Although the update is only a minor increment for Nexus S, which launched with version 2.3 late last year, it is more significant for the Nexus One handset, which launched with version 2.1 in early 2010.
Amongst changes are enhanced support for Near Field Communication (NFC), a bug fix that addresses seemingly random reboots on the Nexus S and changes to the way Facebook contacts are stored on the phone.
In the past storage of Facebook contacts has been treated as a special case, bypassing the standard Android application programming interface. This was apparently to allow Facebook contacts to seamlessly integrate with Google contacts on the phone whilst still remaining on the cloud network.
According to Engadget, Google said in a statement “We believe it is very important that users are able to control their data. So in the over-the-air update for Nexus S, we have a small change to how Facebook contacts appear on the device.”
“For Nexus S users who downloaded the Facebook app from Android Market, Facebook contacts will no longer appear to be integrated with the Android Contacts app. Since Facebook contacts cannot be exported from the device, the appearance of integration created a false sense of data portability. Facebook contact data will continue to appear within the Facebook app.”
The change will effectively remove Facebook contacts from the phone, but they will still be accessible from within the Facebook application itself. The change presently only affects the Nexus S.
