Enhancements to Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android operating system that come with version 2.2 make the platform more business friendly, writes Michael Gartenberg in a post at ComputerWorld. Android 2.2, a.k.a. Froyo, offers improvements in security, remote management and support for Microsoft Exchange.

With the updated platform, corporate IT departments are able to control devices' passwords remotely, and they can wipe the devices if they are lost. However, the operating system still does not come with on-board encryption for removable media cards, which Gartenberg notes is important for many businesses.

Android naturally integrates well with Google apps, but versions prior to 2.2 did not work easily with Microsoft Exchange. The new version's support for Exchange is "good enough," writes Gartenberg, allowing users to synchronize mail, contacts and calendars. "While it's not best of breed, it is acceptable for most business use," he writes.

While a number of Android-powered devices are gaining fans, the only one that runs version 2.2 for now is Nexus One, and Google said July 16 that it received its last shipment of that phone and would no longer be selling it once the inventory is depleted.

Rumor has it, though, that next month Motorola's Droid 2 running Android 2.2 will be released. As related by Scott Webster at CNET, a great deal of information about the Droid 2 is available, even though Motorola has yet to announce the device.

For more:
- see Michael Gartenberg's post at ComputerWorld
- see Google's announcement about Nexus One
- see Scott Webster's post at CNET

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