Lifehacker is reporting brand new Android 1.5 SDK pre-release, good short summary. Here's my additional comments:First of all, nothing about Android Developer Phone 1 issue where developers are not allowed to download and install their own copy-protected applications. This was not important enough to fix - or the situation is much more complicated that it originally looked like. We'll hear more later, I'm positive about that!
Refinement of all core UI elements sounds good, but we need to see what it means. Very positive sign that it was first on the release note! "UI polish" and Google Talk status integration for Contacts, the most used mobile phone application ever. Faster Camera startup and (first) image capture. Assisted GPS.
On-screen keyboard, landscape and portrait. There are also predefined SDK emulator profiles for HVGA landscape and portrait screens. Looks like there's going to be both vertical touch screen devices, like iPhone and Nokia 5800, as well as horizontal, like Nokia Communicators.
Homescreen widgets, reminding about Nokia N97. Widgets everywhere and I still can't quite understand why. Even David Wood, the Catalyst & Futurist of Symbian Foundation, is doing widgets! Well, have to admit that WRT 1.1 has some potential.
Web browser update, based on webkit. Wonder how many lines of code Google Android, Apple Safari and Nokia browser really share. Left hand cooperates, right hand competes.
Multimedia APIs, speech recognition framework, redesigned sensor APIs, better OpenGL support, improved JUnit support and easier performance profiling. Good mix of consumer and developer features. Now waiting for G2 device.
