Android Versions (sounds tasty)

Quite interesting about Android is their version code naming. You may notice that their version code names are based on dessert names. Here is a brief summary of the features of each version.

v1.5 (Cupcake) - This is the first major platform release for phones.

• Ability to record and watch videos through camcorder mode
• Uploading videos to YouTube and pictures to Picasa directly from the phone
• A new soft-keyboard with text-prediction
• Bluetooth A2DP and AVRCP support
• Ability to automatically connect to a Bluetooth headset within a certain distance
• New widgets and folders that can populate the Home screens
• Animated screen transitions

v1.6 (Donut)

• An improved Android Market experience
• An integrated camera, camcorder, and gallery interface
• Gallery now enables users to select multiple photos for deletion
• Updated Voice Search, with faster response and deeper integration with native applications, including the ability to dial contacts
• Updated search experience to allow searching bookmarks, history, contacts, and the web from the home screen
• Updated technology support for

How to get started?

This would be the very first question of any beginner like me. How to start? Where to start? What do I need? Well, as long as you have already set up your Development PC (as in previous post) then we can say that we have already started. As for me, I used the Eclipse IDE as this is what I commonly read so I assumed I can get a lot of help in the net.

I already have my IDE with ADT plugin installed, now what?

Make sure that your PC have been setup properly including all the components needed. If you have a background on java programming, then it will be a lot easier for you. But for me who is without java experience, I better start reading a lot and browse through sample codes. My usual technique in programming is to see sample codes then learn from it how each syntax was used.

Some things to consider before starting actual project

1. App layout - this could be something to think about since a lot of android devices are coming out today. Smartphones and tablets comes with different screen sizes so better design your layout properly.

2. API level - which API level would you like to support or which phone features would you like to use? Since Android OS itself is continuing to develop, there could be a lot of changes in different android versions and some features might not be available yet on previous versions. I'll give an overview of the android versions later to help you decide

3. Target users - As of today, devices are running on different android versions. So which version/s would you like to support? This graph could help you in deciding based on percentage of users of each version. You may notice that android 1.5 and 1.6 users are declining while android 2.1 and 2.2 users are increasing.

Hello Android World!

Since I was not able to spend my holidays in my home country, I was left here with nothing to do. So to make my Christmas vacation somehow productive, I started studying Android Development and writing this blog to document it and share.

What is Android?

Well, according to Wiki, Android is a mobile operating system initially developed by Android Inc. Android was bought by Google in 2005. Android is based upon a modified version of the Linux kernel. Google and other members of the Open Handset Alliance collaborated to develop and release Android to the world. (Read here for more details)

Android Development

Here are the basic things we need to start developing Android apps:

1. Check your PC if it meets the minimum System Requirement.

2. Android Software Development Kit (Android SDK) download here

3. ADT Plugin for Eclipse (if you'll be developing in Eclipse)

   - Before you can install or use ADT, you must have a compatible version of Eclipse installed on your development computer. download here

     - You may also use IDE of your choice.

4. Download Platforms and other components.

5. Start Exploring the Android SDK.

Practically everything we need to get started (from setup to sample codes) can be found in this well-documented site.