After 41 days of donut released the next android version 2.0 was released and named it as Eclairs(alphabetic E). This major update was a very big update for android and was launched in october 2009. this version was tested on THE MOTOROLA DROID the first "second generation" android device.
One of the first things Android 2.0 presented to the user was a new lock screen. Slide-to-unlock was patented by Apple, so Google went with a rotary-phone-inspired arc unlock gesture. Putting your finger on the lock icon and sliding right would unlock the device, and sliding left from the volume icon would silence the phone. A thumb naturally moves in an arc, so this felt like an even more natural gesture than sliding in a straight line. For the first time, multiple Google accounts could be added to the same device — separate work and personal accounts, for instance — with access to email and contacts from each. Support for Exchange accounts was added, too.
- Linux kernel of Android 2.0 Donut was updated to 2.6.29.
- API level of this version is level 4.
some other main improvements were:
- Multiple Google accounts can be added to same device.
- Google maps navigation.
- Soft key improvements.
- Speech to text.
- Quick contacts.
- New lock screen.
- Browser was updated with new user interface and now browser supports HTML5.
- Bluetooth 2.1 support
In January 2010, Google launched its Nexus series of devices – a line of smartphones and tablets running the Android operating system, and built by manufacturing partners. HTC collaborated with Google to release the first Nexus smartphone , appropriately called the "Nexus One". The device was a huge milestone for Google. It was the first phone designed and branded by the company, and Google planned to sell the device directly to consumers. The HTC-manufactured Nexus One had a 1GHz, single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 SoC, 512MB of RAM, 512MB of storage, and a 3.7-inch AMOLED display.
The Nexus One was meant to be a pure Android experience free of carrier meddling and crapware. Google directly controlled the updates. It was able to push software out to users as soon as it was done, rather than having to be approved by carriers, who slowed the process down and were not always eager to improve a phone customers already paid for.
Android 2.1 came out with the launch of the Nexus One, which was only three months after the release of 2.0. The new OS wasn't a huge release, so it still kept the codename "Éclair." Android development was chugging along at an unheard-of pace, with Google averaging a new OS release every two-and-a-half months over the last 15 months.
