Android News

So it seems today is a day for Android announcements.

HTC has made the Android 1.5 (cupcake) system image available for the downloading and device flashing pleasure of ADP1 (developer phone) owners everywhere. This is an excellent opportunity to test your SDK 1.5 targeted applications on real hardware before it hits consumers, so get to it.

Speaking of consumers, O2 Germany just announced the June release of the first non-HTC device to hit the market, the Samsung I7500.

With more SDK features, more countries, more carriers, and more devices coming thick and fast, the potential audience for your kick-ass Android app is getting bigger by the second. Download the 1.5 preview SDK now and get started.

The Calls are Coming from Inside the House

By now it should be pretty clear that I'm a fan of Android. It's a platform exciting enough to have driven me from my comfortable niche writing Windows desktop software into the world of mobile application development.

Now, I'm (extremely) happy to say that Google have let me turn my part-time amateur Android developer support and evangelism into a full time role as an Android Developer Advocate. I'll be based in Google's London office helping developers in EMEA produce the sort of awesome mobile applications I've always known are possible. It's a particularly exciting time in Android with version 1.5 of the SDK (now available in preview) featuring home-screen widgets, live folders, and video recording.

So what exactly is a developer advocate?

It's an opportunity to work on the inside, helping the developer community on two fronts: first by working with development teams to improve and perfect their apps, and secondly as a conduit back to the Android development team - helping to guide future Android development in a way that makes it even easier for developers to create great apps.

What does that mean for this blog?

I'll continue to blog about my own projects, as well as taking some close looks at the Android SDK as it grows and evolves. I'll also continue to feature new Google developer products as they're released, as well as my own projects and 'how-to guides'. What you won't see here, for obvious reasons, is speculation on future Google products, Google secrets, or new product announcements. As a member of the Developer Relations team in EMEA, I'll also take on some of the responsibility for Google's UK Developers Blog, so expect to see some more Android content from me there soon.

Over the past year I've found myself using Twitter (@retomeier) when I spot cool new products, and will probably continue to do that rather than dedicate whole blog posts to track every new product announcement.

Google I/O - Should I Come?

Yes! I'm really excited about Google I/O this year. There's going to be a ridiculous amount of useful information for people doing development with Google's developer offerings. Android developers in particular won't go away disappointed. I really hope to see some of you there - particularly if your based in any of the EMEA countries - so if you come along, be sure to come over and say 'Hi!'.

Earthquake! for Android

A couple of years ago, the real-time earthquake display on display at the Natural History Museum in New York impressed me so much I stole copied created my own version of their concentric circle filled goodness.

Lately I've been focussing on mobile applications, so I figured why not move the same compelling UI to my Android handset?



Like the exhibit that inspired it, Earthquake! (Applications > News & Weather) shows not just the epicentres, but also an approximated 'damage zone' (inner circle, dark shading) and 'rumble zone' (outer circle, lighter shading) to give an impression of the areas likely to be affected by each earthquake. Zoom in to see which cities and suburbs will feel the tremor, and which are at risk for property damage.

Being a mobile app invites some personalization features not possible on a web site or museum display. Earthquake! lets you configure notification for new earthquakes that cause the phone to vibrate in proportion to the size of the detected quake. Small, magnitude 3 quakes barely shake your phone, but Big One's at 8 or 9 on the Richter scale will vibrate for up to 20 seconds.

Using My Location you can filter notifications to only alert you to earthquakes nearby, or for which you're within the expected 'rumble zone'.

So now if you've got an Android powered phone, you can have you own mobile real-time earthquake display. Then if you wake up in the deserted ruins of a post-apocalyptic nightmare you won't have to wonder whether or not the damage was caused by a magnitude nine earthquake splitting the Earth's crust in two.

