Submitted by Google has dropped the Bluetooth and GTalkService instant messaging APIs (application program interfaces) from the set of tools for the first version of the mobile phone OS, Android 1.0, according to the Android Developers Blog. The company opted to drop the Bluetooth API because “we plain ran out of time,” said Nick Pelly, one of the Android engineers responsible for the Bluetooth API, on the blog posting. But the company made clear that handsets using the Android OS will work with other Bluetooth devices such as headsets, for example. Ed note: To be clear, only the APIs are delayed, not the features. This suggests third party apps will not be able to access these frameworks.
Google drops Bluetooth, GTalkService APIs from Android 1.0
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Adam Scheinberg
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It is a huge task that they’re undertaking! – so I think its fair enough, and reasonable explanation. Still a shame though.
Copying the iPhone I see, by having totally useless Bluetooth.
(If you can’t see the sarcasm above, please adjust your set)
You will be able to use your headset etc.
And those APIs will come in the future.
My guess is that the FCC had problems and so Google decided to drop the BT API for now.
For Bluetooth they disabled access to third party apps until it’s audited and hardened enough. It’s targeting mainstream public, security should be taken seriously.
For gtalk…I believe operators became nervous about free instant messaging, though this limitation could be very easily worked around with any kind of browser, but then it makes it not-installed-by-default (check IE share in the browser market:)) and much harder to integrate with phone functions like ringing, easy typing, popping up when active etc.
I hope both becomes in some form available in next version however (OTOH, it could become “forgotten”).
Check IE share in the mobile browser market.
I don’t care about IE market share, It was just an analogy. Lots of people use IE just because it’s installed by default. Similar effect had the MS push of MSN messenger, which in XP was annoyance and hard to even switch off without hacks.
No doubt, lots of people would do IM if gtalk app icon was an icon sitting on their mobile phone screen. No doubt telcos are afraid of that happening.
My point is that on a mobile phone, just because something is there people won’t necessarily use it. It’s not the same as a Desktop.
My phone has a ton of stuff I’ll never use and don’t want to use. I immediately replaced the built in browser with Opera mini, and I sure won’t ever use all the “this icon connects you to our WAP site without asking for permission” icons placed in my way. They even have hardware buttons on some phones that connect you to their internet portal full of overpriced crappy ringtones and I wouldn’t buy a phone with one of those.
The difference on a phone is that the built in stuff == money wasted.
It’s not like it’ll be like that permanently… And to be honest, I’d rather have it removed than there and terribly buggy or useless…
should be adopted by KDE/Gnome/GNUstep.
I thought Android was fully open. Can’t I just program my apps at the Linux device level to use Bluetooth?
What a fine example of a misleading article… They didn’t drop bluetooth from Android, they dropped the bluetooth API from the SDK.
This doesn’t say anything about the kind of bluetooth support in Android itself.