Google is rolling out Android 2.2, codenamed Froyo, to Nexus One handsets. The new version of the operating system brings an extremely noticeable performance boost, a handful of impressive new features, some minor user interface enhancements, and useful new APIs for developers. The additions in Froyo fill some of the gaps in the platform and augment its competitiveness relative to rivals.

Froyo was unveiled at at the Google I/O developer conference in May during a keynote presentation by Google VP of engineering Vic Gundotra. Stabilizing the platform for an official Nexus One release took Google a little bit longer than expected, but the software is now being made available to users through an over-the-air update. We took it for a test drive to see how it compares to the previous version.