Android SDK R18

Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications. This early look at the Android SDK provides the tools and APIs necessary to begin developing applications on the Android platform using the Java programming language.

Application Framework

Developers have full access to the same framework APIs used by the core applications. The application architecture is designed to simplify the reuse of components; any application can publish its capabilities and any other application may then make use of those capabilities (subject to security constraints enforced by the framework). This same mechanism allows components to be replaced by the user.

Libraries
Android includes a set of C/C++ libraries used by various components of the Android system. These functions and capabilities are presented to developers through the Android application framework.

Here are some key features of "Android SDK":

· Application framework enabling reuse and replacement of components.
· Dalvik virtual machine optimized for mobile devices.
· Integrated browser based on the open source WebKit engine.
· Optimized graphics powered by a custom 2D graphics library; 3D graphics based on the OpenGL ES 1.0 specification (hardware acceleration optional).
· SQLite for structured data storage.
· Media support for common audio, video, and still image formats (MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG, GIF).
· GSM Telephony (hardware dependent).
· Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, and WiFi (hardware dependent).
· Camera, GPS, compass, and accelerometer (hardware dependent).
· Rich development environment including a device emulator, tools for debugging, memory and performance profiling, and a plugin for the Eclipse IDE.

Requirements:

· Eclipse 3.2, 3.3 (Europa) - Eclipse JDT plugin (included in most Eclipse IDE packages), WST (optional, but needed for the Android Editors feature; included in most Eclipse IDE packages)
· JDK 5 or JDK 6 (JRE alone is not sufficient)
· Not compatible with Gnu Compiler for Java (gcj)
· Android Development Tools plugin (optional)
· JDK 5 or JDK 6 (JRE alone is not sufficient)
· Not compatible with Gnu Compiler for Java (gcj)
· Apache Ant 1.6.5 or later for Linux and Mac, 1.7 or later for Windows

What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]

Dependencies:
· Android SDK Platform-tools revision 9 or later.
· If you are developing in Eclipse with ADT, note that the SDK Tools r18 is designed for use with ADT 18.0.0 and later. If you haven't already, we highly recommend updating your ADT Plugin to 18.0.0.
· If you are developing outside Eclipse, you must have Apache Ant 1.8 or later.

General notes:
· Updated the SdkController app to encapsulate both sensor and multitouch emulation functionality.

Bug fixes:
· Fixed Ant issues where some jar libraries in the libs/ folder are not picked up in some cases.