Support for Android 2.0 has officially been added to the SDK, which means that developers can now go ahead and start using the new functionality of 2.0. For the rest of us here are the major changes:
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
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
With Sony Ericsson’s first Android handset just round the corner many will be wondering whether or not it is going to feature Android 2.0 from the outset. There’s still no word on that, but given the enhancements 2.o will bring we can only hope. The first device to use 2.0 will be Motorola’s Droid, which is scheduled to be unveiled by American network Verizon tomorrow. Check out the video below to see 2.o in action:
Just a few days ago, Sony Ericsson updated its Windows Mobile panels SDK to version 1.0.5 (still a beta, though). The updated version now adds support for the brilliant OpenGL ES, which means the XPERIA panels can now be hardware accelerated. The X1 has a very powerful graphics processor, and I can’t wait to see the results of this new release.
You can read a lot more about the new release over at Sony Ericsson’s Developer World, where you can also download it for free, so you can start developing panels for the X1. Alternatively, you can press this link, and we’ll hook you up the triple W-way!
Sony Ericsson recently announced that it will support the brand new JavaFX Mobile platform in its upcoming phones. JavaFX makes it possible to extend the usability of Java ME.
“Sony Ericsson is committed to delivering innovative and energized user experiences to our consumers, working closely with partners who share the creativeness and vision,” says Rikko Sakaguchi, who is the Corporate Vice President and Head of Creation and Development at Sony Ericsson.
“We see JavaFX as a natural fit to our mobile software platform strategy to enable developers, both in-house and in our ecosystem, to create superior, innovative, expressive mobile applications and services. Sony Ericsson expects that JavaFX will have a great impact on the mobile content ecosystem and plan to bring JavaFX to a significant part of our product portfolio.”
It seems like it’s taken Sony Ericsson forever to get the X1 ready. But finally, we’ve got some news - a closed X1 launch webcast is due in roughly two weeks, and a few days ago the XPERIA SDK was published at Sony Ericsson’s developer site, with the press release being published yesterday.
The SDK (software development kit) will allow developers to create their very own XPERIA panels, and test them out in an emulator on the computer. You can check out all the documentation and features of the XPERIA SDK for Windows Mobile over at Sony Ericsson’s developer website. The download is 9.1 megabytes, and can be downloaded directly here.
Sony Ericsson released an update of their Themes Creator lately. Now at version 3.29 you get support for previews of FlashLite standby images.
Furthermore - and more important to most themers - there is now an XML editor included for direct editing of the theme.xml. Continue reading “Themes Creator 3.29 - now with Flash & XML flavour”