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