If you’re impatient (I was) you can download the official update and do it yourself. It’s actually pretty easy and even if something did go wrong, you could go to the Verizon store and they’d fix it as this is the real Verizon and Motorola approved update so it’s covered under warranty.  Just remember this update is for non-rooted users (if you don’t know what that means, then you’re a non-rooted user).

Now that a significant number of people finally have Android 2.2 Froyo on their phones (Motorola Droid, HTC EVO 4G, Nexus One) I figured this would be a good time to review all the Froyo goodness that has come to your trusty old Droid and to talk about what didn’t make it to the phone.

The Froyo update has largely been hailed as the version of Android that finally feels complete and puts it on par with Apple’s iOS 4.  A lot has been done behind the scenes and while you can’t see a lot of what has changed, the biggest thing you’ll notice is how much faster and responsive your phone is.  Google claims a 2-5 times speed increase and if you’ve been using your Droid for any length of time, you’ll notice how much faster the phone responds.

Other new features:

• USB Tethering – There have been applications on the market that have allowed you to tether your phone via USB for a while now, but now it’s built in (Wireless tethering didn’t make it – more on that later).  To access, click settings, Wireless & Network Settings, Tethering, and if your USB cable is plugged in, check the box.
• You’ll notice a new application launcher and that phone and browser access are now available on all your app screens.
• 270 degree rotation.  To see it in action, start watching any Youtube video… now turn the phone upside down.
• 5 screens for your apps, up from the 3 that were previously available.
• Voice dialing for Bluetooth headsets!
• Adobe FLASH 10.1!  Finally something you can hold over the heads of all your iPhone carrying friends – you have all of the Internet available to you on your phone and can watch all the videos and play all the flash based games you like.   (Note:  My updated didn’t have flash support built in and getting it working took a little searching so let me save you the time – here’s the Adobe Flash 10.1 app for the Droid since the Android Market and Adobe’s site didn’t have it last I looked).
• Chrome to Phone – I did a post on this a few weeks ago, but wanted to bring it up again.  You’ll need to install the app for your phone and install the extension on Chrome, but once you do this, anytime you’re working on your computer, you can just click the little phone icon and send the link (including directions from Google Maps) directly to your phone.
• Improved video quality
• New camera interface – the notable enhancement here is that the zoom is easier to use
• Easier to keep you apps updated.  If you’re like me and have 100+ apps, it can be kind of tedious when you have 7-10 apps that all need to be updated when you have to do it one by one.  Now in Android 2.2 you can just press the “update all” button and Android will take care of the rest.
• Apps can now be stored on the SD card and you can move current apps (that support it) to the SD Card.

Wi-Fi Hotspot / Tethering

Of all the features I was most excited about getting with the new update, this was it and sadly wifi tethering didn’t make its way to the Droid with Verizon saying the Droid lacks the necessary hardware to function as a wifi hotspot.   That may be true, sort of (it actually has the proper hardware but the hardware is running the wrong firmware to do it properly), but rooted users have found a way to make wifi tethering a reality with a bit of an ad-hoc solution, but if you’re willing to root your phone (Cyanogenmod and Bugless Beast are two popular ones in the rooting community), you can get wifi tethering.   Disclaimer:  Rooted your Droid voids the warranty on your phone and there is a chance you could brick your phone in the process – we take no responsibility should you decide to try this.

What do you think of the new 2.2 update? Anything I left out that you think should be mentioned?  Let me know in the comments.

And with the release of the Samsung Galaxy Beam I8520 (currently only available in Singapore -- U.S. and U.K. release date unknown), they’ve certainly caught our attention.

In many ways it’s a pretty standard Android powered smartphone.  It currently runs Android 2.1 with a 2.2 Froyo update expected, its a slightly underpowered with a 800MHZ TI OMAP processor, and has what has become the new standard size camera (8MP and 720p video camera) and 16GB of storage space and of course has an AGPS chip

Samsung Galaxy Beam With Built in Projector.

However, Samsung didn’t stop adding features there and in fact if they could have made it fit, they probably would have included a kitchen sink.

It sports a Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 800 x 480 (a very worth competitor to Apple’s retina display, some would say it’s even better), an FM tuner, Bluetooth 3.0, and an 802.11 B/G/N antenna.  Yes, 802.11 N!

However, the real kicker is that this camera is the first smartphone to feature a built in 50″ projector.  Now you can do impromptu Powerpoint presentations to your heart’s content.   As a business owner who has to do a lot of on location presentations, I can tell you I’m chomping at the bit and crossing my fingers to get one of these puppies.

