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Android 3.0 Platform Preview and SDK Is Here
mikejuk writes "Google has released the Android 3.0 SDK, to allow developers time to create the apps that will run on the flood of tablet devices that should be availalble later in the year. The preview includes improved 2D and 3D graphics, new user interface controls, support for multicore processors, DRM and enterprise security features. It is complete with a 3.0 emulator that you can use to try applications on, but you can't add them to the app market just yet."
Any chance we'll get rid of Java?
http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-3.0-highlights.html
The enhancements including new/improved GUI controls and built-in animation support will make re-hosting features from iOS easier. There seems to be some confusion (possibly only in my mind) or overlap between Views, Widgets, Fragments, and Drawables as well as between Canvas and Paint. The whole framework seems disorganized or lacking consistent application of patterns, but I admit that I may just not see the forest for the trees.
Can you give some reasons why Java is bad for Android?
They're making a big deal about the new tablet features, but what does it add for phones? Will it even be released to phones? They don't even mention phones in their promo video. I hope they haven't forgotten about us...
...like the iOS SDK only being able to be used on the MacOS, the Android SDK was only available on Debian Linux or something?
In every application, users have access to contextual options, navigation, widgets, or other types of content in an Action Bar, displayed at the top of the screen.
Isn't this just a menu bar then? It seems like an odd idea for a tablet, basically it seems overly desktop like. Also unlike a desktop, the top of the screen may not be a fast place to house controls because on a touchscreen it's the furthest from where your hands naturally sit (at the bottom holding the device). In fact I'd say they got the Action Bar and the System Bar positions exactly reversed from how they should be...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I used to be the biggest supporter of Nokia's Maemo/MeeGo OS. Except for the N770, I owned every single Maemo device they released (N800, N810, N900) and I loved them. They were true pocket computers running full, unlocked versions of Debian.
I still own the N900, which at the time it came out, was miles ahead of anything else available on the market in terms of features, customization, and hardware. It was amazing to have full desktop (not mobile) skype connectivity built into the phone. Just connect to wifi or 3G and make calls to any other Skype computer or N900. Full (not web) browsing enabled by default. Flash 9 preinstalled. But it is almost a year and a half later, and in the meantime Nokia has not released any new Maemo/MeeGo hardware, and only 1 major update to the N900 firmware. Even that update only fixed minor bugs and added the QT libraries.
In the meantime, Android went through at least 3 major revisions, and there are a multitude of devices to fit any need and budget. And now it matches pretty much all the features that made the N900 special. The worst part? Nokia hasn't even announced ANY MeeGo devices, let alone released them. They may still do it, but I think it's too little too late.
With a tablet android version, they might finally have gotten me into android app development. I'm not sure exactly how this works, would I have to learn and use java or could I just use any language?
"People don't want to learn linux" hasn't been a valid excuse since '03.
I agree with you, however I do suspect that, with most tablets, one hand is used to hold the device and the other is used to operate it. It seems to me that most every interaction should be one hand based for tablets. Its not clear to me where the easiest to hit area is on a tablet.
Phones on the other hand are often operated with the thumb of the hand that is holding the device, so in that case the bottom of the screen is pretty clearly a good place for frequently used operations.
"In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women..." -H. Simpson
That's cool and everything, but can we get the *current* Android version for our Nexus Ones please?
With MIPS trying to move in on smart phones and tablets, I'm surprised MIPS tools/emulators aren't part of the official SDK yet.
I wonder if things will change once the new phones start being sold...?
Thanks. I have read much the same in the documentation. I suspect I just have to gain experience with the framework to get a feeling for which class to use when. For example, I don't see any reason why I can't draw in any old View rather than using a Widget, and Drawables don't seem to need Views at all; is that correct? I can have a Canvas and a Paint for a Drawable and see it on screen without a View?
I guess I'll just have to learn the intended roles of the classes. That is the nature of learning any framework and not necessarily better or worse with Android - just different.
