New Android SDK Released + screenshots of new UI!
Google's Jason Chen has updated the Android Developers Blog with the news of the new SDK:
On behalf of the entire Android team, I'm happy to let you know that an updated version of the Android SDK — we're calling it m5-rc14 — is now available. Today, we're continuing the early look at the Android SDK that we started back in November by providing updates to the Android APIs and the developer tools based, in part, on the great feedback and suggestions developers have been giving us. We're excited about the progress that we've made and look forward to making additional updates in the future as the platform evolves towards production-readiness.
There are a couple of changes in m5-rc14 I'd like to highlight:
- New user interface - As I mentioned when we introduced the m3 version of the Android SDK, we're continuing to refine the UI that's available for Android. m5-rc14 replaces the previous placeholder with a new UI, but as before, work on it is still in-progress.
- Layout animations - Developers can now create layout animations for their applications using the capabilities introduced in the android.view.animation package. Check out the LayoutAnimation*.java files in the APIDemos sample code for examples of how this works.
- Geo-coding - android.location.Geocoder enables developers to forward and reverse geo-code (i.e. translate an address into a coordinate and vice-versa), and also search for businesses.
- New media codecs - The MediaPlayer class has added support for the OGG Vorbis, MIDI, XMF, iMelody, RTTL/RTX, and OTA audio file formats.
- Updated Eclipse plug-in - A new version of ADT is available and provides improvements to the Android developer experience. In particular, check out the new Android Manifest editor.
You can find more information about what's changed in a couple of documents that we've published. First is an overview of the changes to the Android APIs in API Changes Overview. If you want a more granular view of what's changed, an API diff between m3-rc37 and m5-rc14 is also available. Finally, Upgrading the SDK provides links to the two previously referenced documents and the release notes, as well as instructions on how to upgrade your development environment.
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I've installed the new SDK and there is a gallery of the new user interface after the break.
Comments
I've installed the new SDK too
Im happy to see the development, hopefully it will become more popular and programmers pick it up and do there thing to spice it up!
It doesn't look like a 2008 high-end phone interface. Todays phones need eye-candy to attract people just by looking at it. Functionality is a secondary thing when deciding on purchase.
Someone said it's customizable and the homescreen app can be replaced. That's nice and definitely a cool feature for power users. However, the default look is most important since it's going to be a definition of Android's look for most people.
Apple's iPhone lacks in functionality, but has an awesome looking UI, which makes it a hit.
As a competition, Android's UI should be at least equally good, but being better wouldn't hurt.
I think we'll see some more UI updates before the phones come out...
For more info on the android go to GoogleAndroidForums.com
Booo! I dont like it
John
Hi all,
I don´t like the UI appearance, especially home screen with grey icons. I would prefer using semi transparent icons as used for example in maps.
Anaway I cross my fingers!
Well, considering that every included app can be replace (including the home screen) that can be made to happen. The UI can be totally customizable.
Will Android be able to handle video chat better than Nokia Tablets I wonder?
Just because it is from Google, dose not mean it is a good product.
From screens - nothing special. iphone was more impressive.
Lets see what SE and Nokia will have to offer.
hey what is that phone they are using???
where?
http://teavuihuang.com/android
For anyone who's been dying to see and feel what the latest Android m5 UI is like on a real phone, here's the Nokia & Sony Ericsson demo from Tea Vui Huang! An Android m3 UI demo, Adobe DNG Raw Android library and a NTT DoCoMo skin for the Android Emulator is also available for download from the above website.
the animation used in new the Android SDK is Nice
We can name this m2.0!
A next generation of mobile technology.
Thinking for the cool idea!
beyondwww
Guys, onestly I don't see anything nice there!
User controls are ugly and inconsistent. Size of font is unreasonable. Contrast and colors are weak. In terms of GUI design looks like Windows 3.1 or old Linux
I can't believe they changed the home screen bar thing to a bunch of buttons!
hey, easy. This operating system is customisable. So if you dont like that main screen (I like it, so you can see that your opinion is not universal) you can replace mainscreen application. No problem here.
Very nice, but we need Calendary, and SMS aplications, or specification.
nice!
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