Nexus One 2.2 update is “not the official Froyo release”

If you have a Nexus One right now, you fall into one of two camps: People who’ve installed the 2.2 Update, and people who want to install the 2.2 Update.

However, you might want to hold off. In the Android support forums, a Google employee posted this message:

Just wanted to give a heads up that the build floating around is not the official Froyo release. You will get an automatic notification when we OTA the build, no need to manually download it. You will still get the automatic notification if the official release is a newer version than the one you have, so don’t sweat…but I’d highly recommend waiting for our official release

This is, to say the least, interesting news. This means that build FRF50 is not the final build, and some of the bugs that have been noticed in 2.2 may go away by the time it is officially released.

Additionally, two questions seem to have been cleared up. The first is whether those who upgrade now  using the method we described will get the final release. The answer is yes (probably). If you were a T-Mobile customer who did a straight up restore, you will get the new version, as he said “You will still get the automatic notification when we OTA the build. . .” This makes sense. They officially released the FRF50 build to journalists, so they will create a build which upgrades from FRF50 to the official Froyo release.

However, if you have an AT&T Nexus, and you unlock, root, and install the Froyo upgrade, you may not get the update, and should probably return your phone to stock before upgrading anyway.

The other question is whether AT&T can or will block the 2.2 update due to its tethering abilities. Later in the reply, the employee said to someone in India (where the Nexus One is not officially available)

You will get the OTA update as long as you are connected to the internet and can communicate with Google servers.

Which seems to rule out any kind of lockout for AT&T customers, as this download can be made over Wifi, cutting AT&T out of the equation altogether. Which is good news for those of us who haven’t rooted and updated our phones yet.