This is the best bit from http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-3.0-highlights.html:
"Compatibility with existing apps
Android 3.0 brings a new UI designed for tablets and other larger screen devices, but it also is fully compatible with applications developed for earlier versions of the platform, or for smaller screen sizes. Existing applications can seamlessly participate in the new holographic UI theme without code changes, by adding a single attribute in their manifest files. The platform emulates the Menu key, which is replaced by the overflow menu in the Action Bar in the new UI. Developers wanting to take fuller advantage of larger screen sizes can also create dedicated layouts and assets for larger screens and add them to their existing applications."
Looks like this should run on existing platforms without too much tweaking by custom ROM builders/manufacturers.
In every application, users have access to contextual options, navigation, widgets, or other types of content in an Action Bar, displayed at the top of the screen.
Isn't this just a menu bar then? It seems like an odd idea for a tablet, basically it seems overly desktop like.
The 'Action Bar' isn't static, it's is customizable by the application so there is a standard place for all application controls.
The 'Action Bar' isn't static, it's is customizable by the application
In what way is that not a menu bar as on a desktop. It's the very definition of a menu bar...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I agree with you, however I do suspect that, with most tablets, one hand is used to hold the device and the other is used to operate it.
And I agree with that but even then, the top of the screen is still further from a resting hand than the bottom... when not in use the non-holding hand will not generally be resting in the middle of the screen or it would obscure content, it'll be sitting somewhere near the bottom or at the users's side. Even scrolling a list would end with your hand at the bottom of a screen.
Phones on the other hand are often operated with the thumb of the hand that is holding the device, so in that case the bottom of the screen is pretty clearly a good place for frequently used operations.
Even with tablets the holding thumb is still a very usable controller, and should not be ignored by tablet makers as a mere gripper.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Google, this is the enterprise feature your users really want.
Joy. I see it still has no owner.
the growth in cynicism and rebellion has not been without cause
Name an NIT feature Android doesn't offer at this point.
Android is far better for development than J2ME, I know as I used to do a little J2ME development - enough to know it was a lot of work to support most devices. Android makes most things much simpler and has a much broader set of frameworks.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
If they'll ever add support for FairPlay so I don't have to spend close to a hundred hours un-DRMing my audiobooks.
Admit nothing. Deny Everything. Make Counter-accusations.
The 'Action Bar' isn't static, it's is customizable by the application
In what way is that not a menu bar as on a desktop. It's the very definition of a menu bar...
It's meant to be context sensitive within the application, as opposed to a menu bar which is generally static per application. It is very menu-bar like but unlike iOS it gives the application a standard place to put controls when - and if - it needs to display them.
From the video
at 0:19
Attila Bodis 12/21/2010
CONFIDENTIAL: Death ray hardware rev 2.0
- Hi Mike, Please don't share; this is just a [cut off]
Someday we'll hit the human carrying capacity. And the band will just play on.
The 'Action Bar' isn't static, it's is customizable by the application
In what way is that not a menu bar as on a desktop. It's the very definition of a menu bar...
It's meant to be context sensitive within the application, as opposed to a menu bar which is generally static per application. It is very menu-bar like but unlike iOS it gives the application a standard place to put controls when - and if - it needs to display them.
So more like some kind of "Ribbon" then?
Google turn on your photocopiers! Google is todays Microsoft they copy just as well if not better than Microsoft ever did!
Just remember developers for Android OS.....apk and apk installer. Free paid software for all!!
I guess, but without retaining whatever else is there. So where ribbon changes tabs based on the application context the Action Bar would replace the items not relevant in the current context.
Google did a bang up job kneecapping open source efforts in the mobile space, convincing the community to chase after an environment that discarded pretty much every existing open source tool in the name of NIH and withholds new versions from the community until their partners are done getting their releases out with it.
Then they sit back and have the nerve to tell us that Android is "open" while users are forced to jailbreak and deal with vendors that try to cripple devices so they can leverage later versions as a selling point for the next carrier contract.
I hope that MeeGo takes off with non-asshole hardware vendors, if not the we might as well right off the mobile computing space as being property of Microsoft, Apple, and Google.
That's interesting, so Ribbon meets MacOs (not iOS) menu bar?
Yeah that seems a pretty good way to describe it. Personally i like the idea, im not sure what the OP found to be 'dangerous' about it.
