Upcoming Android Patches Geared Towards Social Networking

We’ve heard very little about Android OS 2.0 (a.k.a “Donut”) and even less about future releases (”Eclair” and “Flan”), but apparently plugging into the social element is going to be a big focus, according to Andy Rubin, VP of engineering at Google (NSDQ: GOOG). They used the example of pulling caller ID photos from Facebook profile pictures (something the Pre and BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) do already), but it’s not a stretch to imagine preloaded Twitter, LinkedIn, and MySpace clients doing stuff like populating address books and facilitating instant messaging.

Another significant addition will be the inclusion of carrier billing for applications bought in the Android Market, for which the only current payment option is Google Checkout.  This way you can pay off your T-Mo bill and app purchases all in one fell swoop. Rubin also confirmed that we’ll be seeing 15-20 new Android phones before the end of the year from just one manufacturer. Hot diggitty.

[via WSJ]