Archive for March, 2010

Android 2.x books for developers

As an open source mobile operating system that uses a modified version of the Linux kernel, Google Android’s philosophy is to release early and iterate often. With a rapid relese cycle, there are seven versions of Android platforms and SDK releases now, accompanied by a lot of Android books for developers. But most of them are Android 1.x books, for Android 2.x, till this month, three Android 2.x books are available, below is the details of them.

1 Professional Android 2 Application Development

Product Description

Build unique mobile applications with the latest Android SDK

Written by an Android authority, this up-to-date resource shows you how to leverage the features of Android 2 to enhance existing products or create innovative new ones. Serving as a hands-on guide to building mobile apps using Android, the book walks you through a series of sample projects that introduces you to Android’s new features and techniques. Using the explanations and examples included in these pages, you’ll acquire the foundation needed to write compelling mobile applications that use Android, along with the flexibility to quickly adapt to future enhancements.

Professional Android 2 Application Development:

* Reviews Android as a development platform and?best practices for mobile development
* Provides an in-depth look at the Android application components
* Details creating layouts and Views to produce compelling resolution independent user interfaces
* Examines Intents and Content Providers for sharing data
* Introduces techniques for creating map-based applications and using location-based services such as GPS
* Looks at how to create and use background Services, Notifications, and Alarms
* Demonstrates how to create interactive homescreen components
* Explores the Bluetooth, telephony, and networking APIs
* Examines using hardware, including the camera and sensors such as the compass and accelerometers

Product Details

* Paperback: 576 pages
* Publisher: Wrox; 1 edition (March 1, 2010)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0470565527
* ISBN-13: 978-0470565520

Professional Android 2 Application Development (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)

2 Beginning Android 2

Product Description

The Android development platform, created by Google and the Open Handset Alliance, is a platform in its truest sense, encompassing hundreds of classes beyond the traditional Java classes and open source components that ship with the SDK.

With Beginning Android 2, you’ll learn how to develop applications for Android 2.x mobile devices, using simple examples that are ready to run with your copy of the SDK. Author, Android columnist, writer, developer, and community advocate Mark L. Murphy will show you what you need to know to get started programming Android applications, including how to craft GUIs, use GPS, and access web services.

What you’ll learn
* Discover Android and how to use it to build Java-based mobile applications for a wide range of phones and other devices.
* Create user interfaces using both the Android widget framework and the built-in WebKit-powered Web browser components.
* Utilize the distinctive capabilities of the Android engine, including location tracking, maps, and Internet access.
* Use and create Android applications incorporating activities, services, content providers, and broadcast receivers.
* Support Android 1.5, 1.6, and 2.0 devices, including dealing with multiple Android OS versions, multiple screen sizes, and other device-specific characteristics.

Who is this book for?

This book is aimed at people new to mobile development, perhaps even to Java development itself.

Product Details
* Paperback: 416 pages
* Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (March 11, 2010)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 1430226293
* ISBN-13: 978-1430226291

Beginning Android 2

3 Pro Android 2

Product Description

The age of Web 2.0 smart mobile phones and handsets is here. First there was the BlackBerry, then there was the iPhone, and now … there’s Google, with its Android Mobile Software Development Kit (SDK) and platform, and its hardware partners in the Open Handset Alliance. Android works with the HTC G1 and G2 phones, the DROID, and the Nexus One. Android is also available on other mobile phones and devices, including netbooks.

Pro Android 2 shows you how to build real-world and fun mobile applications using Google’s Android SDK. This book covers everything from the fundamentals of building applications for embedded devices to advanced concepts such as custom 3D components.

* Discover the design and architecture of the Android SDK, and how to build mobile applications using the Android SDK.
* Explore and use the Android APIs, including those for media and Wi-Fi.
* Learn about Android 2.0’s integrated local and web search, handwriting gesture UI, Google Translate, and text-to-speech features.

With Android and this book, you’ll be able to build mobile applications ranging from games to Google apps, including add-ons to Google Docs. You’ll be able to extend and run the new Google Chrome APIs on the G1, the G2, and other next-generation Google phones and Android-enabled devices.

What you’ll learn

* How to use Android to build Java-based mobile applications for Google phones with a touch screen or keyboard (thanks to Cupcake’s inclusion as of Android 1.5)
* How to design and architect using Google’s Android SDK
* How to use the Android SDK to write mobile applications for embedded devices
* How to create 3D graphics with OpenGL and custom components
* How to build multimedia and game apps using Android’s Media APIs and OpenGL
* How to use Android’s location-based services, networking (Wi-Fi APIs), and security
* How to create and allow for more integrated local and web searches
* How to build handwriting gesture UIs
* How to incorporate Google Translate into your Android applications

Who is this book for?

