Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 08:55 pm

Google expands contact, account management with Android 2.0

By Brian Garner

Details were released Tuesday on the Android 2.0 platform, adding features and support to Google's open-source mobile operating system.

Google announced that version 2.0 support would be added in the software development kit for Android, so application developers can begin to use the system on their latest builds. The Android 2.0 platform contains many notable upgrades and updates in several categories.

Contact and account management seem to have seen the brunt of the updates. Multiple accounts can now be added to Android devices for email and contact synchronization, including optional Exchange support. Another added feature is called Quick Contact, which provides instant one-touch access to multiple ways of interacting with a contact including call, text, and email.

Other features include:

• Searchable SMS and MMS messages
  
  
• Updated camera support for built-in flash, digital zoom, white balance, and
  macro focus
  
  
• Improved keyboard layout with smarter predictive text and multi-touch support
  
  
• Browser upgrades including thumbnail bookmarks and double-tap zoom functionality
  
  
• Improved graphics performance through revamped graphics architecture and better hardware acceleration
  
  
• Support for Bluetooth 2.1

No release date has been revealed for consumer-level rollout of the new platform, however Motorola's Droid is rumored to be running Android 2.0 and will be released before the end of the year. Verizon has positioned the Droid as being the superior alternative to the iPhone, and has aggressively advertised this message with the "iDon't" series of ads.

Android was first introduced in November of 2007 by the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of companies dedicated to the development of open standards for mobile devices. The open-source platform has found its way onto a myriad of devices from HTC's line of phones to the Archos 5 Internet Tablet and Barnes & Nobles' Nook e-book reader.