Android OS 2.2 To Include Built-in Wi-Fi Router, USB Tethering

The next version of Google's Android OS will reportedly consist of software that will allow smartphones running it to share their wireless Internet connections with other computers, such as laptops.

Many people who are often on the go use tethering software, which allows them to hook a PC to their smartphone with a USB cable and share the phone's Internet connection. Some phones can also be used as wireless routers, which allow them to share their Internet connection with several other devices over Wi-Fi.

Google is supposedly going to add both these features to Android OS 2.2.

This should be welcome news to those who use phones based on this operating system. While tethering software is available for Android-based devices, there is no simple solution for converting one into a Wi-Fi router.

However, not all wireless carriers support of tethering PCs to their phones, as laptops tend to use far more data than smartphones. It's possible some Android devices will have this capability stripped out.

Google has begun leaking the details on the next version of its smartphone operating system, but the company has not yet officially announced it or the features it will include.

Andy Rubin, Google's vice president of engineering, has said that this version will have Adobe Flash Player 10.1 included. Unconfirmed reports shows that it will enable users to automatically download and install new versions of third-party applications.

At this point, a likely time for the official unveiling of Android OS 2.2 -- code-named "Froyo" -- is at the Google I/O conference in San Franciso on May 19 and 20.