This book is for professional software engineers/programmers looking to move their ideas and applications into the mobile space with Android. It assumes that readers have a passable understanding of Java, including being able to write classes and handle basic inheritance structures. This book also targets hobbyists.

Product Details

* Paperback: 736 pages
* Publisher: Apress; 1st Edition. edition (February 26, 2010)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 1430226595
* ISBN-13: 978-1430226598

Pro Android 2

Three Versions of Android Phone from Vodafone UK coming in April

If you visit “Mobile phones-Coming soon” page of the Vodafone UK shop website, you will be surprised by the Android platform based smartphones, including HTC Desire, HTC Legend, Sony Ericsson X10 and Google Nexus One. Except Nexus One, other three versions of Android Phone will come in April.

HTC Desire

Based on the Android 2.1 platform, HTC Desire is highly customizable which giving users seven home screens to customize. And powered by one GHz Snapdragon processor, HTC Desire’s speed will be amazed whatever users are doing on their phones.

The contacts in HTC Desire make life easily – everything’s together in one place, such as Facebook, Twiitter and email accounts of people in user’s address are linked together. For touch screen, HTC Desire provides 3.7 inch screen which is large enough for user to browse website, read e-book and view photos.

HTC Legend

Similar with Desire, HTC Legend is also based on the Android platform, provides seven home screens for user and links all in one simpler contacts. The 3.2 inch touch screen in Legend is smaller than Desire, but with the Adobe Flash, the web on HTC Legend could look like the web on the PC. HTC Legend is also pre-loaded with the Vodafone 360 home screen, making users access to their contacts, apps and games all at the touch of a button.

Sony Ericsson X10

With a huge 4 inch touch screen and 8.1 megapixel camera, Sony Ericsson X10 stands out in the Android phones. Based on the Android platform, X10 could be easy to sync with user’s account and work seamlessly with Google and Google Mail.

Open Source Android Applications for developers

As an Android apps developer, the best case study may be the open source android applications or samples. Below is my memo of open source android applications which I have found in the Internet, hope this will be useful for you.

No.1: Android SDK Samples: The best way to learn how things are done is to look at some code.

Website: http://developer.android.com/resources/samples/index.html

To help Android developers get started quickly, the Android SDK includes a variety of sample code and tutorials that illustrate key concepts and techniques of Android application development. The list below provides a summary of the sample applications that are available with the Android SDK:

1. API Demos
A variety of small applications that demonstrate an extensive collection of framework topics.

2. Bluetooth Chat
An application for two-way text messaging over Bluetooth.

3. BusinessCard
An application that demonstrates how to launch the built-in contact picker from within an activity. This sample also uses reflection to ensure that the correct version of the contacts API is used, depending on which API level the application is running under.

4. Contact Manager
An application that demonstrates how to query the system contacts provider using the ContactsContract API, as well as insert contacts into a specific account.

5. Home
A home screen replacement application.

6. JetBoy
A game that demonstrates the SONiVOX JET interactive music technology, with JetPlayer.

7. Live Wallpaper
An application that demonstrates how to create a live wallpaper and bundle it in an application that users can install on their devices.

8. Lunar Lander
A classic Lunar Lander game.

9. Multiple Resolutions
A sample application that shows how to use resource directory qualifiers to provide different resources for different screen configurations.

10.Note Pad
An application for saving notes. Similar (but not identical) to the Notepad tutorial.

11. SampxleSyncAdapter
Demonstrates how an application can communicate with a cloud-based service and synchronize its data with data stored locally in a content provider. The sample uses two related parts of the Android framework — the account manager and the synchronization manager (through a sync adapter).

12. Searchable Dictionary
A sample application that demonstrates Android’s search framework, including how to provide search suggestions for Quick Search Box.

13. Snake
An implementation of the classic game “Snake.”

14. Soft Keyboard
An example of writing an input method for a software keyboard.

15. Wiktionary
An example of creating interactive widgets for display on the Android home screen.

16. Wiktionary (Simplified)
A simple Android home screen widgets example.
Read more…

Google’s Android Platform Share Gains Ground Rapid in U.S. Mobile Phone Market

According comScore’s report with the “Smartphone Platform Market Share”, Google Android platform share increases from 2.8% to 7.1% in the U.S. mobile phone market during the three month period between October 2009 and January 2010.

Although Google Android ranked fourth in the share of U.S. smartphone subscribers, this is the most rapid increase for all the smartphone platforms. Above Android, RIM ranked first with 43.0% (up 1.7 percentage points), Apple ranked second with 25.1%(up 0.3 percentage points) and Microsoft ranked third with 15.7%(down 4.0 percentage points).

The smartphone market grows with great potential, during the November to January period, 42.7 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones in an average, up 18 percent from the August through October period. The big picture for Android phones could be wonderful.