The code used to create Earthquake! is a polished version of the ongoing example code shown in Professional Android Application Development, so if you like the idea pick up a copy and see how it's done.

eBooks, Kindles, and Mobiles

A couple of weeks ago Chris Webb (of publisher John Wiley & Sons) wondered if Amazon's decision to make Kindle titles available on a variety of mobile phones might be especially game changing.

Being an eBook skeptic I wasn't entirely convinced. A spirited discussion on Twitter (@retomeier / @chriswebb) followed, which eventually led to Chris putting my response up in full on his blog as 'Digital Books: Digital FAIL?'.

Professional Android Application Development: Out Now!

Professional Android Application Development ships tomorrow (Tuesday) from Amazon US, so those of you who pre-ordered should be seeing your copies in a couple of days. I'm really excited and can’t wait to find out what people think.

Where to buy

If you're interested in a copy the best place for me, for you to buy the book is Amazon following one of these links:

• Amazon.com
  
• Amazon.co.uk 

Free stuff and resources

If you'd prefer not to fork out without knowing a little more about what you're paying for (or just don't want to fork out at all), here's some useful resources that come free of charge:

Chapter 1 is available as a free PDF download [pdf] from the Wrox site if you want to learn more about Android before you commit to a 400 page tome. The TOC and index are there too. Chapter 7 [pdf ] -- which focusses on maps, location-based services, and the geocoder -- is available too.

Every concept in the book is supported with code snippets and a bunch of detailed step-by-step examples -- all of which you can download from the Wrox Open Source site.

If you're looking for details on something specific, Amazon's "Search Inside" is a surprisingly useful resource.

Android development conversation

I'll be looking to answer Android questions at the Wrox P2P forums, StackOverflow, and the Android Google Groups.

You can follow me on Twitter or FriendFeed, or just get book related news from the books Twitter feed and Friend Feed Room. I'll tweet any 'bugs' and changes to the text or code samples, as well as updates on any SDK releases that cause book code samples to break.

Still to come

To celebrate the book release I'll be posting a bunch of stuff about Android, including tutorials, walk throughs, and open source projects -- both here and other places online.

As luck would have it I got my G1 last week, so I can finally test and tweek my Android applications, so expect to see announcements about them in the coming days and weeks.

The Android Powered T-Mobile G1 Launched

Google, HTC, and T-Mobile announced the G1 Android  handset today. Here's what we learned:

Availability

• US. The G1 will be available in the US from October 22. Existing US T-Mobile subscribers can register to upgrade their phone via the T-Mobile website as of now.
• UK. "Early November" is the date to watch if you're in the UK, you can register your interest with T-Mobile to be alerted with updates as we get closer to that date.
• Europe. European users will need to wait until "early in Q1 2009"

Pricing and Locking

US price is $179, with the choice of $25 or $35 per month plans for 2 years. The $35 plan includes some text messenging allowance. Both include unlimited data.

No pricing was given for the UK or European launches,though TechCrunch is reporting it will be free with a £40 / month plan.

Word from T-Mobile is that the phone won't be available un-locked, but that's likely to become a moot point pretty shortly after launch.

Device and Application Details

Between the leaks and the SDK emulator there weren't a lot of surprises on the day. It wasn't a total recap though, with a couple of tidbits announced:

• Presence. Instant messaging presence is fully integrated directly into the contact manager and Gmail.
• Backlit Keys. The keys on the handset are all backlit so you can use it in the dark.
• Gmail. You need to have a GMail account to use the phone. Once you're signed in, this will be used to authenticate with all Google services you use.

We also got some direct questions answered for once:

• Can it be Used as a Modem?. No. Well not out of the box anyway. Look out for a 3rd party app to do the job.
• MS Exchange?. Not native. The official response is that this is an "opportunity for a 3rd party developer".
• Office Support?. Yes. The phone will read Word, Excel, and PDF files natively.
• Push Email? Yes for Gmail, standard POP/IMAP for everything else.
• Desktop Sync. No. The idea is to sync everything with the cloud rather than a desktop application. Contacts sync with GMail, calendar entries with Google calendar, etc.
• Bluetooth. Profiles for Bluetooth headset are currently supported. Everything else if v2.
• International support. Dual band 3G and quad band GPRS makes it compatible with most countries.

