Google’s mobile OS, Android, has seen an update to Android 1.6, following the theme of names based on baked goods, this brings the version from Cupcake to Donut.

According to an announcement on the official Android Developer blog, Donut introduces a raft of new features, including support for CDMA and additional screen sizes, which means (as well any app developers will have noticed) that Android developers will be able to push apps to more devices. Fortunately enough for any Android enthusiasts who don’t happen to be developers, it looks as though you needn’t be a developer to download it.

There’s also an excellent page that runs through all of the highlights of the latest update, which includes the fact that launching the camera is now 39% faster, while there’s been a 28% “improvement in the time from completing one shot to the next.” Perhaps most usefully though, there’s now a new battery indicator, which shows just which apps are killing your battery. If one app is taking too much power, then you can kill that app off, nice and simple.

The update to Donut will be released to the Android-based world at large in October, though there’s no precise date yet. If nothing else it’s nice to see the updates for Android being as impressive as they have been, it’s encouraging to see the healthy adoption of an open source model for mobile platforms.

If you’re at all interested, you can check out the article we put together on the Google Android Live CD for PC… it’s an excellent way for people with an interest in interfaces to waste an evening.