For those of you who are lucky enough to have already installed Android 2.2 “Froyo” to your handset, you will  have noticed a plethora of amazing new tweaks and improvements that weren’t mentioned by Google. If you want to find the complete list of the showcase features go to the Froyo Platform highlights page.

What was really interesting is that there are so many great new tweaks that google didn’t have time to mention it on the Google I/O keynote speech or even on their website.  For the sake of completeness-here is a list of some of the improvements that have managed to turn most Android Froyo users into Janice from Friends .

Here we go:

1. Wireless N support- Yep Google Android supports this out the box!

2. Keyboard tweaks -the important punctuation characters ( !?, @_ )are now included after you type in a word. Even if you already have a space it will remove it and enter the character. Full stop is not included in the list as you can already add it by double spacing. The “next” button has been replaced on some web forms by a new tab/ next field button allowing you to press go without having to tab through all web fields

(Update: you now can also swipe upwards from the keyboard to display the keyboard numbers instead of flicking over to the number panel)

3. Auto brightness control – The addition of an auto-brightness option (also accessible as the Fourth brightness option on power control widget ) allows the device to manage how bright the screen is. At night it does seem a bit brighter, however it would be cool if it used the battery level to reduce brightness when required.

4. Improved Gmail features- Gmail looks a lot prettier under froyo. Coloured labels are finally in and we can now copy and paste text from emails into other
applications. No multitouch zooming as yet but its a heck of an improvement. Not content with giving us that- Gmail engineers have also thrown in some handy buttons to page through emails to speed up getting things done.

(Update: You now have the option whether to included/ exclude old email content when you reply)

5. Return of the End Call button- Not content with using the touch screen to end calls? Power off button can now function as a “end call” button.  This can be accessed by going to settings- accessibility features- power.

6. Vcard handling- Android 2.1 introduced the facility to share vcards to other devices and now with Froyo  its finally possible receive vcards from other phones or computers via email.  If you receive a vcard, just download it and choose to open it with the contacts application and presto you are good to save it to your phone.

7. Text Searchability- Finally Android 2.2 users can now enjoy using the search function to scan through text messages.  Htc Desire and other HTC Sense phones have been enjoying this feature for a long time, so its great that everyone else can play catchup.

8. Better battery -  I am not sure if its just me, but I seem to be having an improved battery life- will keep checking after a few days and report back.

9. Accessibility Features- There are 3 new accessibility features that google have included in the mix:

Talkback- will tell you what menus you are on or what email you are reading

Kickback- the phone will vibrate when you select a button to let you know you have pressed a menu button

Soundback- will play a pleasant “ding” tone everytime you press a menu option.

Overall there are a lot of great new additions to the Android 2.2 platform and I am sure that with time, we will discover many more.  The next version of android( dubbed “Gingerbread”) is not due out until the end of 2010, so we will have to live with this version for a good while to come.   I am pleased to say that it doesn’t disappoint and hope it comes to other devices as quickly as possible.

Update:  A great new feature that has been added is the 270 degree gravity switch. Now whichever way you turn your phone horizontally it will change to its landscape mode.

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