My source on the inside has announced to me that there will be an official release of firmware rocking the Donut TODAY.  Yes folks, thats 1.6 donut and not the sought after 2.0 eclair.  The reason for this is that Google haven't yet released 2.0 to Archos.  My guess is that  Archos want to drum up some last minute buzz for the device in its busy season.  

Come join in the chat in our forums for more info and to follow all of the Beta FW efforts.   Remember you heard it here first.

Expanded Search Framework

The Android search framework has been redesigned and expanded to provide third-party applications the opportunity to surface content from their applications in Quick Search Box, the global search tool. To do this, developers will need to make their app "searchable" and provide suggestions in response to user queries. To enable application search suggestions, users simply select each application from which they'd like to receive suggestions, under Searchable items in the Search settings.

Text-to-speech engine

Android 1.6 features a multi-lingual speech synthesis engine called Pico. It allows any Android application to "speak" a string of text with an accent that matches the language. The engine supports the following languages: English (American and British accents), French, Italian, German and Spanish. If you're using a T-Mobile G1 or Dream device, you'll need to download the SpeechSynthesis Data Installer from Android Market, which includes the "voices" needed by the text-to-speech engine.

Gestures

A new gestures framework provides application developers with a framework for creating, storing, loading, and recognising gestures and associating them with specific actions.

Developers can use the new GestureBuilder tool included in the Android 1.6 SDK to generate libraries of gestures to include with their application.

Accessibility

Android 1.6 provides a new accessibility framework. With this framework, developers can create accessibility plugins that respond to user input, such as making a sound when a new window is shown, vibrating when navigating to the top of a list, and providing spoken feedback.

Expanded support for screen densities and resolutions

Android 1.6 adds screen support that enables applications to be rendered properly on different display resolutions and densities. Developers can also specify the types of screens supported by their application.

Telephony support for CDMA

Android 1.6 includes support for CDMA in the telephony stack.

New version of OpenCore

Android 1.6 includes the updated OpenCore 2 media engine, which has:

1. •Support for OpenMAX encoders
   

2. •Support for additional audio codecs in AuthorEngine
   

3. •Improved buffering model supports shared buffers allocated in the decoder
   

2.6.29 Linux kernel

Android 1.6 upgrades the Linux kernel from 2.6.27 to 2.6.29.

New Framework APIs

Download the FW Here

Word of warning, Updating Kills the Google Market Hack.

Link now removed????  wonder why?