Home | History | Annotate | Download | only in sdk
      1 page.title=Android 2.2 Platform Highlights
      2 
      3 @jd:body
      4 
      5 
      6 <style type="text/css">
      7 #jd-content {
      8   max-width:800px;
      9 }
     10 #jd-content div.screenshot {
     11   float:left;
     12   clear:left;
     13   padding:15px 30px 15px 0;
     14 }
     15 #jd-content div.video {
     16   float:right;
     17   padding:0 60px 40px;
     18   margin-top:-15px;
     19 }
     20 #jd-content table.columns {
     21   margin:0 0 1em 0;
     22 }
     23 #jd-content table.columns td {
     24   padding:0;
     25 }
     26 #jd-content table.columns td+td {
     27   padding:0 2em;
     28 }
     29 #jd-content table.columns td img {
     30   margin:0;
     31 }
     32 #jd-content table.columns td+td>*:first-child {
     33   margin-top:-2em;
     34 }
     35 .green {
     36   color:#8db529;
     37   font-weight:bold;
     38 }
     39 </style>
     40 
     41 
     42 <div class="video">
     43 <object width="278 height="180">
     44 <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yAZYSVr2Bhc&hl=en&fs=1&"></param>
     45 <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess"
     46 value="always"></param>
     47 <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yAZYSVr2Bhc&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
     48 allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="278" height="180"></embed>
     49 </object>
     50 </div>
     51 
     52 
     53 <p>The Android 2.2 platform introduces many new and exciting features for
     54 users and developers. This document provides a glimpse at some of the new user features
     55 and technologies in Android 2.2. For more information about the new developer APIs, see the <a
     56 href="android-2.2.html#api">Android 2.2 version notes</a>.</p>
     57 
     58 <ul>
     59   <li><a href="#UserFeatures">New User Features</a></li>
     60   <li><a href="#PlatformTechnologies">New Platform Technologies</a></li>
     61   <li><a href="#DeveloperServices">New Developer Services</a></li>
     62   <li><a href="#DeveloperApis">New Developer APIs</a></li>
     63 </ul>
     64 
     65 
     66 
     67 <h2 id="UserFeatures" style="clear:right">New User Features</h2>
     68 
     69 <h3>Home</h3>
     70 
     71 <table class="columns" style="max-width:800px">
     72 <tr>
     73   <td>
     74 <img src="images/2.2/22home.png" alt="" height=230 />
     75   </td>
     76   <td>
     77 <p style="margin-top:0">New Home screen <span class="green">tips widget</span> assists new users on
     78 how to configure the
     79 home screen with shortcuts and widgets and how to make use of multiple home screens.</p>
     80 <p>The Phone, applications Launcher, and Browser now have <span class="green">dedicated
     81 shortcuts</span> on the Home screen, making it easy to access them from any of the 5 home screen
     82 panels.</p>
     83   </td>
     84 </tr>
     85 </table>
     86 
     87 
     88 
     89 <h3>Exchange support</h3>
     90 
     91 <table class="columns" style="max-width:800px">
     92 <tr>
     93   <td>
     94 <p><span class="green">Improved security</span> with the addition of numeric pin or alpha-numeric
     95 password options to unlock device. Exchange administrators can enforce password policy across
     96 devices.</p>
     97 <p><span class="green">Remote wipe:</span> Exchange administrators can remotely reset the device to
     98 factory defaults to secure data in case device is lost or stolen.</p>
     99 <p><span class="green">Exchange Calendars are now supported</span> in the Calendar application.</p>
    100 <p><span class="green">Auto-discovery:</span> you just need to know your user-name and password to
    101 easily set up and sync an Exchange account (available for Exchange 2007 and higher).</p>
    102 <p><span class="green">Global Address Lists look-up</span> is now available in the Email
    103 application, enabling users to auto-complete recipient names from the directory.</p>
    104   </td>
    105   <td>
    106 <img src="images/2.2/22exchange.png" alt="" height=300 />
    107   </td>
    108 </tr>
    109 </table>
    110 
    111 
    112 <h3>Camera and Gallery</h3>
    113 
    114 <table class="columns" style="max-width:800px">
    115 <tr>
    116   <td>
    117 <img src="images/2.2/22gallery.png" alt="" height=220 />
    118   </td>
    119   <td>
    120 <p>Gallery allows you to <span class="green">peek into picture stacks</span> using a zoom
    121 gesture.</p>
    122 <p>Camera <span class="green">onscreen buttons</span> provide easy access to a new UI for
    123 controling zoom, flash, white balance, geo-tagging, focus and exposure. Camcorder also provides
    124 an easy way to set video size/quality for MMS and YouTube.</p>
    125 <p>With the <span class="green">LED flash</span> now enabled for the Camcorder, videos can be shot
    126 at night or in low light settings.</p>
    127   </td>
    128 </tr>
    129 </table>
    130 
    131 
    132 <h3>Portable hotspot</h3>
    133 
    134 <table class="columns" style="max-width:800px">
    135 <tr>
    136   <td>
    137 <p>Certain devices like the Nexus One can be turned into <span class="green">a portable Wi-Fi
    138 hotspot</span> that can be shared with up to 8 devices.</p>
    139 <p>You can use your Android-powered phone as a 3G connection for a Windows or Linux laptop by
    140 connecting their phone to the computer with a USB cable. The connection is then shared between the
    141 two devices.</p>
    142   </td>
    143   <td>
