Hands0n
29th June 2010, 11:18 PM
Its here ... well, almost.
The latest and much anticipated release of Android 2.2 Froyo has finally been released from Google HQ. It is going out ORA (Over The Air) and will spread across the planet throughout the following week. But at this stage it is only for the Nexus One, and then only for the stock generic ones at that. So if you have rooted yours or you acquired yours via a mobile network operator then the update will not come to you. Specifically, there have been a number of operator-required tweaks applied and an operator-specific version of Froyo will be in the pipe, over the air actually, some time soon now.
The speculation around Froyo is wild - there is a strong belief that Google will release Froyo for all Android devices ever, including the now-venerable G1. How can this be so? Well, despite Froyo's significant improvements and advances the OS actually has a smaller memory footprint and performance advancements such as the new JIT (Just In Time) compiler that is said to run apps up to five times faster than the previous Dalvik run time compiler.
Even if that does not happen, now that the source code is out in the wild we can expect to see very many different independent releases of Froyo. Cyanogen is already working on it and has a beta of 2.2 for the Nexus One out for the past few days.
The official release is versioned FRF85B and contains a new radio too. It doesn't feel any different to the earlier versions of 2.2 so I suspect that this release, like the previous, contains only minor tweaks to get 2.2 ready for mass market use. Certainly, Android 2.2 is a bit whizzier and smoother - although some of its original characteristics persist to some degree or another.
So, if you're waiting for the official OTA then it is like that you will not have to wait much longer, particularly if yours is generic, unbranded and SIM free. However, if yours is from a network operator then you will have to wait a bit longer still.
Where to get it
If you are impatient for the new release and cannot wait for it to come to you OTA then you can grab a copy of the firmware here http://android.clients.google.com/packages/passion/signed-passion-ota-42745.dc39ca1f.zip
The above link is likely to expire quite quickly, Google tend to move this stuff around a bit. So if it is no longer there then you will have to use the Interwebs search engines to try and track it down.
Full instructions for manually installing the file follow:-
This guide will help you manually flash an update image to your Google Nexus One.
First thing you have to do is rename your update file to update.zip.
Copy the update.zip file onto your microSD card.
With your Nexus One powered off, hold down the trackball and press the power button.
Youll be booted into a white screen with three Android robots on skateboards. Select Bootloader
On the next screen, select Recovery
Your phone will reboot, giving you a picture of the Android robot and an exclamation point inside a triangle.
Now press the power button and volume up button at the same time. It could take a couple of tries.
Now (using the trackball this time) choose Apply sdcard:update.zip and let things run their course.
This update is working for any Nexus One with a stock recovery image.
Do not try and put this on your rooted phone as this could brick your Nexus One.
Lets just repeat that last bit: Do not try and put this on your rooted phone as this could brick your Nexus One.
The latest and much anticipated release of Android 2.2 Froyo has finally been released from Google HQ. It is going out ORA (Over The Air) and will spread across the planet throughout the following week. But at this stage it is only for the Nexus One, and then only for the stock generic ones at that. So if you have rooted yours or you acquired yours via a mobile network operator then the update will not come to you. Specifically, there have been a number of operator-required tweaks applied and an operator-specific version of Froyo will be in the pipe, over the air actually, some time soon now.
The speculation around Froyo is wild - there is a strong belief that Google will release Froyo for all Android devices ever, including the now-venerable G1. How can this be so? Well, despite Froyo's significant improvements and advances the OS actually has a smaller memory footprint and performance advancements such as the new JIT (Just In Time) compiler that is said to run apps up to five times faster than the previous Dalvik run time compiler.
Even if that does not happen, now that the source code is out in the wild we can expect to see very many different independent releases of Froyo. Cyanogen is already working on it and has a beta of 2.2 for the Nexus One out for the past few days.
The official release is versioned FRF85B and contains a new radio too. It doesn't feel any different to the earlier versions of 2.2 so I suspect that this release, like the previous, contains only minor tweaks to get 2.2 ready for mass market use. Certainly, Android 2.2 is a bit whizzier and smoother - although some of its original characteristics persist to some degree or another.
So, if you're waiting for the official OTA then it is like that you will not have to wait much longer, particularly if yours is generic, unbranded and SIM free. However, if yours is from a network operator then you will have to wait a bit longer still.
Where to get it
If you are impatient for the new release and cannot wait for it to come to you OTA then you can grab a copy of the firmware here http://android.clients.google.com/packages/passion/signed-passion-ota-42745.dc39ca1f.zip
The above link is likely to expire quite quickly, Google tend to move this stuff around a bit. So if it is no longer there then you will have to use the Interwebs search engines to try and track it down.
Full instructions for manually installing the file follow:-
This guide will help you manually flash an update image to your Google Nexus One.
First thing you have to do is rename your update file to update.zip.
Copy the update.zip file onto your microSD card.
With your Nexus One powered off, hold down the trackball and press the power button.
Youll be booted into a white screen with three Android robots on skateboards. Select Bootloader
On the next screen, select Recovery
Your phone will reboot, giving you a picture of the Android robot and an exclamation point inside a triangle.
Now press the power button and volume up button at the same time. It could take a couple of tries.
Now (using the trackball this time) choose Apply sdcard:update.zip and let things run their course.
This update is working for any Nexus One with a stock recovery image.
Do not try and put this on your rooted phone as this could brick your Nexus One.
Lets just repeat that last bit: Do not try and put this on your rooted phone as this could brick your Nexus One.