Dell Streak to enjoy some Android 2.2 loving before end of year

Dell has given up on trying to update its troublesome Streak tablet with Android 2.1, instead focusing on Android 2.2 Froyo, saying it would push out the update before 2010 is up.

Dell said, in an official statement, it wouldn't update its 5-inch superphone to Android 2.1, but made a commitment to publishing Android 2.2 in a global over-the-air update this year.

"We will be publishing 2.2 by the end of this year to all of our Dell Streak customers," a spokesperson said. "I can tell you that our target date is NOT 31 December. In fact, the over-the-air update to 2.2 target date is much sooner than that."

Unless you've bought the Dell Streak unlocked in the UK, you'll be with O2. The network's customers received the Android 2.1 upgrade at the beginning of September, but it was problematic to say the least.

For O2 owners, a prospective Froyo release will be greeted with hearty cheers, as many suffered issues with the Eclair update. According to this forum thread, problems with the phone-tablet hybrid included slower performance, crashing, a less responsive keyboard and error messages, while others couldn't run the update at all.

But there might be some time between when O2 receives the update from Dell and when people on the network receive it, as it will have to undergo testing. We hope for O2's sake it's learned from the mistakes it made with the Streak and the HTC Desire.

Streak owners who've successfully loaded up Android 2.1 have said it's a huge improvement in terms of speed, battery life and features. Android 2.2 isn't as big an upgrade, but it'll be very welcome -- if O2 manages to make it to work.