I think android is moving to fast. In the last year we saw 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and now 3.0. I think they need to scale back to annual releases because phone makers don't or can't keep up and then people end up upset because they are not on the latest version of the OS. Also not everyone wants to root their phone and install some cyanogenmod version or other hacked version. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with people doing that, but the average phone user wants to buy a phone that will not be out of date in 6 months. I also realize that not all android phones suffer this, but there are many that came out with 1.x last year and still have not been upgraded to 2.x and many wont see 2.3. When apps stop coding to the 1.5 version and 1.6 version as many are doing that makes a phone that is less than a year old outdated and then upsets customers. If you are on a 2 year contract then you screwed after 6 months, you will probably not be doing an android phone again and now that iphones will run on verizon this could be trouble for android.
Only 'flamers' flame!
DANGER DANGER! ...actually that sounds a little sensationalist...what's 'dangerous' about a menu bar?
DANGER DANGER! ...actually that sounds a little sensationalist...what's 'dangerous' about a menu bar?
Ask Windows how they have fared on tablets for the last decade that stuck to the desktop metaphor,
The danger is to Android.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
it's not required, but it helps a lot. It's one the major advantage of opensource over proprietary.
being compatible means a lot of code re-use.
code re-use means faster development and better security, because whatever (patch,new feature) done for one platform automatically benefits all the other using the same code. (Linus' law requires as much eyeballs as possible).
and having to *root* your very own phone you bought yourself and which is running opensource software ? That I find not exactly acceptable.
i ended up buying a palm pre. Okay, the webos' UI (luna) is partially closed source and proprietary. But there's no rooting/jailbreaking madness required to run custom code on it. Including a customised kernel.
I really hope webos and meego gather some momentum,and grow in quality. It would be sad if the only presence of linux in the smartphone world is the current " it's open but you have to hack it anyway" situation.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
The preview includes improved 2D and 3D graphics [...] complete with a 3.0 emulator
Any word on the speed of this emulator? Running the 2.2 emulator 1.6GHz box, it takes several minutes to start, and then crawls so slowly that the screen is filled with "I can't tell whether the app is running slowly or is just dead" warnings -- If there haven't been improvements, I dread to think what the performance would be like for 3D graphics on a tablet-size screen...
I mod down anyone who says "I will be modded down for this", regardless of the rest of their comment
You say it's not open source enough, but these are all major design flaws that Nokia should have fixed BEFORE release, or AT LEAST taken full responsibility for and fixed as soon as possible after release. As others have said, it's about 1.5 years on, and the device (and OS) has been abandoned. Nokia have shown that they're an old-world, dinosaur-like hardware organisation, that have no concept of how to develop a platform and build a user base behind it.
I used to automatically say "Nokia" whenever someone asked me about which phone they should get. Now, as soon as Nitdroid works on N900, I'm switching to it. My next phone will be Android.
Nokia: well frankly, I hope your entire company fails for treating customers this way -- REALLY. You should be ashamed of yourselves, and scrambling to make up for it right now. Instead, you're actively abandoning your blogs because of the feedback you're getting -- hiding the problem instead of facing up to it.
My only concern for Nokia now is... what happens to Qt once they're gone?
Yes, and you sound dangerously close to a retard.
Now fuck off and die.
OMG! You're right, the iPhone is now doomed to fail, it has buttons, just like on a desktop! Apple really need to get away from that desktop metaphor!!!!!
Seriously, what the fuck are you on about? Touching an item on a menu bar is no different on a phone as clicking on one on a desktop, just like touching a button on a phone is no different to clicking one on a desktop. A menu bar is no more part of the "desktop metaphor" than a button, or checkbox is.
If that's really the best you can find to criticise then it seems Android is doing pretty fucking well.
Meanwhile, don't worry -- your Android device won't become less useful over time.
Unless software designed for connecting to a specific server gets updates, the updated version is incompatible with your device, and the non-updated version is incompatible with changes to the server's protocol.
It has happened before in PC MMO gaming, when the server required all players to upgrade to the new version of the client, and this version didn't run on Windows 98. I don't remember precisely which; was it EverQuest?
I don't have a smartphone. The Android device that I do own did not come with the Android Market application. Just as you extrapolated that an "Android device won't become less useful over time", I too am extrapolating, in this case from experiences on Windows to the potential for experiences on Android.