HTC Desire smartphones on Vodafone UK network have finally started receiving much-anticipated Android 2.2 update, codenamed Froyo.

Users will need to go to the Settings menu and then look under the About Phone section to view any available updates as the 25MB update is not automatically downloadable. The upgrade process needs 25MB of internal phone storage to be carried out.

Reports are emerging that the update is removing Vodafone 360 apps that the company added during a last upgrade. However, the company itself is claiming that there are some manual uninstall steps to take for an entirely fresh start. The company said that Vodafone 360 would still be available, but only as a separate download.

Meanwhile, Google said that the new Dalvik JIT compiler in Android 2.2 offers between a 2 to 5 times performance improvement in CPU-bound code vs. Android 2.1. The new V8 JavaScript engine in the Android web browser has brought a 2 to 3x improvement in JavaScript performance vs. 2.1.

A spokesperson for the company said that they would roll out a vanilla version of 2.2. The company changed the network settings to optimize them for the network.

Vodafone expects the Android 2.2 roll out to complete over the next two weeks.