A couple of screenshots of the new features in Google Android 2.0
Left: Contacts has a pop-up sub-menu with shortcuts to common functions
Right: ‘Car Home’ screen gives voice-activated function to oft-used tasks
Google hasn’t even said a word about any upcoming second edition of its popular mobile phone operating system, Android. Still, that hasn’t stopped the guys at Boy Genius Report (BGR) to get their hands on an early build of Android v2.0 and give us an early preview of it through a screenshot tour. Overall, it hasn’t changed much, but is definitely a lot cleaner and faster.
EMAIL: The biggest change is that it packs Microsoft Exchange compatibility and has a new unified inbox (although this doesn’t support Gmail). Users can ‘star’ favourite emails, mark multiple as read or unread, delete, forward, etc.
CONTACTS: The Contacts options have been greatly improved, and allow you to load up your Facebook account, syncing contacts from there with ease. When you tap a contact’s photo, a small sub-menu will pop up with little icons to quickly perform tasks like calling, sending an email, opening their Facebook profile, etc. Very cool!
BROWSER: The browser has been given a makeover, with a redone URL entry bar which includes a Favicon. The lack of multi-touch does hamper zooming functionality, but this is made up for by the improved speeds. “We’re talking ridiculously close to iPhone 3GS web page speeds,” BGR says.
MAPS: ‘Maps’ has been updated to include Layers. We’d imagine this will grow over time but now you can overlay search queries, Wikipedia entries, Latitude buddies, traffic, transit lines, and even load remote My Maps where you can share and receive directions with others. Again, the lack of multi-touch does hinder the usage.
VIDEO: A new YouTube widget on the homescreen lets you record videos and upload them immediately –just two clicks is all it takes!
CAR HOME: When you are driving, operating your phone is almost impossible at times. So Android 2.0 comes with a new ‘Car Home’ screen that is operated completely by voice, letting you access the most commonly used functionality in a car, such as saying “map of gas stations” or “call Barack”.
All in all, Android 2.0 does seem to take the operating system into a better bracket of mobile computing. And keep in mind that this is just an early beta: the final version should be much more polished and come with more goodies!