Now, we could go through the long list but really you probably just want to watch a video and see it in action:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The update is available for developers to play with now and it should start to appear on phones in October so there’s not too long to wait.

Android is really starting to gain momentum at the moment. LG and Motorola now have Google Android phones in the pipeline.  Samsung and HTC also have phones in the market, HTC (who also make T-mobile’s G1 and G2) has been the Google OS’s biggest supporter.

Last year 195,000 Android phones were sold, and this year that number will increase to 3.4 million, according to Gartner.

From the official Android Blog:

New Features

Quick Search Box for Android

Android 1.6 includes a redesigned search framework that provides a quick, effective, and consistent way for users to search across multiple sources—such as browser bookmarks & history, contacts, and the web—directly from the home screen.

The system constantly learns which search results are more relevant based on what is clicked. So popular contacts or apps that have previously been picked will bubble up to the top when a user types the first few letters of a relevant query.

The search framework also provides developers a way to easily expose relevant content from their applications in Quick Search Box.

Camera, Camcorder, and Gallery

An updated user interface provides an integrated camera, camcorder, and gallery experience. Users can quickly toggle between still and video capture modes. Additionally, the gallery enables users to select multiple photos for deletion.

Android 1.6 also provides a much faster camera experience. Compared to the previous release, launching the camera is now 39% faster, and there is a 28% improvement in the time from completing one shot to the next.

VPN, 802.1x

A new Virtual Private Network (VPN) control panel in Settings allows users to configure and connect to the following types of VPNs:

• L2TP/IPSEC pre-shared key based VPN
• L2TP/IPsec certificate based VPN
• L2TP only VPN
• PPTP only VPN

Battery usage indicator

A new battery usage screen lets users see which apps and services are consuming battery power. If the user determines that a particular service or application is using too much power, they can take action to save the battery by adjusting settings, stopping the application, or uninstalling the application.

Accessibility

Users will be able to download new accessibility services built on the new accessibility framework and enable them in Settings.

Android Market Updates

For devices with Android Market, the latest version improves the overall user experience and makes it easier for users to discover great apps and games from developers.

• At the homescreen, users can choose among Apps, Games, and Downloads.
• Inside a category, users can explore titles that are Top paid, Top free, and Just in.
• For each title, users can now see screenshots submitted by developers in addition to reviews from other users.

Find out more here

The Open Handset Alliance is a group of companies founded by Google with the aim of opening up the mobile phone operating system marketplace to an open source alternative. The alliance came up with Android – a hardware independant operating system that could be built on, edited, changed and mucked around with by anyone – for the benefit of everyone.

Of course, with Google as a big player, the first glimpses of the OS were secretive and often called a Google phone. T-mobile hasn’t exactly helped the confusion by calling it’s first two HTC made Android phones the G1 and the G2.

But, at the end of the day the OS is called Android… Google just had a hand in setting it all up and giving it a push. This year there are several new Android phones being released and the big phone players are getting involved: Samsung, Motorola and possibly LG (rumours at the moment). Maybe we’ll move onto the possibilities of Android being used in handheld PCs and Netbooks in a later post…

• What does this update do? This update will include enhancements (I don’t know what is termed an “enhancement” and one bug fix that is visible to customers which makes all songs from Amazon available for listening
• Why do I need it? So your device will perform better long term and you don’t have to worry about corrupt files from Amazon.
• When will I get mine? If you participated in the PreSale, you will receive it between the 23rd-25th otherwise you should get it by 10/31.  For those receiving their devices after that date you should receive the update soon after you activate the phone (within 2 – 3 days).  New phones from HTC will come pre-loaded with the update.
• What if I don’t get mine? Just wait for it, it will come.
• What do I do when I haven’t gotten mine by the time you said I’d get mine? Wait a little longer
• Seriously, I didn’t get mine.  Where is it and when will I get it? Why am I missing out? Check your software version, you probably had the new software all along and were waiting for nothing.
• How do I check my software version? From the main screen hit Menu > Settings > About phone > Build number.  Look for where it says RC##  The initial release is RC19.  The Updated release is RC28
• Will I lose any applications or settings? Nope.  Your settings and apps should be preserved.

Also, you should receive a notification, alert message, or otherwise when the update is ready for your phone. You will be asked to either accept the update or be reminded later.

You can find out more on the T-Mobile G1 website.

From the press release:

With a fun and intuitive user interface and one-touch access to Google Search, the T-Mobile G1 is the first phone to offer access to Android Market, which hosts unique applications and mashups of existing and new services from developers around the world. Customers can find and download a wide range of innovative applications—from games to social networking and on-the-go shopping—to personalize their phone and enhance their mobile lifestyle. Even better, for a limited time, the dozens of applications available on Android Market are available free-of-charge for T-Mobile G1 users.

Have fun everyone!

The launch arrives the day before the first handset goes to market in the US, the T-Mobile G1.  The G1 should be available in the UK in early November.

The marketing campaign is reported to be the biggest T-Mobile have ever lauched and it needs to be to take on O2 and the Apple Iphone.

From early reports, the G1 is no Iphone, but it’s getting there, and with the huge amount of potential development from the worldwide open-source community, supported by the Open Handset Alliance, it’s got huge potential.

Android uses a Linux Kernel, in the same way that Mac OS X sits on a Linux base on the iphone.  Whilst Linux was never expressly designed for mobile use, it’s ideal for a multi purpose computing environment which allows a far less restricted range of applications.  The reason for this is that it runs on x86 (esq) hardware as opposed to a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) based device (like an older phone or a dvd player).

The first release of the code is a big step.  It’s reported to be the largest repository of open source code that has been released at any one time, and with such a wealth of different factors that it will need to encounter now and in the future: different carriers, languages, devices with their own graphical subsystems and multimedia.  It’s got a big job ahead of it!  

Watch this space for more information as we find it, but it’s looking like a big week for Android!

We’re getting a lot of interest already so if you have an application or know of one that isn’t featured on this site, why not submit it now to get things started – the next few weeks are going to be busy!