Android 2.0 support officially added to SDK
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Oct 27th 2009 12:52PM
posted Oct 27th 2009 12:52PM
- Support for multiple Google and Exchange accounts
- Third-party "sync adapters" allow apps to tie in to the phone's sync services
- Quick contact menus for fast access to specific key pieces of contact information
- Unified email inbox (yes!)
- SMS and MMS search
- Text message auto-delete after a user-defined thread size is reached
- Significantly improved camera controls with white balance, macro, effects, and more
- Improved keyboard layout, dictionary, and algorithm based on multi-touch support
- Double-tap zoom in browser, support for HTML5
- Bluetooth 2.1 support with addition of OPP and PBAP profiles
- "Better" graphics hardware acceleration
Needless to say, we're extremely excited about the changes Google's made here -- and on top of the Droid, we can only hope this action is coming to legacy devices on the double. We'll find out soon enough (hopefully). Check a video of 2.0 in action after the break!
[Via MobileTechWorld]
Read - SDK support announcement
Read - Android 2.0 changes
COOL!!!
SPRINT, PULL THE LEAD OUT OF YOUR @$$!
Good Comment
YES! This is gonna be sweeeeeet
it sure is sweet!
A boatload of new features to make almost all other smartphone OSs look positively outdated.
Where is Android at, as far as media management applications (library support, syncing with iTunes, etc.)? This is the only thing holding me back from wanting to dive head first into an Android handset from m iPhone. Anyone know?
@ crawdad
I'm in the exact same boat, and I'm totally down to jump ship from iPhone to Android, but it HAS to play nice with the mutimedia I have (read: everything's in iTunes!) AND have a 3.5mm jack.
The Motorola Droid has a 3.5mm jack, and I believe you can drag & drop into it. There might even be a 3rd party app to sync iTunes and Android - I haven't looked.
Doubletwist might be what your looking for. I haven't tried it, but it seems to do what your asking.
Here's an article that goes over it's features:
http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-10382111-12.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody
@Greenskye
Thanks!
Has anyone else used DoubleTwist with their iPod/iPhone?
YEAH !!
How long till CM releases an update? Hopefully with sync adapters will allow GV SMS messages through more quickly.
ANOTHER POINT IN THE BASKET FOR THE GOOGSTER
APPLE IS GOING DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!
agreed here, android gets better and better
i'm about to switch to verizon, hoping the rollout LTE soon
SCREW AT&T CAPS LOCK!!
I don't see Apple going down soon, not with 85k apps, but execs at Microsoft's mobile division, RIM, and Palm are probably not sleeping too well these days.
Keeping my fingers crossed for Verizon Passion/Dragon with snapdragon and Android 2.0!!
No pinch zoom etc? I was hoping this would become standard do it could be done outside of HTC apps.
*so it could be done outside of HTC apps*
Too lazy to look it up, but I remember there being an article here where Apple asked Google not to use multi touch and Google pretty much stated that they wouldn't. At the end of the day, I guess there's really only so many ways to zoom in and out and eventually everyone will be implementing it the same way.
I don't understand the desire for pinch zoom. It's clunky, inefficient and requires two hands. I will take tap zoom functionality any day.
I have been using the double tap to zoom and it is so much easier and effective then the pinch to zoom. CM 4.2 with loccy's browser.
pinch zoom alone is inefficient. However it's impossible to create a browser that tap zooms perfectly, to exactly the place you want every single time. On my iphone I use tap zoom 90% of the time, but there's always those couple times where tap to zoom gets you a weird format, or zooms in on the wrong thing and pinch zoom is very nice in those situations.
@Perry, if by two hands you mean 1 hand to actually hold the phone, and the other to do the pinching then agreed, it does take two hands. Otherwise pinch to zoom only takes 1 hand.
But it does support multitouch. From the release notes:
MotionEvent can now report simultaneous-touch information for devices that support it. Up to three pointers can be tracked simultaneously.
So far, I think most of the devices released support simultaneous touch. So maybe Steel or another browser will give you pinch zoom.
