Android 1.6 (Donut)
Date : October 2009
Android
1.6 is a minor platform release deployable to Android-powered handsets since
October 2009. Android 1.6 corresponded to
the "Donut" milestone branch, and has an API level of 4.The platform includes new features for users and
developers, as well as changes in the Android framework API.
New Platform Technologies
Expanded Search Framework
The Android search framework has been
redesigned and expanded to provide third-party applications the opportunity to surface
content from their applications in Quick Search Box, the global search tool. To
do this, developers will need to make their app "searchable" and
provide suggestions in response to user queries. To enable application search
suggestions, users simply select each application from which they'd like to
receive suggestions, under Searchable items in the Search settings.
Text-to-speech engine
Android 1.6 features a multi-lingual speech
synthesis engine called Pico. It allows any Android application to "speak"
a string of text with an accent that matches the language. The engine supports
the following languages: English (American and British accents), French,
Italian, German and Spanish. If you're using a T-Mobile G1 or Dream device,
you'll need to download the SpeechSynthesis Data Installer from Google Play,
which includes the "voices" needed by the text-to-speech engine.
Gestures
A new gestures framework provides application
developers with a framework for creating, storing, loading, and recognizing
gestures and associating them with specific actions.
Developers can use the new GestureBuilder tool
included in the Android 1.6 SDK to generate libraries of gestures to include
with their application.
Accessibility
Android 1.6 provides a new accessibility
framework. With this framework, developers can create accessibility plugins
that respond to user input, such as making a sound when a new window is shown,
vibrating when navigating to the top of a list, and providing spoken feedback.
Expanded support for screen densities and
resolutions
Android 1.6 adds screen support that enables
applications to be rendered properly on different display resolutions and
densities. Developers can also specify the types of screens supported by their
application.
Telephony support for CDMA
Android 1.6 includes support for CDMA in the
telephony stack.
New version of OpenCore
Android 1.6 includes the updated OpenCore 2
media engine, which has:
·
Support for OpenMAX
encoders
·
Support for additional
audio codecs in AuthorEngine
·
Improved buffering
model supports shared buffers allocated in the decoder
2.6.29 Linux kernel
Android 1.6 upgrades the Linux kernel from
2.6.27 to 2.6.29.
New User Features
Quick Search Box for Android
Android 1.6 includes a redesigned search
framework that provides a quick, effective, and consistent way for users to
search across multiple sources—such as browser bookmarks & history,
contacts, and the web—directly from the home screen.
The system constantly learns which search
results are more relevant based on what is clicked. So popular contacts or apps
that have previously been picked will bubble up to the top when a user types
the first few letters of a relevant query.
The search framework also provides developers
a way to easily expose relevant content from their applications in Quick Search
Box.
Camera, Camcorder, and Gallery
An updated user interface provides an
integrated camera, camcorder, and gallery experience. Users can quickly toggle
between still and video capture modes. Additionally, the gallery enables users
to select multiple photos for deletion.
Android 1.6 also provides a much faster camera
experience. Compared to the previous release, launching the camera is now 39%
faster, and there is a 28% improvement in the time from completing one shot to
the next.
VPN, 802.1x
A new Virtual Private Network (VPN) control
panel in Settings allows users to configure and connect to the following types
of VPNs:
·
L2TP/IPSEC pre-shared
key based VPN
·
L2TP/IPsec certificate
based VPN
·
L2TP only VPN
·
PPTP only VPN
Battery usage indicator
A new battery usage screen lets users see
which apps and services are consuming battery power. If the user determines
that a particular service or application is using too much power, they can take
action to save the battery by adjusting settings, stopping the application, or
uninstalling the application.
Accessibility
Users will be able to download new
accessibility services built on the new accessibility framework and enable them
in Settings.
Built-in Applications
The system image included in the downloadable
platform provides these built-in applications:
·
Alarm
Clock
·
Browser
·
Calculator
·
Camcorder
·
Camera
·
Contacts
·
Custom
Locale (developer app)
·
Dev
Tools (developer app)
·
Dialer
|
·
Email
·
Gallery
·
Gestures
Builder
·
IME for
Japanese text input
·
Messaging
·
Music
·
Settings
·
Spare
Parts (developer app)
|
Emulator Skins
The downloadable platform includes a set of
emulator skins that you can use for modeling your application in different
screen sizes and resolutions. The emulator skins are:
·
QVGA (240x320, low
density, small screen)
·
HVGA (320x480, medium
density, normal screen)
·
WVGA800 (480x800, high
density, normal screen)
·
WVGA854 (480x854 high
density, normal screen)
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