page.title=Android 2.2 Platform Highlights
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<p>The Android 2.2 platform introduces many new and exciting features for
users and developers. This document provides a glimpse at some of the new user features
and technologies in Android 2.2. For more information about the new developer APIs, see the <a
href="android-2.2.html#api">Android 2.2 version notes</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="#UserFeatures">New User Features</a></li>
<li><a href="#PlatformTechnologies">New Platform Technologies</a></li>
<li><a href="#DeveloperServices">New Developer Services</a></li>
<li><a href="#DeveloperApis">New Developer APIs</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="UserFeatures" style="clear:right">New User Features</h2>
<h3>Home</h3>
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<p style="margin-top:0">New Home screen <span class="green">tips widget</span> assists new users on
how to configure the
home screen with shortcuts and widgets and how to make use of multiple home screens.</p>
<p>The Phone, applications Launcher, and Browser now have <span class="green">dedicated
shortcuts</span> on the Home screen, making it easy to access them from any of the 5 home screen
panels.</p>
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<h3>Exchange support</h3>
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<p><span class="green">Improved security</span> with the addition of numeric pin or alpha-numeric
password options to unlock device. Exchange administrators can enforce password policy across
devices.</p>
<p><span class="green">Remote wipe:</span> Exchange administrators can remotely reset the device to
factory defaults to secure data in case device is lost or stolen.</p>
<p><span class="green">Exchange Calendars are now supported</span> in the Calendar application.</p>
<p><span class="green">Auto-discovery:</span> you just need to know your user-name and password to
easily set up and sync an Exchange account (available for Exchange 2007 and higher).</p>
<p><span class="green">Global Address Lists look-up</span> is now available in the Email
application, enabling users to auto-complete recipient names from the directory.</p>
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<img src="{@docRoot}sdk/images/2.2/22exchange.png" alt="" height=300 />
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<h3>Camera and Gallery</h3>
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<p>Gallery allows you to <span class="green">peek into picture stacks</span> using a zoom
gesture.</p>
<p>Camera <span class="green">onscreen buttons</span> provide easy access to a new UI for
controling zoom, flash, white balance, geo-tagging, focus and exposure. Camcorder also provides
an easy way to set video size/quality for MMS and YouTube.</p>
<p>With the <span class="green">LED flash</span> now enabled for the Camcorder, videos can be shot
at night or in low light settings.</p>
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<h3>Portable hotspot</h3>
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<p>Certain devices like the Nexus One can be turned into <span class="green">a portable Wi-Fi
hotspot</span> that can be shared with up to 8 devices.</p>
<p>You can use your Android-powered phone as a 3G connection for a Windows or Linux laptop by
connecting their phone to the computer with a USB cable. The connection is then shared between the
two devices.</p>
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<img src="{@docRoot}sdk/images/2.2/22hotspot.png" alt="" height=180 />
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<h3>Multiple keyboard languages</h3>
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<p>Multi-lingual users can add multiple languages to the keyboard and <span class="green">switch
between multiple Latin-based input languages</span> by swiping across the space bar. This changes
the keys as well as the auto-suggest dictionary.</p>
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<h3>Improved performance</h3>
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<p><span class="green">Performance of the browser</span> has been enhanced using the V8 engine,
which enables faster loading of JavaScript-heavy pages.</p>
<p><span class="green">Dalvik Performance Boost:</span> 2x-5x performance speedup for CPU-heavy code
over Android 2.1 with Dalvik JIT.</p>
<p>The graph to the right shows the performance <span class="green">speedup</span> from Android 2.1
to Android 2.2 using various benchmark tests. For example, LinPack is now more than 5 times
faster.</p>
<p><span class="green">Kernel Memory Management Boost:</span> Improved memory reclaim by up to 20x,
which results in faster app switching and smoother performance on memory-constrained devices.</p>
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<h2 id="PlatformTechnologies">New Platform Technologies</h2>
<h3>Media framework</h3>
<ul>
<li>New media framework (Stagefright) that supports local file playback and HTTP progressive
streaming</li>
<li>Continued support for OpenCore in Android 2.2</li>
</ul>
<h3>Bluetooth</h3>
<ul>
<li>Voice dialing over Bluetooth</li>
<li>Ability to share contacts with other phones</li>
<li>Support for Bluetooth enabled car and desk docks</li>
<li>Improved compatibility matrix with car kits and headsets</li>
</ul>
<h3>2.6.32 kernel upgrade</h3>
<ul>
<li>HIGHMEM support for RAM >256MB</li>
<li>SDIO scheduling and BT improvements</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="DeveloperServices">New Developer Services</h2>
<h3>Android Cloud to Device Messaging</h3>
<p>Apps can utilize Android Cloud to Device Messaging to enable mobile alert, send to phone, and
two-way push sync functionality.</p>
<h3>Android Application Error Reports</h3>
<p>New bug reporting feature for Google Play apps enables developers to receive crash and freeze
reports from their users. The reports will be available when they log into their publisher
account.</p>
<h2 id="DeveloperApis">New Developer APIs</h2>
<h3>Apps on external storage</h3>
<p>Applications can now request installation on the shared external storage (such as an SD
card).</p>
<h3>Media framework</h3>
<p>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 auto-pause
and auto-resume audio playback.</p>
<h3>Camera and Camcorder</h3>
<p>New preview API doubles the frame rate from ~10FPS to ~20FPS. Camera now supports portrait
orientation, zoom controls, access to exposure data, and a thumbnail utility. A new camcorder
profile enables apps to determine device hardware capablities.</p>
<h3>Graphics</h3>
<p>New APIs for OpenGL ES 2.0, working with YUV image format, and ETC1 for texture
compression.</p>
<h3>Data backup</h3>
<p>Apps can participate in data backup and restore, to ensure that users maintain their data
after performing a factory reset or when switching devices.</p>
<h3>Device policy manager</h3>
<p>New device policy management APIs allow developers to write "device administrator" applications
that can control security features on the device, such as the minimum password strength, data wipe,
and so on. Users can select the administrators that are enabled on their devices.</p>
<h3>UI framework</h3>
<p>New "car mode" and "night mode" controls and configurations allow applications to adjust their UI
for these situations. A scale gesture detector API provides improved definition of multi-touch
events. Applications can now customize the bottom strip of a TabWidget.</p>
<p>For more information about the new developer APIs, see the <a
href="android-2.2.html#api">Android 2.2 version notes</a> and the <a
href="{@docRoot}sdk/api_diff/8/changes.html">API Differences Report</a>.</p>