Included Applications

Exactly which applications will ship with the first handset is still something of a mystery, but we were given a peak at some of the likely inclusions. The native Google apps are listed at the Android mobile site.

• GMail. Strangely wasn't demo'ed, but will be partially web-based as it's build using Android's WebView classes.
• Amazon MP3 Store. Amazon have provided a native iTunes rival that lets you purchase DRM free music from the Amazon MP3 store direct from your mobile. You need to be connected to WiFi to download tunes.
• Music Player. Looks like the player used in the emulator. Not demoed in detail but looks solid (if no iPod killer).
• Android Marketplace. You can download and install new Android applications using the native marketplace app. You can also install apps from other web sites, using the SD card, or the USB sync cable.
• Maps. Google Maps is a killer mobile application. As well as the features already available on iPhone, WinMo, and Blackberry, the Android version supports Streetview that uses the phone's compass to automatically rotate your orientation.
• YouTube. Wasn't demo'd, but as you'd expect.
• Search. Context sensitive search will search depending on what you're doing (contacts, map, web, etc.). The device has a dedicated 'search' button.
• Calendar. Wasn't demo'd. Tightly coupled with Google's calendar application, all appointments are automatically synced between the phone and Google Calander
• Talk. GoogleTalk instant messaging and presence is available. Looks pretty basic, but that's what you want from a mobile IM client.
• Contacts. The contact manager as shown in the SDK emulator. Features presence and auto-sync with Gmail contacts.

Professional Android Application Development

If you're interested in developing your own Android applications, my new book -- Professional Android Application Development -- will be available on Amazon from November 17.

London Google Developer Day Android Wrapup

Tomorrow promises to be a big day for Android with most media outlets promising an announcement on the first Android handset.




Last Tuesday I was lucky enough to attend the Google Developer Day in London. As you might imagine, most of my interest this year was on the keynote and morning sessions on Android.






Mike Jennings, London's own Android Developer Advocate was on hand to give the first live European demo of the forthcoming Android-powered handset. From what we could see, the back handset looked pretty similar to the pictures posted around the internet and featured in earlier demos.

Mike's 'Blue Ball' demo indicates accellerometers will be included, and we were shown once again that GPS will be featured.

The user interface looks just like the one featured in the latest 0.9 Beta SDK, so no surprises there. As Mike ran through some of the demos the device seemed 'snappier' than the software emulators I've been using to test my sample applications, so that's a good sign.

Tech Talks

The Android tech talks on the day were introductory sessions targetted at people who new little or nothing about Android as a development platform. Both sessions were packed and through up some interesting questions -- not all of which had easy answers.

With the veil of secrecy still very much in place over all things Android a lot of questions went un-answered, but the following tidbits were covered

• Application Installation. Users can install Android applications using any of the Micro SD card, USB cable, or Android Marketplace
• Revenue Share. Google will pass on all revenue for applications directly to developers without taking a cut.
• Carriers. When signing on, OHA member carriers agree to openness standards that prevent them artificially blocking the installation of any applications on user devices. The agreements let carriers modify the handset 'chrome' with their own branding, and select which applications to preinstall, but won't modify the software stack to restrict user choice after-market.
• Push Email. Push email from a number of providers (not just GMail) will be supported.

More news tomorrow!

New Android SDK Beta Released

The eagerly (if not patiently) awaited update to the Android SDK was released yesterday. You can see the release notes here, or skip all that and download the good stuff from here.

It's a substantial release, as you'd expect after such a long gap since the previous build (M5); I've listed some of the more notable changes below.

The executive summary? Excellent new release that adds some maturity and stability to the early look version we've been playing with for so long. There's a lot of work for people porting existing apps over from M5, but the biggest downside is the loss two of the more interesting optional libraries (Gtalk and Bluetooth).

