This weekend just turned into an early Christmas for Android hackers everywhere. Google just dropped an early alpha version of the upcoming major Android update, “Donut”, into the code repository. User Cyanogen of xda-developers was the first to notice the new code lingering, and is already hard at work getting it up and running currently available hardware.
Just from playing with it in the emulator, a number of new features have been uncovered:
- Support for CDMA phones (Hello, Sprint!)
- Text-to-speech
- Loads of new widgets, including one that allows for WiFi/Bluetooth/GPS/Email toggling and Brightness adjustment right from the homescreen.
- Official support for multitouch (This was previously available through hackery – we’re not sure yet if this will be in the final build)
- “Search integrated into everything”
- WPA Enterprise WiFi encryption support
- VPN support
- Automated backups
- “Tons of performance [tweaks]”
Check after the jump for a gallery of the first screenshots to have made their way out – we’ll keep you updated as more goodies get unearthed.
