With next week’s Google I/O conference round the corner and speculations galore that Android 2.2 “Froyo” will be announced, and even possibly released, at the event, Silicon Valley news blog Tech Crunch has reported that the forthcoming Android update might bring the tethering capability for handsets using its Android operating system.

Technically speaking, tethering is the practice of sharing a connection through the wireless broadband antenna of a smartphone; and the tethering capability feature has been a much-awaited one by most of smartphone users.

According to the report, the upcoming 2.2 version of the Android OS will likely include support for two different mechanisms of sharing the wireless data connection of a handset with other computers – via USB as well as Wi-Fi connections.

As such, the Android Froyo will enable users to share a wireless data connection by connecting their Android handsets with computers, either through a wireless network connection or a USB cable.

Along with the tethering capability, the Android Froyo will also boast a significant speed enhancement for the Google operating system, as well as support for the Adobe Flash platform.

Meanwhile, as far as tethering feature of other phones is concerned, Apple has supposedly made the requisite provisions for tethering in its popular iPhone handsets; theough a majority of the regional carriers of the device have still not enabled the feature for their subscribers.