February 11th, 2008
Android at WMC from a developer's perspective
Android is building momentum at the Mobile World Congress ‘08 in Barcelona this week. Companies like Texas Instruments have been showing off prototypes running the Android operating system — and by the sounds of it, people can’t get enough. Engadget has some early pictures of what attendees are seeing.
click here to see a photo gallery
The operating system itself still feels very beta, but that could change with the new version of the SDK due out any time now. It sounds like the user interface will probably even look different than the one being shown off in Barcelona at MWC.
As far as development goes, the API is relatively difficult to work with, especially with it’s sub-par documentation and a lack of really good examples. Russell Shaw thinks that “sucky code” will be a pain in Google’s side, and I agree to a point. With a system that’s completely open to 3rd party developers and poor documentation (at least for now), “sucky code” could very well plague the new operating system out of the gate.
The reason I don’t think it’s a huge deal is because, for the most part, people will take what comes on their phone and not stray too far from there. However, as 3rd party applications become widely available and accessible, it’s not unreasonable to think that malware could eventually become a problem. Considering this, a virus/adware scanner for Android could win a big prize in the Android Development Contest if you are looking for a project to tackle.
Garett Rogers is employed as a programmer for iQmetrix, which specializes in retail management software for the wireless industry.
See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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