Android 2.0 Donut Demoed At Google I/O, New Features

Before the Android 1.5 Cupcake Update is released to ALL Android Users, we already have word on the new features of Android 2.0 'Donut'. There are some neat new features but nothing especially game changing...yet. What piques our interest and makes incredible sense for a search-based company like Google is Donut's universal search, aptly dubbed 'Android Search'. Android Search will allow you to search online and locally on the device (contacts, music, calendars, etc).

Also, there's a new text-to-speech API that'll allow developers to take advantage of voice search-esque implementation for their application. What's even cooler is new support for handwriting gestures--as we see it, you can draw out any letter on the touchscreen and it'll automatically jump to that section in whatever list you're in. So for example, in the music app you can handwrite 'e' on the touchscreen and you'll be brought to the corresponding 'e' section. That new feature should be incredibly useful.

We're growing more and more excited about Android 2.0 by the day and we're hoping/praying/begging that T-Mobile will handle the release of Donut a lot better than they did Cupcake. Who's with us?

[via engadget]

Casey Chan