Google Shows Off Android 2.0's

The second version of Google's mobile OS (codenamed Eclair)
borrows ideas from existing (and upcoming?) phones for
an improved user experience

When we saw the Motorola Cliq and the way it married all your
contacts simply in one place (a la the Palm Pre), we finally
saw the light at the end of the Android tunnel. This morning,
that light got even brighter with Android 2.0--the next
iteration of Google's mobile software.

The big news is in contacts handling. Developers can now add
a widget called Quick Contact into their apps; QC pulls all
the ways you can reach someone into one pop-up menu that can
overlay any app in addition to Android's native address book.
Also on the address-book-sorting-front: the new API can pull,
save and sync contact information from any source a developer
chooses to code.

Apps can also now control the device Bluetooth, which allows
for more peer-to-peer play to share data or go head-to-head
in games.

Screens on Android devices, like the Archos 5, have been
outgrowing the original T-Mobile G1 for a few months now. 2.0
is finally catching up; one set if code will now render
correctly on screens with varying sizes and resolutions. On
their , Google's advising app-builders to make sure their
wares will render on screens as high-res as 800-by-480 pixels
(helpful comparison: the iPhone is 480-by-320).

And the camera also has some new tricks up its sleeve,
including digital zoom, flash support, scene modes, while
balancing, macro mode and color effects.

On the whole, Eclair has all the ingredients of a tasty
treat. Now we just have to keep an eye on the developers and
watch out as new hardware starts cropping up.