Google announces Android 2.0

Google Android 2.0 has hardly been a secret for the last few months, but the wraps are now off the new version of its free operating system for smartphones.

The news was announced on the Android Developer’s blog and a brief accompanying video highlights a few of the new features. The information is all geared towards Android programmers rather than end users, but it’s still interesting to see what we can expect to see on Android 2.0 when it first appears on smartphones over the next few months.

Android 2.0 will support multiple accounts for email and contact synchronisation and a combined inbox lets you look at messages from a number of sources in one place. SMS handling has also been polished and you can now search saved messages and automatically delete old messages after a predefined time limit.

Camera support has also been beefed up and Android 2.0 now works with a built-in flash and offers a (useless) digital zoom and a macro mode. An improved on-screen keyboard layout also makes it easier to hit the right keys — or so Google says — and improved multi-touch support makes it easier to type with two fingers without missing key presses.

Some of the biggest changes are found in the WebKit-based web browser (the same engine as Safari on the iPhone) and this now supports the new HTML5 standard and a double-tap on the screen for zooming — no more separate on-screen zoom buttons, in other words.

Android 2.0 also supports a number of different screen sizes and resolutions, which should address the complaints leveled at Android-powered devices like the Archos 5 Internet Tablet and Acer Aspire One D250.

You can see a full list of Android 2.0 features at the Android Developers’ blog.

[Google Android]