@chris
so if you had ur phone sitting on a table, it would only take one hand. Most ppl hold their phone in their hand so it takes 2 hands.
Yea, that is what I meant by two hands - the need to hold the phone in one hand to pinch with the other.
I guess it doesn't hurt to have pinch zoom, but I definitely don't need it on a phone.
Either way, this looks like a nice update.
@Perry exactly. Try walking down a grocery store isle with the handbasket in one hand and your phone in the other and using pinch zoom to zoom in the the recipe you are shopping for. You can do it, but it is really fricken hard and you are likely to drop your phone. I really do prefer the double tap to zoom and/or the +/- zoom buttons like android has.
"Support for multiple Google and Exchange accounts"
Is this a licensing issue or does it mean that other fruity Phone OS providers should now be capable of supporting multiple exchange accounts to their mail app?
Palm's webOS has always supported this. I assume it's something Apple is doing because... well I dunno.
I thought *all* mobile devices that support Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) can only connect to one account/profile at a time (just like Outlook on the desktop)? Is this a technical achievement, or more an EAS licensing coup on Google/Android's part??
Microsoft When are you gonna learn to change to RAD.
Android 1.5 to 2.0 in less than 6 months.
You are taking ForEver to come up with WindowsMo 7. I am starting to give up on you.
I saw an early build of WinMo7 - don't ask me where and how.
You are absolutely correct that MS needs to seriously speed up or at least give people something of 7 in the mean time.
I think they probably developed Windows 7 in less time than they have spent on WinMo7
@ Poke: Where?! How?!
Will Sprint push this out to its users who bought Hero's woth 1.5 / 1.6? or will I need to get this update from XDA devs?
It's not Sprint. It's that snappy Sense UI by HTC you're running.
IMO, HTC hasn't made Sense UI compatible with 1.6 because they're going for a direct jump from 1.5 to 2.0. That's my opinion, totally unfounded.
@JakeMG
I got that feeling too. Especially when you look at how HTC put effort in to making 1.5 CDMA compatible, why throw that away with 1.6 supporting it natively? I'm OK with them just waiting, but at least let us know.
@ JakeMG
I doubt that is true as the HTC Tattoo is running 1.6 and Sense.
Would be better with Android!!
What specifically are you saying would be better with Android?
Android would, of course! Android would be so much better if it just included Android. Then you could run Android on Android on your phone.
I feel a 'Yo Dawg!' moment coming on...
Awesome, I can't wait for my Droid.
I would love to switch to an android phone. I miss my sprint service, it worked everywhere I went and the price was great. Two things will get me to switch from my iPhone to android. A skype application built specifically for android. My girlfriend lives in Poland right now and I rely on a native skype app to keep in contact with her while I'm traveling. The second will be some quality aviation apps. I'm a pilot, and there are some great apps on the iPhone that allows me to plan my flights, file flight plans, check weather, do calculation, and log my time without the need of a computer with me.
Android has a much larger appeal to me over the iPhone right now.
There is a Skype app...I've never used it but it does exist. On top of that, there is also a Google Voice which which I think is actually cheaper for international calls than Skype.
As for your pilot apps, I know there are some but I have never tried them(because I'm not a pilot) but they do exist. Try hoping on Cyrket.com where you can search the Android Market, to see if you can find what you are looking for :)
Google voice, my friend- heaven on earth compared to skype. The voicemail alone is worth the trouble of getting an invite.
@(Unverified)
Fring isn't bad, I used it all the time on my Nokia, but all I really needed it for was google talk, so I haven't checked out the android version properly.
@Re To clarify, I don't use Fring as much as I used to on my Android phone
With the full understanding that Android can be skinned to be whatever....
Why the hell can't google ever, in the history of the world, make an attractive user interface? Their products are so useful, and great... but damn are they hideous.
I strongly disagree. I love the look of Mail, Calendar, Reader, Maps and this here Android 2.0.
When you're voicing an opinion, it'd be nice not to be so rude!
i was the guy that forced them to get their act together on native exchange support in android. you can thank me now.
well, i complained the loudest at least...
HTML 5 support is huge!
Nice one Google!