Android 1.5 Released

The first major update for Google’s Android platform, based on the Cupcake development tree, was released today in source form at the project’s git repository. Now it’s up to the OEMs and carriers to deploy it, and the community to port it to other platforms. Dig in for a list of new features.Digg this story

User interface refinements:
* System-wide:
o Refinement of all core UI elements
o Animated window transitions (off by default)
o Accelerometer-based application rotations
* UI polish for:
o In-call experience
o Contacts, Call log, and Favorites
o SMS & MMS
o Browser
o Calendar
o Email
o Camera & Gallery
o Application management

Performance improvements:

* Faster Camera start-up and image capture
* Much faster acquisition of GPS location (powered by SUPL AGPS)
* Smoother page scrolling in Browser

Applications

* Camera & Gallery
o Video recording
o Video playback (MPEG-4 & 3GP formats)
* Browser
o Updated with latest Webkit browser & Squirrelfish Javascript engines
o Copy ‘n paste in browser
o Search within a page
o User-selectable text-encoding
o UI changes include:
+ Unified Go and Search box
+ Tabbed bookmarks/history/most-visited screen
* Contacts
o Shows user picture for Favorites
o Specific date/time stamp for events in call log
o One-touch access to a contact card from call log event

Application framework

* On-screen soft keyboard
o Works in both portrait and landscape orientation
o Support for user installation of 3rd party keyboards
o User dictionary for custom words
* Home screen
o Widgets
+ Bundled home screen widgets include: analog clock, calendar, music player, picture frame, and search
o Live folders
* UI framework
o Framework for easier background/UI thread interaction
o New SlidingDrawer widget
o Horizontal ScrollView widget
* Home Screen framework
o APIs for creating secure home screen widgets
o APIs for populating live folders with custom content
* Media framework
o Raw audio recording and playback APIs
o Interactive MIDI playback engine
o Video recording APIs for developers (3GP format)
o Video and photo sharing Intents
o Media search Intent
* Input Method framework
o Text prediction engine
o Ability to provide downloadable IMEs to users
* Speech recognition framework
o Support for using speech recognition libraries via Intent
* Misc API additions
o LocationManager – Applications can get location change updates via Intent
o WebView – Touch start/end/move/cancel DOM event support
o SensorManager – redesigned sensor APIs
o GLSurfaceView – convenience framework for creating OpenGL applications
o Broadcast Intent for app update install succeeded – for smoother app upgrade experience

System software

* New Linux kernel (version 2.6.27)
* SD card filesystem auto-checking and repair
* SIM Application Toolkit 1.0

Supported hardware

* Bluetooth
o Stereo Bluetooth support (A2DP and AVCRP profiles)
o Auto-pairing
o Improved handsfree experience

Developer tools

* Support for multiple versions of Android in a single SDK installation
* Improved JUnit support in ADT
* Easier application performance profiling

14 Comments

  1. 2009-04-25 5:39 am
    • 2009-04-25 6:39 am
    • 2009-04-25 10:09 am
    • 2009-04-25 4:06 pm
  2. 2009-04-25 9:17 am
    • 2009-04-25 10:38 am
    • 2009-04-27 1:40 pm
  3. 2009-04-25 12:22 pm
    • 2009-04-25 1:23 pm
  4. 2009-04-25 9:37 pm
  5. 2009-04-26 11:24 am
  6. 2009-04-26 9:40 pm
    • 2009-04-27 10:23 am
  7. 2009-04-27 3:18 am