How to update Android 2.2 Froyo on AT&T Samsung Captivate SGH-i897

As expected, the Android 2.2 Froyo firmware update is now available for the AT&T Samsung Captivate. How to upgrade from Eclair 2.1 to Froyo 2.2 on the SGH-i897 (Captivate) via Kies Mini for PC? Samsung has published the information on how to update, to see what is new in Froyo, and much more.

Android 2.2 Froyo Upgrade for the SGH-i897 (Captivate) brings many improvements:

+ Home Screen:
- New home screen tips widget assists users on how to configure the home screen with shortcuts and widgets and how to make use of multiple home screens.
- If you zoom in with two fingers on the home screen, all the panels are shown in one screen and the end user can remove the panel and/or add. The max number of panels is 7.
- The Phone, Application, Contacts and Messaging now have dedicated shortcuts on the Home screen, making it easy to access them from any of the 7 home screen panels.

+ Exchange Support
- Improved security with the addition of numeric pin or alpha-numeric password options to unlock device. Exchange administrators can enforce password policy across devices.
- Remote wipe: Exchange administrators can remotely reset the device to factory defaults to secure data in case device is lost or stolen.
- Auto-discovery: You just need to know your user-name and password to easily set up and sync an Exchange account (available for Exchange 2007 and higher).
- Global Address Lists look-up is now available in the Email application, enabling users to auto-complete recipient names from the directory.

+ Improved Performance
- Performance of the browser has been enhanced using the V8 engine, which enables faster loading of java-script-heavy pages.
- Dalvik Performance Boost: 2x-5x performance speedup for CPU-heavy code over Android 2.1 with Dalvik JIT.
- The graph to the right shows the performance speedup from Android 2.1 to Android 2.2 using various benchmark tests. For example, LinPack is now more than 5 times faster.
- Kernel Memory Management Boost: Improved memory reclaim by up to 20x, which results in faster app switching and smoother performance on memory-constrained devices.

+ Device Policy Manager - New device policy management APIs allow developers to write "device administrator" applications that can control security features on the device, such as the minimum password strength, data wipe, and so on. Users can select the administrators that are enabled on their devices.

+ GMS Updates - GoogleQuickSearchBox, GenieWidget(News and Weather ) are newly added.

+ Data Backup - Apps can participate in data backup and restore, to ensure that users maintain their data after performing a factory reset or when switching devices.

+ Flash Player - Device supports Flash Player 10.1

+ Lock Screen - New lock screen mode for entering a numeric pin or alphanumeric password

+ Application On External Storage - Ability to store and run non-forward locked apps on the SD card

+ Media Framework - New media framework (Stagefright) that supports local file playback and HTTP progressive streaming

+ Kernel Upgrade - SDIO scheduling and BT improvements

You can learn more on How to update the software on AT&T SGH-i897 (Captivate) phone to Android 2.2 (Froyo) through Kies Mini for PC on the official website. As usual, it is suggested that you backup all your data before upgrading.