Android SDK Features

The true appeal of Android as a development environment lies in the APIs it provides. As an application-neutral platform, Android gives you the opportunity to create applications that are as much a part of the phone as anything provided out of the box. The following list highlights some of the most noteworthy Android features:

1. No licensing, distribution, or development fees


2. Wi-Fi hardware access


3. GSM, EDGE, and 3G networks for telephony or data transfer, allowing you to make or receive calls or SMS messages, or to send and retrieve data across mobile networks


4. Comprehensive APIs for location-based services such as GPS


5. Full multimedia hardware control including playback and recording using the camera and microphone


6. APIs for accelerometer and compass hardware


7. IPC message passing


8. Shared data stores


9. An integrated open source WebKit-based browser


10. Full support for applications that integrate Map controls as part of their user interface


11. Peer-to-peer (P2P) support using Google Talk


12. Mobile-optimized hardware-accelerated graphics including a path-based 2D graphics library and support for 3D graphics using OpenGL ES


13. Media libraries for playing and recording a variety of audio/video or still image formats


14. An application framework that encourages reuse of application components and the replacement of native applications