Android OS Overview Android 2.0, 2.0.1 & 2.1(Eclair)

Android 2.0,Android 2.0.1 & Android 2.1(Eclair)

November 2009, December 2009, January 2010

        Android 2.0,2.0.1 & 2.1 corresponded to the "Eclair" milestone branch, and has an API level of 5,6 and 7 respectively. The Android 2.0 platform introduces many new and exciting features for users and developers. This document provides a glimpse at some of the new features and technologies in Android 2.0. as well as changes in the Android framework API. Android 2.0,2.0.1 and 2.1 almost have same user features

New Platform Technologies

Media Framework

• Revamped graphics architecture for improved performance that enables better hardware acceleration.

Bluetooth

• Bluetooth 2.1

• New BT profiles: Object Push Profile (OPP) and Phone Book Access Profile (PBAP)

New Framework APIs

• Android 2.0 includes several new developer APIs

API changes summary

Bluetooth

• Turn on/off Bluetooth
• Device and service discovery
• Connect to a remote device using RFCOMM and send/receive data
• Advertise RFCOMM services and listen for incoming RFCOMM connection

Sync adapters

• New APIs for sync adapters to connect to any backend

Account Manager

• Centralized account manager API to securely store and access auth tokens/passwords

Contacts

• New contacts APIs that allow for data from multiple accounts
• New Quick Contact framework APIs enable developers to create contact badges in their app. Clicking on the badge opens a window with a list of ways to contact the person with one click.

WebView

• Deprecated classes: UrlInterceptHandler, Plugin, PluginData, PluginList, UrlInterceptRegistry.

Camera

• New parameters for color effect, scene mode, flash mode, focus mode, white balance, rotation, and other settings.
• New ZoomCallback interface to perform actions when the zoom level has changed.

Media

• MediaScanner now generates thumbnails for all images when they are inserted into MediaStore.
• New Thumbnail API for retrieving image and video thumbnails on demand.

Other Framework

• New system themes in android.R.style to easily display activities on top of the current system wallpaper or keep the previous activity visible in the background.
• New WallpaperManager API replaces and extends the wallpaper APIs that were previously in Context, to allow applications to request and set the system wallpaper.
• New Service APIs to help applications correctly handle Service life-cycle, in particular low memory situations where a Service may be killed while it is running.
• MotionEvent can now report simultaneous-touch information for devices that support it. Up to three pointers can be tracked simultaneously.
• KeyEvent has new key dispatching APIs, to help implement action-on-up and long press behavior, as well a new mechanism to cancel key presses (for virtual keys).
• WindowManager.LayoutParams has new constants that allow a window to wake up the screen when it is displayed and show the window even if the screen is locked. This allows applications to more cleanly implement things like alarm clocks that should wake the device.
• New Intent APIs that broadcast the docking state of the device and allow applications to launch special activities when the device is placed in a desktop or car dock.

Key events executed on key-up
        

         Android 2.0 is designed to run on devices that use virtual keys for HOME, MENU, BACK, and SEARCH, rather than physical keys. To support the best user experience on those devices, the Android platform now executes these buttons at key-up, for a key-down/key-up pair, rather than key-down. This helps prevent accidental button events and lets the user press the button area and then drag out of it without generating an event.

This change in behavior should only affect your application if it is intercepting button events and taking an action on key-down, rather than on key-up. Especially if your application is intercepting the BACK key, you should make sure that your application is handling the key events properly.

In general, intercepting the BACK key in an application is not recommended, however, if your application is doing so and it invokes some action on key-down, rather than key-up, you should modify your code.

New User Features

 Contacts and accounts

• Multiple accounts can be added to a device for email and contact synchronization, including Exchange accounts. (Handset manufacturers can choose whether to include Exchange support in their devices.)
• Developers can create sync adapters that provide synchronization with additional data sources.
• Quick Contact for Android provides instant access to a contact's information and communication modes. For example, a user can tap a contact photo and select to call, SMS, or email the person. Other applications such as Email, Messaging, and Calendar can also reveal the Quick Contact widget when you touch a contact photo or status icon.

Email

• Exchange support.
• Combined inbox to browse email from multiple accounts in one page.

Messaging

• Search functionality for all saved SMS and MMS messages.
• Auto delete the oldest messages in a conversation when a defined limit is reached.

Camera

• Built-in flash support
• Digital zoom
• Scene mode
• White balance
• Color effect
• Macro focus

Android virtual keyboard

• An improved keyboard layout to makes it easier to hit the correct characters and improve typing speed.
• The framework's multi-touch support ensures that key presses aren't missed while typing rapidly with two fingers.
• A smarter dictionary learns from word usage and automatically includes contact names as suggestions.

Browser 

• Refreshed UI with actionable browser URL bar enables users to directly tap the address bar for instant searches and navigation.
• Bookmarks with web page thumbnails.
• Support for double-tap zoom.
• Support for HTML5:

Calendar

• Agenda view provides infinite scrolling.
• Events indicate the attending status for each invitee.
• Invite new guests to events. 

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)
• WQVGA (240x400, low density, normal screen)
• FWQVGA (240x432, low density, normal screen)
• HVGA (320x480, medium density, normal screen)
• WVGA800 (480x800, high density, normal screen)
• WVGA854 (480x854 high density, normal screen)