Again, no U.S. carrier has been announced for this phone and we don’t know when or even if it will be available here, but it’s another worthy contender for title of best smartphone.

You can see the projector in action in this video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7uCi_cT9IU

There is plenty written about the legality of recording phone calls, and if you’re trying to secretly record calls, you could be asking for trouble.  However, not everyone wants to record phone calls for nefarious purposes.  Here’s a good resource about recording calls.

For example, I was just on a call this morning with a client and he wanted to know how we could record the conversation because he couldn’t keep up with everything I was saying and wanted to be able to go back and review the apparent wisdom I was pontificating.

We were on Skype at the time, so I just turned on Pamela (that’s what the software suite I used is called) and recorded away.

But how do you record a call if your on an Android powered phone?  There is no built in functionality to do it, and despite several hours of research, I haven’t found a single app (free or paid) that actually works on Android 2.0 or 2.1 for recording calls on the phone.  (My guess is you’d have to root the phone to do it at the moment.)

Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t do it.  You just have to use Google Voice to do it.  Unfortunately, that means you can only record incoming calls, not outgoing.  But if you need to record a conversation, this is the best way I’ve found to do it thus far (3/22/10).  And with Google Voice, it’s really easy, just press 4 and it will start recording the conversation.  You’ll find the conversation in your Voice control panel within a few minutes and you can send the recording to the other party easily from the control panel.

Now someone can tell me if I’m wrong here but if I were to call my Google Voice number from my cell phone, then use GV to do a three way call (which it can and will do for free), that would theoretically work, right?  Not exactly the simplest or most elegant of solutions, but if you really have to record an outgoing call, it just might work – if you know how to hack all that together, post it in the comments.

UPDATE 6/10: Just wanted to post an update on call recording on Android – no functionality exists yet (yes, there are apps in the Android Market that record phone calls, but none of them actually work).

The method I posted above to record outgoing calls actually requires two phones.  You’d have to make a call to your Google Voice number with a separate phone (any phone will work) or Skype (recommended since you can do it from a computer and don’t need a separate phone line). Then you can turn the recorder on by pressing 4 on your number pad, use 3-way colling to make your outgoing call, and finally you have a way to record the call.  If you’re desperate to record calls on your Android phone, that’s what you have to do until a reliable app is released or it’s natively supported in the OS, though I’m not aware of any native functionality for the latest Android OS version, Froyo 2.2.

I was actually hoping it would allow me to record outgoing calls on my phone, but alas, it didn’t turn out to work that way.  I did, however, learn it gives me the ability to make unlimited calls provided I have a few things:  A Google Voice Account, A Friends and Family Plan with unlimited calling to certain numbers, and an Android Powered phone.

As it turned out, I met all the requirements.  :-)

I remember thinking that Google Voice was relatively useless to me when I first got it but decided I should get a number anyway especially while the good numbers were still available so I did and there it sat until December when I upgraded from my Razr to a Droid.  Now I find Google Voice indispensable and this latest little trick only makes it more awesome.

Basically, this little app logs into your Google Voice account and uses the three way calling ability of the program.  First it calls your cell phone from Google Voice (basically you get a phone call from yourself, then as soon as you answer the call, it initiates the call to the person you were calling.)  It takes an extra ten seconds or so to make a call using this method, FYI.

Now the magic comes from that unlimited calling you get to certain numbers with your Friends and Family program.  Just make your Google Voice number one of your favorites and now you can call people anytime for free.

I already have a pretty beefy calling plan on my phone since I work as a consultant and spend a lot of time on my cell phone, however, I still manage to burn through my minutes pretty quickly, however, with this little trick I never have to worry about running going over on my minutes using this system.

I’ll probably still make most calls using my cell phone but any conversation that I know is going to take a while, I’ll go through the extra step of using the Google Voice Callback system… now if I could just figure out a way to record those calls…

I’ve seen a lot of people making lists of “must have” Android apps, and then they go and include stuff you definitely don’t need, but is certainly cool.

For example, on my phone I have the Tricorder and Lightsaber apps.  While they’re both cool, if you deleted them tomorrow, I’d be sad, but I’d survive.

On the other hand, if you took away my Google Voice Visual Voicemail (note: this is how you get Visual Voicemail for free – don’t pay for it, just get this App and a Google Voice account), I’d be without Voicemail.

So here is my list of what I think are some “must have” Apps.  Keep in mind that while I’m fairly tech savvy, I’m no expert on what should or shouldn’t be on a smartphone – I think all the features are cool.

Oh, and one more thing.  I’ve seen some people complain about how the phone (Motorola Droid and other Android phones like the Nexus One and HTC offerings) lacks certain features out of the box.  That’s the cool part – if you want to do it, there’s probably an App for that, and if there isn’t, you can create one!  It’s infinitely customizable to you.  That’s the real appeal to the iPhone and Android phones.

Anyway, must have Droid Apps…

1. ChompSMS or HandSent2 – The built in SMS on Android sucks donkey balls.  It didn’t allow me to send a text to multiple people at once or to groups.   ChompSMS fixes that little snafu.  It’s the app I use most often.
2. Contact Owner – Ever left your phone somewhere, but can’t for the life of you remember where it is?  I know I have.  And if not for the person how found it being ambitious enough to call contacts in my phone, I wouldn’t have found it.  This app is quite simple – it displays your name and contact info (including alternate phone number and email address) on the phone with an “if found, contact” message.  If someone finds your phone, they’ll know how and who to contact to return it.
3. Wave Secure – Smartphones are expensive even when heavily subsidized by your phone company.  What would you do if it got stolen?  Well, being careful is the best way to make sure nobody steals your phone, but if they do, you’ve got WaveSecure.  If your phone is stolen, this App can help track it back down and will even notify people (that you pick) that your phone has been stolen.  It can even lock the phone down so that the thieves can’t access your personal information.
4. Home++ – Android has three screens by default for putting shortcuts and icons on.   Honestly, once you start playing around with your phone, you’ll find yourself wanting more screens to better organize the apps you use most often.  For example, on my phone I have a screen just for music programs and one just for all the various programs for going online.  Home++ allows you to have up to seven screens and it does some other cool stuff too, but all I use it is for the extra screens.
5. Pandora – While Android is certainly not iPhone for music, it’s certainly a capable device.  I really like my customized Pandora radio stations and being able to listen to them while I’m driving in the car (or wherever I happen to be) is awesome.  Last.fm and Slacker are also both good music streaming clients if you’d like more options.
6. Voice Recorder – The Droid has no built in voice recorder.  No problem, just download “voice recorder” or “rehearsal”, problem solved.
7. FoxyRing and Locale – There are two apps that have a similar function and Locale is definitely the more ambitious of the two, however I don’t need all the features and find FoxyRing is exactly what I need.  You’ll probably want at least one of them if not both.   FoxyRing is an app that measures ambient noise and adjusts the ringer volume accordingly.  In a loud bar?  Then the ringer will go off at it’s loudest volume so you can hear it.  Sitting in your living room reading a book?  Then the ringer will go off at a much lower volume so it doesn’t scare the bejesus out of you.   It also features a “silent” mode.  You can set times when the phone simply won’t go off.  In class at a certain time every day?  Just set the phone to be in silent mode.   Don’t want to take phone calls in the middle of the night?  Again, silent mode.  However, you can set the phone to allow certain emergency contacts to get through.  So if you want your mother to be able to call in case of a family emergency, but not your drunk friends, this is the perfect app for that.
8. Mototorch – This is another simple app.  It uses the LED flash on the camera as a flashlight.  It’s simple, but handy.
9. Gtask – Another simple app that synchs to Google tasks in your Gmail account.  There are a ton of “to do list” apps and really cool ones like “don’t forget the milk.”  For me, this simple one is all I need and the fact that it synchs to Gmail, which I use all day long is why I chose it.
10. KeepScreen – This is an ultra handy app – and all it does it keeps your screen from turning off.  For example, if you’re playing music, but want to keep the controls up without having to unlock the screen every time, this program will do it.  You can set it so that when certain programs are running, the screen simply doesn’t turn off.  Be careful as leaving programs run will drain your battery faster than two shakes of a lambs tail, but it’s great when you just need the screen to stay on without having to touch it every few seconds.

Oh, and while this one is built in, if you use Google Calendar, you can have it text you a reminder if you have anything scheduled you don’t want to forget.  I didn’t know about it until recently, but now I use it regularly.

Those are some of my favorite “must have” apps.

I’ll probably make a list of ones that are “nifty” and “spiffy” but not quite as practical in the future, but that’s all I’ve got for today.

So I got one of those fancy Droids a couple weeks ago and when you go from a Razr to a Droid, everything is cool and fancy.  I honestly don’t know how a lot of the features that are “gee whiz” cool compare to other smartphones like the iPhone.  They’re all cool to me, but wow is the Facebook and Google Voice integration slick.

