Hasta La Gadget!

In a break from tradition, the availability of an official SDK for Android 2.1 trailed availability of a phone running it — the Nexus One, of course — by nearly a week, undoubtedly leaving countless developers sleepless. Despite the Nexus’ fistful of new goodies like active wallpaper and a far flashier 3D-enabled Gallery app, Google’s simply referring onlookers to the 2.0 documentation to learn about user-facing changes: “Android 2.1 does not add significant user features, see the Android 2.0 Platform Highlights document for the latest user features.” From a development perspective, the latest SDK includes hooks for creating your own active wallpapers, so get moving, guys — a whole bunch of HTC and Moto devices are going to be able to use ’em soon enough.

Android 2.1 SDK now available, Nexus One says ‘geez, finally’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Android Developers Blog  | Email this | Comments

Intel wants people to develop apps for the x86 instruction set. Think about that a little, let it sink in. Now that you’re appropriately unimpressed, let’s discuss this new developer kit that’s just been brought out. Designed to assist coders in that overwhelmingly challenging and new environment known as Atom-powered netbooks, the SDK has now hit Beta and is being distributed to developers of apps for Windows and Moblin. Yes Moblin, the light and snappy Linux flavor intended to spur on the sinking ship known as the MID category, still hasn’t been abandoned by Intel, even if its original goal now seems out of reach. Intriguingly, apps approved by Intel will “sell at stores opening next year,” which perhaps hints at grander plans than the mere optimization of software to undernourished hardware.

Intel brings out Atom SDK wanting more apps, acts oblivious to Windows originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Intel  | Email this | Comments

Currently, mobile entrepreneurs wishing to hawk their wares on the Pre (or Pixi, or unnamed webOS device of the future) use a software development kit from Palm called Mojo, a stack of Java-based tools that must be installed, studied, understood, loved, and respected before serious development can get underway. Palm sees that as a barrier of entry for web-oriented developers who want to make the leap to mobile apps, though, which is why they’ve crafted a new SDK called Ares that’s based entirely on web technologies — in fact, there’s no install at all, apparently. Much of the interface is said to be drag-and-drop with enough JavaScript exposed to make your local .com designer feel right at home, potentially opening the app landscape to a whole new set of folks — and considering that the App Catalog is tens of thousands of goodies behind the App Store and Android Market, they can use every loyal dev they get.

Filed under: Cellphones

Palm demos web-based Ares SDK for webOS originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Well, things just got interesting. The very evening of the App Catalog’s launch of paid apps, Palm has made a very different kind of announcement: it’s going to let developers skip out on the App Catalog if they so choose. Devs will be able to submit an app to Palm, who will turn around and give them a URL for open distribution of the app over the web — without a review process getting in the way! The App Catalog will still exist for those who want to use it of course, with a $50 entrance fee to get an app inside — and we’re guessing it’ll remain the only way to distribute paid apps — but the new URL distribution should decentralize things just a little bit. In other good news, Palm will be dropping the $99 annual developer fee for folks building open source apps, and hopefully that free ride applies to App Catalog entry as well, though now there’s web distribution to make it less of a sticking point. Palm’s also going to open up its analytic data to developers, and even is giving away Pres and Touchstones to the audience members of the little shindig privy to this announcement — clearly the company is making a strong play for developers, and who doesn’t like to be loved?

[Thanks, Lawrence]

Filed under: Cellphones

Palm throws the doors open: review-free app distribution over the web, open source developers can hop in for free originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Remember back when Sony introduced Rolly to stunned silence followed by a protracted effort to determine exactly what the hell it was, an effort that arguably continues to this very day? Yep, that’s kind of where we’re at right now with the Zii EGG, and nothing in the SDK documentation we’ve received today — the same documentation paying developers are just now getting — is helping us flesh that out. We can tell you that it’s well-equipped — there are proximity sensors and accelerometers on board, it’s got native support for Flash Lite, voice recognition, and 3D acceleration and it’ll eventually have support for Creative’s X-Fi audio tech — but really, that’s like saying “the Rolly is well-equipped.” What does it mean?

Here’s what we do know: out of the gate, it seems the EGG will only be running Creative’s homegrown Plaszma OS, though Android support is forthcoming. The Plaszma SDK is being rolled out in three phases spanning the rest of 2009, and some pretty important stuff — Bluetooth support, for example — won’t even be available to developers until the third phase, which is a pretty strong indication that Zii-powered products intended for consumer consumption probably won’t be around in time for the holidays. For the moment, there isn’t any indication on when devs will have access to Android support libraries, which we think might be where Zii’s true value lies, because let’s be honest — the world realistically doesn’t need another target platform for mobile.

Interestingly, Creative is using Zii to actively target China-based devs that it says “may not have brands but have an insatiable appetite for ready-to-go technologies, and can adapt these technologies very quickly to new market opportunities” (in other words, KIRFers) through its “Shanzai program,” a mix of prototype boards and support packages that it says will help small businesses bring products to market faster. If that means we can get the next great N97 clone running Android in record time, we’re all for it. Check out the full Plaszma SDK roadmap in the gallery below.

[Thanks, Joe]

Filed under: Handhelds

Zii EGG SDK roadmap revealed, some important features not coming until end of year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments