The battle is on for the supremacy of the applications in the mobile platform and it is going on fire. The much talked about Google Android is now providing with regular updates to keep up with the interest of the mobile enthusiast.
The Android Database
Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware, and key applications. The Android SDK provides the tools and libraries necessary to begin developing applications that run on Android-powered devices. The Google APIs add-on extends your Android SDK to give your applications access to Google libraries such as Maps. Using the Maps library, you can quickly add powerful mapping capabilities to your Android applications. The add-on also provides a compatible Android system image that runs in the Android Emulator, which lets you debug, profile, and test your application before publishing it to users.
The system image includes the the Maps library and other custom system components that your applications may need, to access Google services (such as Android C2DM). The add-on does not include any custom Google applications. When you are ready to publish your application, you can deploy it to any Android-powered device that runs a compatible version of the Android platform and that also includes the custom Google components, libraries, and services.
The Google APIs add-on includes:
• The Maps external library
• A fully-compliant Android system image (with the Maps library and other custom system components built in)
• A sample Android application called MapsDemo
• Full class documentation (also available on this site)
What’s New in Froyo?
Froyo (following Google’s adorable alphabetized dessert naming convention) is the latest iteration of Android, Google’s mobile operating system. Aside from the nice touch of being greeted by an Android icon at start-up, Froyo users can also expect a new home screen widget. There are some other minor aesthetic changes, and transitions and animations seem a bit smoother, but the user experience isn’t all that different from using 2.1 on a Nexus One. Another piece of news we’d heard but are ecstatic to see confirmed: Froyo lets you turn your phone into a hotspot—including for your Wi-Fi iPad, if you’re so inclined. (Or any other Wi-Fi device.) It’s still not confirmed if every Android carrier will support tethering (AT&T?), but Froyo’s definitely capable. Android 2.2 supports Flash 10.1—important, because Flash 10.1 is optimized to run on mobile devices. And more than finally killing off those little question mark cubes that litter the web on your phone, it’ll also be a huge differentiator for Google in the fight against Apple. There’s a line in the sand, and Adobe and Google are on the same side of it.
It may turn out that Flash on mobiles is a bad idea, but at least now you’ll have a choice.