The Good News

• Future SDK releases up to version 1.0 shouldn't have significant breaking changes.
• The maps, location-based services, and geocoding APIs have been much improved and tidied up.
• Interacting with the phone hardware (getting incoming call number etc.) is improved.
• The accelerometer and compass APIs are much more mature.
• Context menus and dialog boxes are included and improved respectively.
• The developer tools are much slicker.
• The new home screen and native applications are much nicer than M5, as are a lot of the default controls (Views).

The Bad News

• GTalkService is out for 1.0
• Bluetooth is similarly missing for 1.0
• There have been a lot of breaking changes to behavior, required permissions, class names, and method signatures. Such is the price of progress.

The loss of GTalk and Bluetooth is a bit of a blow, some of the most exciting mobile application possibilities come from those APIs.

The signals coming from Google suggest this is "for now" not "forever". Most likely scenario is the security implications for both these APIs it was cheaper / easier to just leave 'em out for version 1 and come back to them later.

For those of you interested, Professional Android Application Development will be fully up-to-date on the (at least) this latest Android Beta.

Street View Australia is Live

Google Maps StreetView is now available for Most of Australia and Japan!

The quality of the images is impressive and the coverage for Australia is stupidly comprehensive with all major cities are most populated rural areas covered, as indicated by the blue patches in the image below.



Because I can, here's the view from my old commute in to work:

View Larger Map

...and here's one of my favourite places in WA:


View Larger Map

The Real Problems With Knol

I'm a big fan of Knol, and I seem to have been spending an undue amount of time defending it from critics who, I believe, have the wrong end of the stick.

But. Just because most people are judging Knol using an inappropriate comparison, doesn't mean it's perfect.

So what could Knol be doing better?

Simple Internal Article Linking
It's pretty common for the specialist topics featured in Knol to reference terms that are unfamiliar to readers, but out of scope for the current article. Everything2 and Wikipedia have shown that jumping from topic to topic is compelling. Knol needs a simple mechanism that lets you create internal links automagically using topic text.

Related Knols
Everything2 does this really well though the use of soft links. E2 builds a related articles list by tracking transitions between articles. Given Google's prowess when it comes to finding related advertisingcontent it should be cinch to dynamically find Knols related to the current one. Internal linking would make this even easier, as would article tags. Which brings me to:

Article Tagging
The idea of a formalized taxonomy is clearly a non-starter. Fair enough, but that still leaves a healthy requirement for non-hierarchical cataloguing. Tags are a well established metaphor for cataloging to identify similar or related content. The 'alternative titles' field will makes it easier to search for a topic that's referred to by different names, but doesn't do much to help group or explore similar topics.

Topic Shells
E2 uses Node Shells to act like a shelf for a given topic. It contains all the articles with the same name written by various authors displayed as a kind of summary, indicating the reputation details for each of the contained Knols.

KnolShells would answer one of the criticisms related to ranking and linking to a topic covered in Knol. Currently you need to link to a specific author's Knol, or a search for the topic. KnolShells would let you link to the topic and offer all the available articles. This is particularly handy combined with internal links to streamline internal navigation, letting authors link to a topic rather than a particular article as it eliminates the 'first-in-most-linked' effect.

Improved Ratings and Reputation
Reputation systems are always problematic, but it would be nice to offer more statistical information on the popularity of each article beyond the a ambiguous 5 star rating mechanism. The E2 model uses the thumbs up / thumbs down model with the added ability for experienced users to flag particular articles as 'Cool'. Popular articles can then be used to populate the 'featured Knols' on the front page.

Analytics
I like to know how popular my articles are and get an idea of who's reading them. Seems like a no-brainer to include Google Analytics the way they did Adsense.

