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Computerworld - Verizon Wireless will push Android 2.2, or Froyo, over the air to Motorola Droid X smartphones on Wednesday, though customers can start updating to the new OS now on their own, the carrier said Tuesday.

Droid X users can start their own update by going to Menu>Settings>About Phone>System Updates. Verizon has also posted step-by-step instructions on its Web site.

A key benefit of the Froyo update is its addition of Adobe Flash Player 10.1 for Android. The upgrade also offers faster browser loading of JavaScript pages and the ability to transition from Wi-Fi to wireless WAN connections without losing a data connection.

A full list of the updates in the new Android version is available on Verizon's Web site.

Verizon recently came under fire for confirming it would not offer Froyo on the HTC Droid Eris smartphone, even though it had provided the update to the HTC Droid Incredible in late August.

HTC's Evo 4G on Sprint Nextel's network got the Froyo update in early August.

The Droid X, which went on sale July 15 for $200 and a two-year contract, has shipped so far with the Android 2.1 OS. Verizon had promised the Android 2.2 update in the latter part of the summer.

Verizon just made that deadline, since Tuesday is the last full day of summer in the U.S. (Autumn starts at 3:09 AM GMT on Sept. 23, which is 10:09 PM EDT Sept. 22).

Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen, or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed . His e-mail address is mhamblen@computerworld.com.

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