I’ve been using it for about a week now and I can say it makes my droid a little snappier. Now Froyo added a few things to the table:

• Tethering via USB or Wifi
• Flash 10.1
• APPS2SD
• Improved performance
• Better exchange integration
• Chrome to Phone
• Voice dialing over bluetooth

I havent used all the features yet that Froyo promises so I sill speak on the ones I have tried out. Flash 10.1 is currently in beta for Froyo and I’ve done a little testing of course little bit after froyo hit the web for all us droid users, hulu found a way to cut off the access to their widget. Currently Flash 10.1 is at beta 2 and I’ve gone a a few sites it has a few slowness issues but overall it works pretty well.

As for APPS2SD the main issue with that is the developers need to activate that function in their program now granted this was already active in certain roms but Froyo brings it to all of the android community.

I can say that overall the performance has been greatly improved on froyo.  System is very responsive and the native install gives you 5 screens instead of the current 3 in stock 2.1 release for Droid. Whether or not this will be the case on the final approved release remains to be seen but one can only hope. Still no release date on when Froyo will be available for Droid, a few lucky testers on the nexus one were able to get a hold of it for their handset but Google quickly pulled it down.

Sources:
Manifest Tech
Froyo on the Droid

                          

Google should soon be announcing what enhancements are going to Android 2.2 OS. Flash 10 is included in Android 2.2 and supposedly running pretty well on the Nexus One. LG will be releasing the LG Ally soon, rumors are it will be Verizon Network at the moment yet another temptation to replace my precious droid. Ally has a strong product tie in to Iron Man 2.

Droid Incredible by HTC was released at the beginning of May and brings a Nexus One equivalent to Big Red Network, which is good since the evidently the Nexus One will not be released on Verizon or Sprint Networks. Evidently the Incredible and EVO 4G have replaced it respectably. EVO 4G looks to be the smartphones of smartphones making the droid look like its bastard cousin too bad I’m on Verizon for the next 2 years locked in.

Lg Ally Homepage
Droid Incredible by HTC
HTC Evo 4G

                          

We’ve just gotten the inside line on the next Droid update that’s making the rounds through Verizon’s testing department from one of our trusted sources, and overall, it looks like this should take users 95 percent of the way to curing pangs of Nexus One envy. Here’s what we’ve got:

More here

                          

Whats interesting is that this phone will be running Android 1.6 not 2.0 or 2.1. My thinking is that Motorola and Verizon wanted to create a mini droid with a slightly older OS. I’m sure there will be OTA updates available in the future to bring the Devour to 2.1+ land.

                          

Speaking of apps, I would like to send out my support for a nice little widget that adds a bunch of functionality to the base home screen of the droid models, Beautiful Widget. Originally Beautiful widgets brought the HTC Sense screens to other droid models but HTC was not having that so the author had to change his design. Still a nice little design and it adds a lot of widgets that make the droid even easier to use. Only 1.99 on the market and well worth the price.

Beautiful Widgets adds widgets for wifi, gps, airplane mode, vibrate, bluetooth, and a home screen addition with a clock and geolocation weather. The author is very good at updating the application especially when problems are reported by the users.

Here is the application on Androlib:Beautiful Widgets

                          

Verizon’s Motorola Droid is a brand-new phone today. Like many smartphones before it, the Droid has been rooted so that owners of the Android 2.0-based smartphone can install multitouch support (including pinch-to-zoom gestures), enhanced themes and other previously forbidden goodies.

Cyanogen, a well-known Android modder, tweeted this afternoon “Droid does … ROOT” and linked to an Android message board where the exploit is posted. Zinx Verituse, the hacker who discovered the exploit, posted the essential details and links to the file so modders can get down to business.

I’ve yet to try out the exploit as I’m a wee bit hesitant to muck with my $600 phone call me a wuss all you want but bricking this thing would not make me a happy camper. I dont advise anyone to do this unless they have a clue of what they are doing nor do I take responsibility if you brick your device by following these instructions.

                          

Fixes are listed below:

• OS stability is improved.
• Battery life is improved.
• Camera auto focus functionality is improved, and time between shots is reduced.
• Enhancements for three-way calling.
• Audio for incoming calls is improved.
• When receiving a call on call waiting, the speakerphone now remains on.
• Bluetooth® functionality is improved; background echo is eliminated.
• Improved Bluetooth phone book transfer of contacts to in-vehicle Bluetooth solutions.
• After closing a GPS application, the GPS icon will now automatically be removed from the notification panel.
• Users can now receive SMS and MMS messages after an EMS message is received.
• SMS and MMS may now be sent to seven-digit addresses.
• Google® contact merging has been updated to accommodate seven-digit numbers.
• Visual Voice Mail notices now arrive instantaneously.
• The corporate calendar widget user interface is updated

Nothing majorly announced but there is improved movement in the interface so the droid is a little more zipper than before not that I had a problem with it. Also the battery life has been improved havent fully tested it as I just upgraded today to 2.0.1 . Here are some pictures I’ve taken one before the upgrade and one after. Note the last picture was taken through my upstairs windows to the outside and the first one was taken from inside a moving aircraft after.

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

                          

Recommended applications from the app store:

Better Texting – Handscent
Home and theming – Pandora or Open Home
Internet Music Streaming – Pandora and last.fm
Podcasts – Google Listen
Wifi – Wifi Analyzer is an excellent tool to help troubleshoot wifi connections on the droid
Ebay – Pkt Auctions
Weather – Weatherbug

All the applications I listed are free or have free versions in the app market.