Outbound Links
I fully understand the spammy reasons outbound links are no-followed, but it would be nice if this rule was applied more discriminantly. It would be very nice to see outbound links become 'followed' based on rating, author reputation, or/or time since posting. No one wants Knol filled with V1agr4 links, but there's no reason people shouldn't be able to link back to their own sites, and no reason those sites shouldn't get the associated link juice.

RSS Feeds and Feedback
Knol doesn't yet have a very robust feedback system. I'd want to subscribe to someone's New Knol Feed, and I'd like to subscribe to comments and reviews on Knols as well. As a Knol author email notifications when someone comments on, or reviews, my articles would be good too.

A private message mechanism for people to send messages to Knol authors within the Knol ecosystem would be a handy way to let people comment or suggest changes without publicly posting a comment or going through the 'edit' process.

In Closing...

These ideas certainly aren't comprehensive, but I think seeing some of these changes would really improve Knol. What do you think?

Google Knol Released. It’s Not Wikipedia.

Google Knol, announced last December, is now open to the public.

Google describes Knol as:

A platform for sharing information, with multiple cues that help you evaluate the quality and veracity of information.

The mainstream media and blogosphere have both labelled it a Wikipedia killer, but the comparison to Wikipedia is lazy and superficial.

As I supposed when it was initially announced, the purpose of Knol is fundamentally different to Wikipedia's mission. Where Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, Knol is a library.

Wikipedia delivers a single, collaborative, and verifiable article on every topic worthy of inclusion (and the editors aggressively kill new articles that aren’t). That fine. That's great even, it's like a living version of Britannica that tends towards consensus over time.

A Library of Knol(edge)

But that’s not what Knol is about. Knols aren’t about consensus, they're about authority. Lots of authors willing to stand by their claims. You judge the veracity of a Knol the same way you do a book, newpaper article, or tech paper – by looking at the comments and reviews of other readers, looking for citations, and reading up on the author (their background, affiliations, and other articles).

Just like your local library, Knol will contain a collection of opinions, knowledge, and experiences backed by the author’s name and reputation . Just like a library, many topics will have several 'books' written by different authors–often contradictory.

Rather than consensus articles with a neutral voice, for contentious or subjective subjects you can browse a number of personal opinions and experiences and form your own consensus. It’s noisier but it provides a personal perspective that’s inherently missing from an encyclopedic approach.

Check Out My Knowledge

Anyway, Knol looks pretty cool, I’ve set up my Knol Biography and I’ve started creating Knols based on some of my more popular E2 write-ups. You can check out Flooded Member Detection to find out if that’s as dirty as it sounds.

It’s worth sending a shout-out to the people over at Everything2 who have been doing the Knol thing for years and who still have a few tricks (particularly in the reputation system) that Google would do well to copy consider.

Authors, Start Authoring!

If you're an author or a subject matter expert, you can and should be using Knol to demonstrate that to the world. If you've written a book or authored a paper Knol is a way for you to demonstrate to potential readers that it's worth paying for more of your stuff.

I can see this being a great resource for professionals and academics who want to share their latest insight or discovery outside the four people that will read their journal article or internal white paper.

A New Tool for Research

For readers I think Knol provides an excellent addition to existing web-sites, including Wikipedia, as an additional source of information to browse when investigating a particular topic. Chances are most people won't be going to Knol directly for answers, but they're bound to end up there through Google searches before long.

iPhone v2: I Still Don't Buy It

Apple released iPhone v2 at their WWDC yesterday to much fan fair and Internet coverage.

I've probably established my preference for Android fairly well at this point, but with the changes announced in the iPhone's second incarnation I think it's worth pointing out a couple of deficiencies that still exist in His Jobs'ness's most gifted child.

Without true native background services the iPhone remains a shiny toy that offers the same-old mobile applications with a glossier skin. It's an improvement, but it's incremental. The game hasn't changed, it's just being played in a new stadium with nicer uniforms.

Before I go on let me state for the record that I'm a fan of the iPhone. If Apple had been selling them at stores the day it was unveiled I would have gladly ripped off my right arm and used it to beat my way through hoards of Apple fanboys to get one.

