Android SDK

This SDK release includes several new features for developers. Highlights of the changes include:

* Emulator support for multiple screen sizes/densities, including new skins.

* Android SDK and AVD Manager, a graphical UI to let you manage your SDK and AVD environments more easily. The tool lets you create and manage your Android Virtual Devices and download new SDK packages (such as platform versions and add-ons) into your environment.

* Improved support for test packages in New Project Wizard

* The reference documentation now offers a "Filter by API Level" capability that lets you display only the parts of the API that are actually available to your application, based on the android:minSdkVersion value the application declares in its manifest. For more information, see Android API Levels

For details about the Android platforms included in the SDK - including bug fixes, features, and API changes - please read the Version Notes documents available at left. For a list of Android platforms included in this release, see the Download page. Note that you can use the Android SDK and AVD Manager to download additional platforms.

New User Features

Quick Search Box

New Camera/Camcorder UI

Battery Usage Indicator

Quick Search Box for Android

Android 1.6 includes a redesigned search framework that provides a quick, effective, and consistent way for users to search across multiple sources-such as browser bookmarks & history, contacts, and the web-directly from the home screen.

The system constantly learns which search results are more relevant based on what is clicked. So popular contacts or apps that have previously been picked will bubble up to the top when a user types the first few letters of a relevant query.

The search framework also provides developers a way to easily expose relevant content from their applications in Quick Search Box.

Camera, Camcorder, and Gallery

An updated user interface provides an integrated camera, camcorder, and gallery experience. Users can quickly toggle between still and video capture modes. Additionally, the gallery enables users to select multiple photos for deletion.

Android 1.6 also provides a much faster camera experience. Compared to the previous release, launching the camera is now 39% faster, and there is a 28% improvement in the time from completing one shot to the next.

VPN, 802.1x

A new Virtual Private Network (VPN) control panel in Settings allows users to configure and connect to the following types of VPNs:

* L2TP/IPSEC pre-shared key based VPN

* L2TP/IPsec certificate based VPN

* L2TP only VPN

* PPTP only VPN

Battery usage indicator

A new battery usage screen lets users see which apps and services are consuming battery power. If the user determines that a particular service or application is using too much power, they can take action to save the battery by adjusting settings, stopping the application, or uninstalling the application.

Accessibility

Users will be able to download new accessibility services built on the new accessibility framework and enable them in Settings.