Great Choice of Browser for Android Phones: Opera’s Mini 5

According to the official report of Opera Software, the newest beta version of browser for mobile pones, Opera Mini 5, has been launched for the Android plat form. As the word’s most popular browser for mobile phones, Opera Mini 5 beta may bring a fast and cost-efficient Web experience to mobile phones which built with the Android platform.

The new features of the Opera Mini 5 include:
1． Tabbed browsing：You can browse several Web sites at the same time, while easily jumping from one to another.
2． Speed Dial: With the help from a set of visual bookmarks, you can go to you favorite web page with just one click.
3． Opera Link: You can synchronize your bookmarks and Speed Dial between your Android mobile phone and desktop computer.
4． Download manager: You can manage downloads right from the browser, and if you need, you can also pause and resume downloads anytime.

If you want to download Opera Mini 5 beta, two methods are provided: one is using your phone’s default Web browser to visit the address m.opera.com/next; another is download it to your computer firstly, then install it to your mobile phone, the address is: http://www.opera.com/mini/next/download/.

Android books for developers: Hello, Android

Like the most famous programming example “Hello World”, “Hello Android” book may be the good early Android book for the beginners, but not for the one who is familiar with Android and want to understand it deeply.

Before choosing “Hello Android” as my first Android book, an urgent task needed me to develop a simple prototype of Android application. By then, I had not enough time and just programming experiences with C++, Perl, Python and none experience with Java. After reading the Android Developer’s Guide quickly, I decided to choose an Android book which is concise and easy to start, so “Hello Android” book became my candidates, because it’s just 200+ pages, that’s may take me a little time.

Follow the introduction of the “Hello Android” book in the beginning, I created my first Android project “Hello Android” and run it within the Android Emulator, designed the User Interface for the Sudoku example with the XML descriptors, every thing was funny because I have none programming experience in any mobile platform before. But after chapter 3 “Designing the User Interface”, things has changed. I don’t care about the 2D or 3D graphics which may be important for the one who want to develop a game app for Android. I want learn the intents, services and broadcast receivers more which will be used in my Android application, but the “Hello Android” book introduces them simply. I had to give up the “Hello Android” book because I have not enough time to read through it, but actually this Android book is very easy to read, have straightforward examples like the Sudoku and etc. If you have enough time to learn Android, “Hello Android” book may be the right way to start.
Read more…

Android books for developers:part one

As a developer, when I first touch with Android, I found a lot of materials, such as books, open source samples, and etc. After reading some books and coding with the Android SDK support, I think choosing good books could save time and money a lot for Android beginners. The follow list is the android books which I have read or learned, my views may be not right, but hope it will be useful for some Android beginners or developers who want dive into the Android world.

1. Android Developer’s Guide:
Strictly speaking, it’s not a book, but why I refer it here? Because it’s free, just kidding! Except the developer’s guide is a free online documentation, it is also the only one official reference for Android, and the behind writers are the ones who make Android SDK. I’m very lucky start off with the Android Developer’s Guide, which provides the most basic and important knowledge points of Android, and I can also judge other Android books depend on this Developer’s Guide.

Below is the details about the Android Developer’s Guide from the official website of Android developers. For initial impression with Android, you should read the “Android Basics”; for understanding Android deeply, “Framework Topics” is worth your time no doubt.

The Developer’s Guide

The Dev Guide is a practical introduction to developing applications for Android. It explores the concepts behind Android, the framework for constructing an application, and the tools for developing, testing, and publishing software for the platform.

The Dev Guide holds most of the documentation for the Android platform, except for reference material on the framework API. For API specifications, go to the Reference tab above.

As you can see in the panel on the left, the Dev Guide is divided into a handful of sections. They are:

Android Basics
An initial orientation to Android — what it is, what it offers, and how your application fits in.

Framework Topics
Discussions of particular parts of the Android framework and API. For an overview of the framework, begin with Application Fundamentals. Then explore other topics — from designing a user interface and setting up resources to storing data and using permissions — as needed.

Developing
Directions for using Android’s development and debugging tools, and for testing the results.

Publishing
Instructions on how to prepare your application for deployment and how to publish it when it’s ready.

Best Practices
Recommendations on preferred techniques for writing applications that perform efficiently and work well for the user.

Tutorials and Samples
Step-by-step tutorials and sample code demonstrating how an Android application is constructed.

Appendix
Reference information and specifications, as well as FAQs, a glossary of terms, and other information.

The first step in programming for Android is downloading the SDK (software development kit). For instructions and information about the kit, go to the SDK tab above.

After you have the SDK, begin by looking over the Dev Guide. If you want to start by getting a quick look at the code, the short Hello World tutorial walks you through a standard “Hello, World” application as it would be written for the Android platform. The Application Fundamentals document is a good place to start for an understanding of the application framework.

For additional help, consider joining one or more of the Android discussion groups. Go to the Community pages for more information.

Hello Android!

Hello Android!

Cute Android will be your best friends !