    144 <img src="images/2.2/22hotspot.png" alt="" height=180 />
    145   </td>
    146 </tr>
    147 </table>
    148 
    149 
    150 <h3>Multiple keyboard languages</h3>
    151 
    152 <table class="columns" style="max-width:800px">
    153 <tr>
    154   <td>
    155 <img src="images/2.2/22keyboard.png" alt="" height=220 />
    156   </td>
    157   <td>
    158 <p>Multi-lingual users can add multiple languages to the keyboard and <span class="green">switch
    159 between multiple Latin-based input languages</span> by swiping across the space bar. This changes
    160 the keys as well as the auto-suggest dictionary.</p>
    161   </td>
    162 </tr>
    163 </table>
    164 
    165 
    166 <h3>Improved performance</h3>
    167 
    168 <table class="columns" style="max-width:800px">
    169 <tr>
    170   <td>
    171 <p><span class="green">Performance of the browser</span> has been enhanced using the V8 engine,
    172 which enables faster loading of JavaScript-heavy pages.</p>
    173 <p><span class="green">Dalvik Performance Boost:</span> 2x-5x performance speedup for CPU-heavy code
    174 over Android 2.1 with Dalvik JIT.</p>
    175 <p>The graph to the right shows the performance <span class="green">speedup</span> from Android 2.1
    176 to Android 2.2 using various benchmark tests. For example, LinPack is now more than 5 times
    177 faster.</p>
    178 <p><span class="green">Kernel Memory Management Boost:</span> Improved memory reclaim by up to 20x,
    179 which results in faster app switching and smoother performance on memory-constrained devices.</p>
    180   </td>
    181   <td>
    182 <img src="images/2.2/jit-graph.png" alt="" height=200 />
    183   </td>
    184 </tr>
    185 </table>
    186 
    187 
    188 
    189 
    190 
    191 <h2 id="PlatformTechnologies">New Platform Technologies</h2>
    192 
    193 
    194 <h3>Media framework</h3>
    195 
    196 <ul>
    197   <li>New media framework (Stagefright) that supports local file playback and HTTP progressive
    198 streaming</li>
    199   <li>Continued support for OpenCore in Android 2.2</li>
    200 </ul>
    201 
    202 
    203 <h3>Bluetooth</h3>
    204 
    205 <ul>
    206   <li>Voice dialing over Bluetooth</li>
    207   <li>Ability to share contacts with other phones</li>
    208   <li>Support for Bluetooth enabled car and desk docks</li>
    209   <li>Improved compatibility matrix with car kits and headsets</li>
    210 </ul>
    211 
    212 
    213 <h3>2.6.32 kernel upgrade</h3>
    214 
    215 <ul>
    216   <li>HIGHMEM support for RAM &gt;256MB</li>
    217   <li>SDIO scheduling and BT improvements</li>
    218 </ul>
    219 
    220 
    221 
    222 
    223 <h2 id="DeveloperServices">New Developer Services</h2>
    224 
    225 
    226 <h3>Android Cloud to Device Messaging</h3>
    227 
    228 <p>Apps can utilize Android Cloud to Device Messaging to enable mobile alert, send to phone, and
    229 two-way push sync functionality.</p>
    230 
    231 
    232 <h3>Android Application Error Reports</h3>
    233 
    234 <p>New bug reporting feature for Android Market apps enables developers to receive crash and freeze
    235 reports from their users. The reports will be available when they log into their publisher
    236 account.</p>
    237 
    238 
    239 
    240 
    241 <h2 id="DeveloperApis">New Developer APIs</h2>
    242 
    243 
    244 <h3>Apps on external storage</h3>
    245 
    246 <p>Applications can now request installation on the shared external storage (such as an SD
    247 card).</p>
    248 
    249 
    250 <h3>Media framework</h3>
    251 
    252 <p>Provides new APIs for audio focus, routing audio to SCO, and auto-scan of files to media
    253 database. Also provides APIs to let applications detect completion of sound loading and auto-pause
    254 and auto-resume audio playback.</p>
    255 
    256 
    257 <h3>Camera and Camcorder</h3>
    258 
    259 <p>New preview API doubles the frame rate from ~10FPS to ~20FPS. Camera now supports portrait
    260 orientation, zoom controls, access to exposure data, and a thumbnail utility. A new camcorder
    261 profile enables apps to determine device hardware capablities.</p>
    262 
    263 
    264 <h3>Graphics</h3>
    265 
    266 <p>New APIs for OpenGL ES 2.0, working with YUV image format, and ETC1 for texture
    267 compression.</p>
    268 
    269 
    270 <h3>Data backup</h3>
    271 
    272 <p>Apps can participate in data backup and restore, to ensure that users maintain their data
    273 after performing a factory reset or when switching devices.</p>
    274 
    275 
    276 <h3>Device policy manager</h3>
    277 
    278 <p>New device policy management APIs allow developers to write "device administrator" applications
    279 that can control security features on the device, such as the minimum password strength, data wipe,
    280 and so on. Users can select the administrators that are enabled on their devices.</p>
    281 
    282 
    283 <h3>UI framework</h3>
    284 
    285 <p>New "car mode" and "night mode" controls and configurations allow applications to adjust their UI
    286 for these situations. A scale gesture detector API provides improved definition of multi-touch
    287 events. Applications can now customize the bottom strip of a TabWidget.</p>
    288 
    289 
    290 
    291 <p>For more information about the new developer APIs, see the <a
    292 href="android-2.2.html#api">Android 2.2 version notes</a> and the <a
    293 href="{@docRoot}sdk/api_diff/8/changes.html">API Differences Report</a>.</p>
    294 
    295 
    296 
    297 
    298 
    299