Codenamed Froyo, Google’s Android mobile operating system, version 2.2, was recently updated with significant performance improvements. According to ars technica, a high-performance JIT was introduced in Android’s Dalvik runtime environment and the browser received major optimizations, making the Android platform a top contender.

In reviewing Android’s performance improvements, the folks at ars technica used the Nexus One to conduct a few tests. Both benchmarks, V8 and SunSpider proved that the JavaScript execution in Froyo’s web browser is nearly 3 times faster than the previous version. They also compared Froyo findings to those of their iPhone 4 test; running Apple’s mobile Safari browser.

A surprise to some, the Android device outscored the iPhone on both V8 (3 times as fast) and SunSpider (twice as fast), delivering significantly faster JavaScript execution.