Master Froyo and Gingerbread

two delicious treats that Android smartphone users around the world crave -- are the latest versions of the Android mobile operating system. Both offer speed as their main selling point, however each has as well come a long way from the original Android and spiffed up the user interface.

However, with great power comes great confusion. Though these editions of the Android OS make your smartphone more feature-rich than previously, it's not always obvious how to take advantage of the improvements.

Comprehensive list of the most compelling new features

Read on for a comprehensive list of the most compelling new features, plus tips and tricks. These items are specific to Froyo/Android 2.2 as then as to Gingerbread/Android 2.3.

1. Store apps on your SD Card: For owners of older phones with little on-board storage for applications, this feature is huge. Provided that the developer of an application allows it, you can move the application to your SD Card. Go to Settings, Applications, Manage Applications, and at that time click the app you want to move. You will see an option called Move to SD Card. Click it, and your app will move over, and nothing will be lost.

2. Chrome to Phone: If you use the Chrome browser on your desktop, this add-on is a must-have. First, install the Chrome to Phone extension in your Chrome browser; at that time, from the Android Market, download and install the Chrome to Phone app on your handset. Afterward, if you run across a Web page you like, you can click your new 'Chrome to Phone' button in your browser to send it instantly to your phone. You can as well highlight a phone number and click the button, and the number will open in your phone's dialer. Or send directions, and they'll open up in Maps on your phone. If you highlight some text, it will copy to your phone's clipboard, ready for pasting.

3. Get Flash: Android versions 2.2 and newer support Adobe Flash in the browser. First, you may have to download Flash from the Android Market. It's great to have this option. Some Web pages that are loaded with Flash can in effect slow down your phone, now.

5. Better multitasking: In previous versions of Android, long-pressing the Home key would give you access to the last four apps you used. When you long-press the Home key in Froyo, it gives you access to the last eight.

10. Phone and Browser icons on the desktop: The Phone app and Browser app nevertheless have a permanent home on the desktop, sitting on either side of the Apps button. Not only does this give you quick access to both regardless of what desktop panel you're on, however it as well frees up space on your desktop for other icons.

By itself, Froyo has incredible voice-recognition capabilities -- now if you have Google's most recent Voice Search, you have a ton of ways to control your phone with your voice. Just long-press your phone's Search button, and when 'Speak But' pops up on screen, say something out loud. Here are some examples of what you can do with Voice Actions.

11. Call someone: Say "Call [name of contact], [phone type]," as in "Call Whitney Houston, Mobile." The phone will give you a moment to confirm or cancel, and at the time it will dial your contact.

12. Send a text message: Say "Send text to [contact name], [message]." Example: "Send text to Andy Rubin. When will my phone get Gingerbread question mark."

13. Get turn-by-turn directions: Say "Navigate to [address, city or business name, city]." Examples: "Navigate to 826 Valencia, San Francisco, California" or "Navigate to Carnegie Hall, New York, New York." This will open Navigator with your chosen location already entered in.

14. Call a business: You don't even need to have the phone number. Say "Call [name of business], [city/state]." Example, "Call Red Hot Restaurant, Brooklyn, New York."

15. Write a memo: Say "Note to self, [body of text]." Example: "Note to self, Call Verizon to see why my phone doesn't have Gingerbread but." The text will be e-mailed to you, from you.

20. Improved cursor control: The cursor was once one of Android's weak points, nevertheless Gingerbread just made it fantastic. When you click on text in a text-entry field, an orange arrow appears where the cursor is. You can touch the cursor and drag it to the exact spot where you want it to be.

23. Make and receive VoIP calls: With Gingerbread, you can use your phone to place and receive Voice over Internet Protocol calls over Wi-Fi without using any third-party applications. You will first need to sign up for a SIP service, just as SIPgate. Once you've done that, from your home screen, press Menu, Settings, Call Settings; scroll down to Internet Call Settings, and press Add Accounts. You at that time must input your SIP account username, password, and server. You can as well configure optional settings there.

The Internet Call Settings menu

Now go back to the Internet Call Settings menu, and check the Receive Incoming Calls box. Your contact listings will have a SIP phone icon when you view them, regardless of how you view them. Simply touch the SIP icon then and there to a contact to call the person via SIP. Why do this? It could save you from going over your wireless carrier's plan minutes, or allow you to make calls using Wi-Fi when you're not nearly a cell tower. For more, watch this video walk-through of the SIP feature.

24. The Nearly Field Communication radio: What does NFC do? So then, not much...but. Then of this writing, software limitations will allow your phone's NFC radio to act only as a reader, not a transmitter. Now since software is being developed, that situation will probably change before long, likely in an incremental Gingerbread update. What you will be able to do, in substance, is use your phone as a high-tech credit card and make electronic payments with it. In theory, when making a purchase at a store, you would just touch your phone to the register's sensor, and a message would pop up on your phone asking if you want to authorize Vendor X for Y dollars. Currently, even though, as the radio can only read, it functions about the same as a QR code reader does: It can get a link, some text, a phone number, when all is said and done on.

Major overhaul in Gingerbread

Android's stock keyboard has undergone a major overhaul in Gingerbread, and it's not merely a face-lift. You will notice that it's faster and more accurate, and that it supports multitouch gestures. Here are other key differences.

At the time of this writing, approximately 52 per cent of Android phones have Froyo and the rest are waiting to get it, as a full 35 per cent are after all stuck on Eclair, version 2.1.

Even fewer Android phones have Gingerbread -- just 0.4 per cent then of this story, which makes sense considering that only the Nexus S handset runs it right but.

Shame that the hardware manufacturers

It's a shame that the hardware manufacturers and the carriers take so long to roll out updates, because each has been a major leap for the Android OS, with greatly improved speed, stability, battery life, and functionality.

For a more general introduction to Android tips and tricks for version 2.0 or later, see "Master Google Android: 40 Tips and Tricks."