Android 2.2 is coming in a few weeks.

Android 2.2, also known as Froyo, is coming up in a few weeks for Android fans. What is known is that, if now everybody agrees that it's extremely fast on powerful devices (e.g: Nexus One or Desire), the next version will be much faster. Google developed a new JIT compiler (just-in-time compiler) which accelerates programming languages from 2 to 5 times faster. Yes, you read correctly, Java is going to be accelerated up to 5X.

The new version will have Flash 10.1 support integrated, this means that you don't need anymore to root your phone and get another ROM in order to have Flash, it will be integrated into the OS. Moreover, with this new update, you will be able to transform your phone in a Wi-Fi hotspot. This means that you will be able to share a mobile data connection (from carrier) with another computers/devices, either via Wi-Fi or via USB.

The home screen (launcher) will have near the "menu" button, a phone shortcut (on left) and a internet shortcut (on right), being available in whatever screen you will be. Installation of applications on the SD card is (finally) going to be supported on this new version of Android. You will be able to install as many applications as your SD card can store. An update is coming to Market too, making it able to update all apps with only one tap.

It is know that it will come in a few weeks, and as soon as Google will announce an exact date, I will let you know.

Testing Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) Alpha 3.

Today I've fully upgraded my laptop which had Ubuntu 9.10 on it, to Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx. The whole upgrade process took some time, but the results are impressive. So, what I've observed in the following 30 mins after the installation:

• The OS moves significantly faster than before
• Notification problems from the previous Alpha release were resolved
• Possible bug with the sound (or only with its icon)
  
• Gwibber added (application, Twitter client)
• Some changes in "Disk Utility" (interface)
• Many programs have up-to-date versions
• Human theme is pretty changed (most obvious changes are related to the panel)
• 2 Completely NEW themes included; one is called "Radiance", and the other one is called "Ambiance"

About the themes. Ubuntu now has on all its themes the buttons for the windows on left (minimize, maximize and close), pretty much like Mac OS X. The new "Radiance" theme is completely inspirited from Mac OS X (wallpaper, colours, buttons, etc), and nobody can tell me that it isn't.

But they are differently placed. They are in the following order: maximize-minimize-close, order which is not present on any other OS. This seemed a little strange, but it didn't create confusion for me. Many Linux users declared that they don't agree with these new buttons, but if you want my opinion, I really like it. Update: the buttons are now placed like in the Mac OS X: close-minimize-maximize.

The other new theme called "Ambiance" is exactly the same with "Radiance", except that it has dark colours. I'm currently really tired, and I observed that "Ambiance" is really relaxing, compared to "Radiance" which has very bright colours and it's pretty unpleasant now. Below is the "Ambiance".
The OS is fully functional, like the previous version, and it is extremely stable (since it's an Alpha version, I was expecting to be pretty unstable). It offers quite a similar experience (compared to 9.10), except that is more responsive and moves faster.