droidStory

Long awaited, often rumored, now reality – the Incredible is getting the Android 2.2 OTA update starting today. The first announcement showed up on twitter this morning from the official VZW account.

Then Verizon posted update instructions on its support website.

All OTA (Over the Air) Updates are staggered to avoid system overload. So it may still take a few days before Froyo actually shows up on your phone. Still no luck on my Droid Incredible, when I checked a few minutes ago.

If you still wonder what all the hubbub is about: This release will bring Adobe Flash, application auto update and improved battery performance, amongst some other general improvements to the Incredible. It will make this cool Droid even better.

The guys at MyDroidWorld got their hands on a leaked (read unauthorized) Android 2.2 Froyo version for the DroidX. They kindly provided the update instructions and download mirrors to the update.zip file here. Rooted and un-rooted phones can be upgraded. It is not clear if this version is a release candidate of the anticipated official release slated for sometime in August or September, but it is likely that it is not.

Many people are reporting successful installation and use of this version, but caution is strongly advised. Unlike the original Droid or the Nexus One, Motorola and Verizon have gone all out (eFuse) to protect the latest Droid from unauthorized updates. While eFuse is not going to brick your phone as some initially reported it is still preventing custom ROM’s from being installed. This update obviously coming from Motorola installs fine, but it is unclear if the official OTA Update of Froyo will, once you’ve installed this leaked version.

For that reason I’m going to sit this one out…

Update: Well, this did not take long. Numerous blogs report that Motorola has sent a cease & desist order to the sites hosting the leaked update. Why am I not surprised.

As it turns out FRF83 still wasn’t the final release build of Android 2.2 (Froyo).  Google has now announced the official availability of Android 2.2 on the NexusOne blog.

Starting today, Nexus One users will begin to receive the Android 2.2 (codenamed Froyo) over-the-air software update on their phones. This update provides some great new features including support for making your handset a portable hotspot and support for Adobe Flash within the browser.

If you can’t wait for the OTA update, you can get the latest FRF85B build directly from Google FRF91 build directly from Google and use the upgrade instructions found in some of the previous posts.

Some Nexus One users are reporting that they’ve received the OTA Update of Android 2.2 Build FRF83. I’m a bit skeptical about the OTA, but you can download the latest build, which is rumored to should be the official 2.2 release here:

FRF72 –> FRF83
http://android.clients.google.com/packages/passion/signed-passion-FRF83-from-FRF72.684bd56a.zip

FRF50 –> FRF83
http://android.clients.google.com/packages/passion/signed-passion-FRF83-from-FRF50.38d66b26.zip

You know the drill, or check this post on how to perform the update.

I didn’t see any noticeable differences to the prior build, but had to reinstall Swype to get it working after the update.

Nexus One owners can now get the latest pre-release Froyo serving directly from Google.  This is a rapid follow-up to version FRF50 that was leaked just a couple of weeks ago, appearing on XDA. All signs are pointing to an imminent official release.

What’s coming in Froyo?

• Performance Boost and additional RAM
• Adobe Flash & Air support
• WiFi and USB Tethering
• Better Exchange support

If you are the adventurous kind you can easily install this latest version without rooting your phone.  The file name of the update (signed-passion-FRF72-from-FRF50) suggests that you can only install FRF72 over FRF50 though. I cannot confirm this since I had already flashed my N1 to FRF50 and the update to FRF72 was easy as always.

The performance improvement is noticeable. My battery seems to last longer as well – no more inter-day topping off required. However, my favorite new feature by far is WiFi tethering. No more hunting for free WiFi, just turn your phone into your private hotspot. I’m very curious to see how and if the major carriers (Verizon & ATT) are going to embrace this. New bandwidth capping plans seem to indicate that they are already preparing for this feature.