Anyway, instead of posting my thoughts about the phone side of things, I figured I’d post about the thing I am qualified to review – the GPS, specifically Google Maps Navigation Beta.

I’m on my fourth GPS device and have extensively researched others.  In fact, I decided to get the phone with its built in navigation instead of one of the new high end TomToms.

So I have fairly high standards for what I want in a GPS device, and I have to say that Google has managed to include cool features I would never have thought to ask for… unfortunately they also neglected to include some fairly important industry standard features.

I like it, I love it

As you’d probably expect, Google Navigation uses their Google Maps data for all the routes.  The maps are up to date (I hated updated buying updates to my old ones) and since it accesses their online database, they’re about as up to date as you can get.  Up to date maps doesn’t sound like a big deal until your GPS device tries to convice you to take an impassible snowmobile trail in the middle of nowhere Colorado – then you’ll appreciate having accurate maps J

The voice search is also awesome.  It knows where businesses are (even local ones, not just chains) and can find them with a simple search.  My car broke down a week ago and I was able to find a towing service close to me (I didn’t want to be stuck there any longer than I had to), and call them using the same device… and I was able to read reviews before I made any calls.

It can find landmarks, categories of businesses, schools, pretty much whatever you want.  And if you decide to type in the information, it’s not all that picky and can even figure out what you meant to spell if you spell something wrong (just like their search engine can).

However, one thing it can’t do is navigate to someone in your contacts list even if their address is in your phone.  My guess is that feature is coming, but so far it doesn’t do that.

Google Street View is pretty cool especially as it can display a picture of the intersection and a picture of the business you’re navigating to.  However, I’d like to more advanced instructions for complicated interchanges.  For example, my last GPS would tell me to take and exit and which lane I needed to be in when necessary.  It isn’t necessary all that often where I live but let me tell you, it’s immensely helpful when it does come up.

You have the option to use Satellite view just like with Google Maps on your computer and you can even overlay the terrain if you’re out hiking.

And one feature I really like was the ability to navigate “nearest” whatever.  For example, you can tell Google Maps Navigation to “navigate to nearest movie theatre” and it will.

Fail!

Night mode

While there are some excusable omissions, one that is just a complete brain fart is the lack of a night mode.  Honestly, I was expected that the phone would not only have a night mode, I figured it’d automatically kick in when the sun set based on its location – the phone has a lot of location aware features like that and I figured Google Maps Navigation would have that… it didn’t.

I learned this on a trip from Nebraska to Wisconsin.  Fortunately, I don’t need directions for the trip, so when it got dark and night mode didn’t kick in and I couldn’t find it in the menus, it wasn’t a problem for me just to turn the program off and finish the drive sans navigation.

But seriously, no night mode?  I’m assuming this oversight will be fixed in the near future, but as far as I’m concerned, the program should never have left alpha testing without that feature.

Update (Feb 2010) – Night mode exists now (came as part of Google Maps 4 app update) and yeah, it works like I expected it would – location aware and based on sunset and sunrise.   Glad to see they added it.

Speedometer

Another industry standard is how fast you’re going.  And TomTom and Garmin devices also happen to know the speed limits where you’re driving and can tell you when they change.  Google doesn’t even display how fast you’re going.  I know, I know, that’s what the speedometer on your car is for.  Well, I find the one on cars is frequently off by 1-3 mph.  On a long trip, a 3mph difference is half an hour I could have saved and the GPS speedometer is always extremely accurate.

Data Connection Required

Here’s another real head scratcher.  The need to have a data connection for navigation.  I can totally understand the need to have a data connection for things like Street View, Satellite View, and some of the more advanced features – it’d just be too much to store on the phones memory and updating would be a pain.  However, needing a data connection for even basic navigation is bad design.   Google needs to offer an option to download the maps to your phones memory card and to use those maps when data is lost.  GPS and navigation needs to work in the middle of nowhere.

Those are my biggest complaints.   But here’s why I’m still happy about getting Google Maps Navigation vs TomTom.  I know that Google will continue to update it and that it’s likely to be a true rival to TomTom and Garmin within a year and those complaints I have will likely be addressed soon.  If I had a Garmin or TomTom, I’d be waiting a lot longer and I’d probably have to pay for the upgrade.

Google Maps Navigation may not be quite ready to challenge the big boys for navigation supremacy just yet, but for the price (FREE), you could certainly do a lot worse.