Fortunately for my dexterity, by the time iPhones were in stores I'd convinced myself that a total COO of almost £1000 was just too rich for my blood. I bought a new generation Nano instead and called it even.

I mention this because I really do think the iPhone is an impressive piece of kit. It's beautifully engineered and delivers both style and substance. The array of shiny touch screen mobiles now available can probably be credited to the iPhone setting a new standard in phone hardware and UI design.

But I'm still not buying a new iPhone.

Even with the 3G data and significant price drop I'll still be holding off my long overdue phone upgrade for when Android hits the shelves. Why? Because the iPhone is a really nice implementation of just-another-phone. Android promises to be more than that:

1. Background services. The iPhone's push notification service is a 2nd class add-in compared to the fully integrated background Service and Notification models that are central to Android. More than any other factor, Android's native background service model exposes possibilities that just aren't possible on the iPhone.
   
   They are a true game-changer. Android's Alarm mechanism ensures that services don't consume resources if they're not needed, but when they wake up they have full control over when and how they're going to update and how they choose to notify the user. The iPhone generously lets you pick a notification sound. Right. In Android you can write a service that monitors the game and announces the current score using a Morse-code vibration pattern while flash the LEDs in the winning team's colours.
   
   Without the artificial dependency on Apple's 'notification server' your service can update based on anything you like--Internet data, GPS location, device orientation, whatever.
   
   I could go on, but I'll save it for a more appropriate forum.


2. Map-based applications. Still no native support for embedded Google Maps. Not that that's Apple's fault, but it's an undeniable bonus point for Android.


3. Sandboxed distribution. Jailbreaking aside, developers are still locked in to the Apple approved iTunes distribution channel. If they want to charge for their apps, they still have to pay. Fail.

Lets face it, my complaints are fairly developer focused. A lack of background service support isn't likely to slow down the thousands that have been patiently waiting for a 3G iPhone when they rush to queue up at their nearest Apple store on the 11th of next month.

Android's power and flexibility as a developer platform is well established, if it can match the level of iPhone consumer devotion remains to be seen.

Android for Professionals

It's been quiet around here for the last few months, and I can't blame a lack of exciting developments at Google.

As Tony over at Blogoscoped mentioned, the reason for my infrequent postings is now listed and available for pre-order over at Amazon:


It's still a few months away from release, but Professional Android Application Development has taken up every spare moment of time (and plenty that weren't spare) but I think the effort will be worth it.

In other Android news, the top 50 place getters in the first Adroid Developer Challenge were announced a couple of weeks back. According to an anonymous comment on this site, at least one of the semi-finalists hails from my home-town of Perth(!). Nice.

The good folk at Android Community also put up some footage of the Android presentation at Google I/O last week. It's an impressive demo that features a look at what's becoming an increasingly polished UI, shown off particularly well with the street view featuring accelerometer control.

There's also been some discussion on a likely Android Marketplace--a Google hosted catalog of 'trusted' Android applications. The concept seems like a win / win, giving developers' applications visibility while guaranteeing a level of safety for end-users. It would be particularly nice if Google Checkout was integrated for developers that choose to monetize their mobile apps.

Massive Earthquake Hammers China

A series of massive Earthquakes hammered China this morning, the largest of which registered 7.8 on the Richter scale.

How big is 7.8? The image below from my Earthquake map mashup shows that the 'rumble zone' (the area over which the quake could be felt) covered all of China.


There's been over a dozen after-shocks registering over 5, so the 'impact' zone is harder to view, but if you look at the 'Australia' tab they're only showing the largest quake which gives a better idea of its scale.

For comparisons sake the 'damage zone' (the area susceptible to severe damage) covers an area about the size of Ohio or Austria. In the image below it's represented by the darker red circle about the size of Thailand.


The humanitarian result of a quake of this size is predictable. You can read more about the effect of a quake of magnitude at Google News.