Samsung Captivate's Froyo update now available through Kies

The good news: The AT&T Samsung Captivate finally has its Froyo update. They bad news -- it's available through the Samsung Kies desktop software. Kies isn't the worst thing we've ever seen, but it's still a bit ridiculous in 2011 that we're not updating everything over the air.

But I digress. The update you're getting is the same KB1 version we showed you the other night, so if you installed the leaked version, you're likely good to go. Otherwise, hit up Sammy's instructions (which are nicely done) and the massive changelog (after the break) and get to updating. [Samsung] More on the update in the Captivate forums

Home Screen

• New home screen tips widget assists users on how to configure the home screen with shortcuts and widgets and how to make use of multiple home screens.
• If you zoom in with two fingers on the home screen, all the panels are shown in one screen and the end user can remove the panel and/or add. The max number of panels is 7.
• The Phone, Application, Contacts and Messaging now have dedicated shortcuts on the Home screen, making it easy to access them from any of the 7 home screen panels.

Exchange Support

• Improved security with the addition of numeric pin or alpha-numeric password options to unlock device. Exchange administrators can enforce password policy across devices.
• Remote wipe: Exchange administrators can remotely reset the device to factory defaults to secure data in case device is lost or stolen.
• Auto-discovery: You just need to know your user-name and password to easily set up and sync an Exchange account (available for Exchange 2007 and higher).
• Global Address Lists look-up is now available in the Email application, enabling users to auto-complete recipient names from the directory.

Improved Performance

• Performance of the browser has been enhanced using the V8 engine, which enables faster loading of java-script-heavy pages.
• Dalvik Performance Boost: 2x-5x performance speedup for CPU-heavy code over Android 2.1 with Dalvik JIT.
• The graph to the right shows the performance speedup from Android 2.1 to Android 2.2 using various benchmark tests. For example, LinPack is now more than 5 times faster.
• Kernel Memory Management Boost: Improved memory reclaim by up to 20x, which results in faster app switching and smoother performance on memory-constrained devices.

Device Policy Manager

• New device policy management APIs allow developers to write "device administrator" applications that can control security features on the device, such as the minimum password strength, data wipe, and son. Users can select the administrators that are enabled on their devices.

GMS Updates

• GoogleQuickSearchBox, GenieWidget(News and Weather ) are newly added.

Data Backup

• Apps can participate in data backup and restore, to ensure that users maintain their data after performing a factory reset or when switching devices.

Flash Player

• Device supports Flash Player 10.1

Lock Screen

• New lock screen mode for entering a numeric pin or alphanumeric password

Application On External Storage

• Ability tstore and run non-forward locked apps on the SD card

Media Framework

• New media framework (Stagefright) that supports local file playback and HTTP progressive streaming

Kernel Upgrade

• SDI scheduling and BT improvements