the apps that the contact has details on. For business user, the most significant difference between 2.1 and 1.6 is the addition of Microsoft Exchange support in 2.1. Before clair, Android was pretty lacking in terms of corporate email support. With Microsoft Exchange, Android is now at an even footing with Windows Mobile and the iPhone. Another key improvement is the addition of Bluetooth 2.1, which aids in a variety of things like faster and simpler pairing of devices like Bluetooth headsets. Power consumption of Bluetooth devices have also been reduced for longer use time. Summary: 1. clair is better optimized compared to Donut 2. clair has support for additional resolutions not available in Donut 3. clair supports HTML5 while Donut does not 4. The clair virtual keyboard is much better compared to the Donut s 5. clair has the improved Quick Contacts Interface while the Donut does not 6. clair has Microsoft Exchange support while the Donut does not 7. clair supports Bluetooth 2.1 while Donut does not
Android 2.0 features a lot of new and improved goodies and therefore, the settings will inherently change. Want to know exactly what changed? No problem, I go through every single setting difference between Android 2.0 running on the Motorola Droid and Android 1.6 running on the T-Mobile G1, showing them side by side. I m currently trying to find answers on some of this stuff and will keep this post updated as I learn the details:
There are some big additions here that unless you dove into the settings, you might miss. One of them is the existence of a brand new top level category called Privacy. Within Privacy there is an option for Backup My Settings. I spoke with someone who has a little more information and they gave me the scoop. The first time you load the phone you agree to an option that allows Google to back up certain information from your device in the Google Cloud. Now suppose you go about using your phone for 1 year and then you drop it in the toilet DANG! Since you opted into Backup My Settings, when you get your new phone and enter your Gmail address, it will restore your settings to how they previously appeared on your phone. Were talking things like Screen Brightness, Media Volume, etc but I imagine the GOAL is to advance this feature. Eventually (and Im speculating here), it could store your accounts/passwords, application download history, and potentially settings from 3rd party apps as well. But for now it just backs up mostly everything within your actual Settings so you dont have to start from stage 1 with a new device. Another brand new item is Install From SD Card which appears in Location & Security. No Im sure it doesnt have anything to do with running/loading apps from your SD card as youre probably hoping. The sub-menu explains it as Install encrypted certificates from SD Card and when selecting it I get the following error: No .p12 file found in the SD Card definitely something Ill be looking into. All smartphones have battery life issues to take into consideration and Google has partially addressed this in Android 2.0 with an Application setting called Running Services. More apps than you think run persistent services in the background this allows you to check what apps currently have active processes, how large the app is, how long the process has been running and of course you can kill them if you should so choose. T