Nexus One Gets Surprise Android 2.2 Update

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Nexus One owners got a bit of a midnight surprise last night, as Google begun rolling out the Android 2.2 update to owners of *the* Google Phone. We had heard that all HTC devices released in 2010 (including the Nexus One) would be getting the Android 2.2 update, and more specifically, the Nexus One was rumored to be getting in in “a few weeks”.

Google wowed those present at the Google I/O conference by handing out HTC EVO 4Gs to everybody in attendance (they have done that from time to time with various Android phones). Even those phones didn’t have Android 2.2 (although the latest word is that the EVO 4G will ship with Android 2.1 and will get the 2.2 update later).

The story was ‘broken’, if you will, by TechCrunch’s MG Siegler who said he grabbed his Nexus One to charge it and discovered it was telling him a system update was ready. Android 2.2 adds a ton of features to the mobile OS, including Flash 10.1 support, improvements in the phone’s dramatic translating code (which should help overall performance), USB tethering and the ability to create a WiFi hotspot.

Not enough for you? Google’s Android chief, Andy Rubin, also said that Android 2.2 will be the version to end Android fragmentation. As you (may or may not) know, Android is strongly affected by version fragmentation. Devices released weeks apart have different versions of Android, and some older phones can be upgraded to newer versions while some can’t. The iPhone loving blog crowd is holding this up as some crushing defeat for Android.

At any rate, Rubin says Android 2.2 will reunite all Android devices. From our understanding, the active wallpapers and app loader in Android 2 are the main reason that older Android phones (like the T-Mobile G1) can’t run the later versions. Unless Froyo removes these features (which I don’t think it does), it’s hard to believe it’ll be reuniting anything.

Back to a positive note – Nexus One users, check your phone. You have a surprise waiting for you.