Any news on Androis 2.X?

Well guys, I know for sure that they are focusing on releasing 2.2 instead of 2.1... I talked to support, and they confirmed this with me. So be excited!

Unfortunately, he will not give me a date for availability (not even an 'idea' of a date [eg. within 2 months])... But, rest assured, they ARE working on 2.2 on the eDGe. I just hope they get it out as soon as possible.

D4N14L post above is the most promising yet, that they are working on 2.2 which has significant speed improvements as well as flash.

No one has mentioned "foot dragging" Boris (#23). It would just be nice to have some idea of where we are headed. I, too, imagine that things will get more clear as the new academic year approaches.

Originally Posted by alefor

We just would like to know that 2.2 is on the upgrade path for the eDGe as it includes full flash

See the post above yours.

Although short of an official announcement, enTourage has given every indication that they are working as quickly as they can to provide full Flash support to the eDGe. Whether that happens in late summer or sometime in the fall is still unknown, but FWIW I'm reasonably certain that eventually the eDGe will run Android 2.2+.

My impression is that enTourage is well-aware that Flash is essential for the eDGe to realize it's potential in an educational setting. At the same time, one can reasonably extrapolate that a strong back-to-school season is critical and that sales will be much stronger if they have a device by mid-August that can run Flash. If outside observers can figure that out, then surely enTourage management has as well--and more importantly, the venture capitalists behind them. Having heard anecdotes of the types of pressures that engineers find themselves under in order to meet critical sales schedules, there is little doubt in my mind that every "encouragement" known to man and legally permitted under existing labor laws is being applied to the eDGe's product development team. There will be additional software upgrades made available for the eDGe as soon as humanly possible. But I wouldn't expect any official announcement until the upgrade is within a week of being released--that's just how enTourage has operated over the past six months.

Originally Posted by alefor

It would just be nice to have some idea of where we are headed. I, too, imagine that things will get more clear as the new academic year approaches.

It seems that it would be only logical for them to speed up their software release cycle (at least for 2.2). If they were able to release 2.2 for the eDGe before the new academic year, they could have the title of "First tablet with Android 2.2" bestowed upon them. And with that title comes interest, and most importantly, SALES.

If they had 2.2 released before the new academic year, they would have SO MANY MORE CUSTOMERS! Just having Android 2.2 tagged onto the device these days seems to make the device note-worthy AND news-worthy.

Originally Posted by walt526

- the Toshiba Libretto isn't scheduled to ship until August

And what I read it will cost an insane amount of money -- like buying two edges.


Right now the eDGe has its own reader and library.
It also runs the Android Kindle app, so it's (almost) a Kindle.
Eventually, the Nook app will be released for general Android devices, so the eDGe will be a Nook.
The Toshiba Libretto announcements are tied to a Blio-powered book site which will also be an Android app some time in 2010. (If the Blioreader web site is to be believed.)

So, in the effort to market their eBook sites to wider, mobile audiences all these book merchants are doing us a huge favor and slowly turning the eDGe into the Universal eBook Reader (which also happens to run most Android apps, too.)

Originally Posted by D4N14L

Well guys, I know for sure that they are focusing on releasing 2.2 instead of 2.1... I talked to support, and they confirmed this with me. So be excited!

Unfortunately, he will not give me a date for availability (not even an 'idea' of a date [eg. within 2 months])... But, rest assured, they ARE working on 2.2 on the eDGe. I just hope they get it out as soon as possible.

That is very good news. So there will not be any heartburn about going from 2.1 to 2.2 and flash etc..
Of course there will be some *people* who will start clamoring about Android 3.0 (or whatever the flavor of the month will be)

All I can say is that I WON'T be one of them. I am looking for a reasonable consumer electronic functionality. I am not looking to get most recent Android build as soon as possible..

Now my question is, will the LCD responsiveness and accuracy improve with Android 2.2? I think it really is a big pressing issue for me.

Originally Posted by pat.indie

Now my question is, will the LCD responsiveness and accuracy improve with Android 2.2? I think it really is a big pressing issue for me.

I think that they have made incremental improvements in the UI with nearly every update and I would imagine that it will improve. There are hardware limitations--the eDGe doesn't use as high a quality an LCD touchscreen as a device like an iPad. According to everything that I've read, Android 2.2 runs significantly faster than previous versions of Android, so the overall UI might improve based on that (as well as the added copy-and-paste functionality). But I think that we're approaching a point where any LCD touchscreen issues will be more the fault of relatively inferior hardware rather than software, so the ceiling on improvement is likely in sight.