The time has come for the Droid 2 Global to get its taste of the cookie we’ve all been enjoying on our Nexus S, Xperia PLAY, and every other hacked device under the sun for months now. It’s Gingerbread time, and all those signed up for the tester program are being sent the following information so that they might participate in the early dip into the coffee that is Gingerbread, Android 2.3. This update shall indeed bring you and the testers a plethora of improvements, giving you a phone experience like you’ve never experienced before.
Included in this update are multi-touch key-chording combos, a download manager app, new dock icons, updated calendar options, and more! This update goes by the name of Version.4.5.600.A956.Verizon.en.US and we’re hoping that everyone’s going to be getting it over the air very soon. That said, it might also be interesting to note that this update does not appear to be rolling out for regular owners of the Droid 2 at the same time. Will Droid 2 not be getting the update? Probably they’ll be getting the update, just not at the same moment.
Meanwhile we’ll be sitting here with our brand new Motorola Droid X2s as well just waiting for that Android 2.3 update nicely, flipping around on Motoblur. For an extended look at the Droid X2, head back to our full review and let us know if you’d like to switch. Meanwhile, how are you liking the Global? Suiting your needs nicely?
Have a look at the list of enhancements you’ll be grabbing with Android 2.3 on your Droid 2 Global in the meantime:
Enhancements:
Download Manager App:
• New App to manage all of your downloads from web browsing, email attachments and other apps.App and Power Management Details:
• Under Manage Applications, a new “Running” tab displays a list of active applications and the storage and memory being used by each.
Multi-Touch Key-Chording:
• New ability to enter numbers and symbols with keyboard shortcut combos, instead of having to change to the numeric keyboard mode.Improved Word Selection and Copy Functionality:
• New capability to select a word via press-hold. A second press of the selected word copies the selected characters.
New User Interface and Color Scheme:
• New widgets, icons and screens with refreshed colors.Dock Icons:
• Static Phone, App Launcher and Contacts icons are replaced within a customizable dock. Three swappable icons and the App Launcher icon are fixed to the Dock at the bottom of all home screen panels for easy and instant access.App Groups:
• New App Menu allows creation of custom app groups, in addition to 3 default groups: All Apps, Recent and Downloaded.Security:
• Added Device and SD Card encryption. VPN enhancements integrate IPSec VPN clients into device security settings.
Updated Calendar Options:
• Display Calendar and event times in your home time zone when traveling.
• Dismiss individual reminders, such as dismissing one meeting reminder without dismissing other meeting reminders.
• Easy conference dialing – simply dial and automatically enter a conference code directly from your Calendar.Additional Improvements: Email and Messaging
• Sporadic issues with unintended recipient list corrected for text, picture, video and audio multimedia messages.
• Exchange ActiveSync calendar events created on the device will now push to your PC calendar.
• POP3/IMAP emails now show the correct date stamp.New ActiveSync Email Policy Support for the following:
• Data encryption for both the internal and SD card memory.
• Require manual synchronization while roaming.
• Allow HTML email.Additional Device Features
• Improvements in stability prevent lockups, resets and force close errors.
• Bluetooth® devices will now select the correct audio recording level for optimal voice capture and alert you when your audio level is too low.
• Improved battery life while using Bluetooth.
• Access My Verizon without any force close errors.
• Reset Backup Assistant under Manage Applications menu.
• Enhanced connectivity when roaming in GSM/UMTS networks (Europe and India).
• Improved battery life during Wi-Fi use.Preloaded Apps and Programs
• Google Books
• Accuweather
• Amazon MP3 Store
• Blockbuster®
• Adobe® Flash® Player 10.2
• V CAST Apps
