2. Android
An Open Handset Alliance Project
• http://code.google.com/android
• Write apps to run on mobile phones
• Will be released as open source
• Can download the SDK today!
3. Android Features
• Application Framework
• Dalvik virtual machine
• Integrated (webkit) browser
• 2D and 3D graphics APIs with HW
• SQLite
• Video and audio codecs
• Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, and WiFi
• Camera, GPS, compass, and accelerometer
5. Challenges
• CPU typically runs 500-600 Mhz
• RAM available to an App may only be a few megabytes
• Disk (flash) access is very slow
• Lifecycle - apps must pause/quit often, and restore to give
the illusion that they are always running
• UI design
o typical screen may be HVGA (320x480)
o may be in portrait or landscape
o very high DPI - small text may not be readable
o touch resolution is very low (~25 pixel)
• Network access may be slow and (very) intermittent
6. Opportunities
• 100s of millions of mobile phone users
• Very high growth, esp. in Asia
• "Wild wild west" of application development
o think 1985 on the desktop (if you were born by then)
o no dominant 3rd party developers.... yet
o what will the killer app categories be?
o what does it mean to have any app + the internet in
your pocket?
• You can develop for it today!
7. Possibilities
Augmented Campus Reality Web scraping
• camera + maps + compass • news filters
= heads up info • sport scores
• dook news eliminators
Games
• multi-player (bluetooth, Distributed computing?
wifi, cell) • 10,000 phones all donating
• location-based (scavenger their idle time
hunt) • tiny terminal (phone) + fast
cpu/network (server)
Custom overlays for maps
• weather, traffic, friends Shared whiteboard
8. Project Suggestions
• Web Scrapers [movies, weather, sports, <topic> news]
o Find multiple web sources
o Scrape them for the relevant information
o Present in a custom UI on the phone
• Asynchronous games [chess, poker, risk]
o Develop an API for all games to communicate through
1.Establish connections by phone number
– Send and receive game data
– Ability to reopen connections
• Planner/To-do list with location data
o Decide route to next class, meeting, etc
o Find a order/route for non time-critical tasks
o Connect to campus directory to find
teachers/classmates
