It's official: Sprint's HTC EVO 4G will get Froyo starting next week.

Sprint will begin rolling out the Android 2.2 upgrade to EVO users on Tuesday, August 3, according to an announcement posted on the carrier's Web site Thursday night. Sprint says the upgrade will be sent out to EVO users in waves. All users should have the software by the middle of the month.

If you own an EVO 4G, you'll receive a notification on your phone when the upgrade becomes available. The software will then be sent over-the-air to your device and automatically installed. If you don't want to wait, Sprint says you can manually download the upgrade starting Tuesday: Simply select the "HTC Software Update" option in the "System Updates" section of the phone's main settings menu to force the process to begin.

The EVO Froyo Story

Word about the EVO's Froyo upgrade hit the Web early on Thursday, thanks to an apparent leaked Sprint memo published by tech blog Engadget. While the memo's authenticity has not been verified, the dates do line up with what we now know to be the carrier's official plans.

According to Engadget's information, Sprint will provide several EVO-specific changes along with the Android 2.2 upgrade, including new home screen widgets, a "flashlight mode" for the phone's camera flash, and improvements to the phone's video recording capabilities.

The memo posted on Engadget also says the upgrade is "a high priority for competitive reasons." Sprint's official announcement certainly echoes this sentiment; the announcement boldly proclaims Sprint as being "the first wireless carrier to bring Android 2.2 to customers."

Technically, the EVO won't be the first Android handset to get the Froyo upgrade; Google's Nexus One phone took that honor late last month. But the EVO looks like it will be the first carrier-provided upgrade, since the Nexus One existed on multiple networks and was managed directly by Google.

That's actually a bit of a dis to the Motorola Droid, which was widely expected to be the next Android phone to feel the Froyo love. The latest official info on the Droid now points to a "late summer" date, though unofficial leaks have suggested its upgrade could come within the next couple of weeks. The Droid X and Droid Incredible are also expected to be in line for Froyo in the very near future.

For more on what exactly Froyo does and how it'll change your phone, check out my Android 2.2 FAQ. And for the latest upgrade info on all Android devices, be sure to keep tabs on my Android 2.2 upgrade list; it's continually updated as new details become available.

JR Raphael is a PCWorld contributing editor and the author of the new Android Power blog. You can find him on Facebook or Twitter.