PhoneLon

Google has only recently released it’s source code for Android 2.2 Froyo (for Frozen Yoghurt), which now means that carriers and manufacturers can begin their work on updating software and skins to be compatible with Android 2.2; which has resulted in huge amounts of speculation and angst, especially amongst HTC Desire owners, surrounding the likely date that an OTA (over-the-air) update to Android 2.2 can be expected.

The main concern from the HTC owners camp, is that they could in fact be faced with a similar dilemma to those that own(ed) a HTC Hero, in that, despite running Android 1.5 (Donut), an update to 2.1 Eclair has only just become available now that version 2.2 is also. This doesn’t bode well at all for Desire owners or indeed Wildfire owners, although there is still optimism and hope in abundance amongst the online blog-osphere and indeed here with us at Mobiles.

Early rumours suggested that the update would be available from the 23rd June for HTC Desire owners; a rumour which sadly didn’t come to fruition and wasn’t actually ever confirmed by HTC themselves. However, we can now report that HTC have actually released a date (albeit quite vague) that Desire, Wildfire and Legend owners can expect to be on the receiving end of some frozen goodness (like that currently being enjoyed by Google Nexus One owners); the update is expected to be rolled out “beginning Q3″ which if our calendars and our maths are correct, could see the update rolling out as early as next month, although, realistically, we expect this to be mid-late Q3 given that the manufacturers have barely had their hands on the source code for a week.

Why all the hype for Froyo i hear you ask? Well, probably the biggest improvement brought by 2.2 (from the perspective of a Desire owner) is that 2.2 brings ‘Apps2SD’ which, in essence, is the ability to save applications to the SD card; functionality sorely lacking (and our only issue) on the Desire. With Froyo also comes Flash 10.1 support, bringing the ability to watch iPlayer and embedded Flash videos without the need for a seperate media player. Android 2.2 Froyo is also proven to be faster than 2.1, not just a little bit, we’re talking up to 5x faster, thanks to the ‘Just In Time Compiler’ found lurking within. There’s also a multitude of other functionality beng added: the ability to turn your Android device into a Wi-Fi hotspot, USB tethering and much more.

Let us know what you think below and keep an eye on the blog for updates. Better yet, Click Here to take a look at our range of Android handsets and get involved in the action.