Google to show off next Android Platform

Google has announced it will offer developers a first look at the newest version of the Android platform.

The 1.5 Version is based on the 'Cupcake' branch from the Android Open Source Project and includes new application programming interfaces (APIs) such as soft keyboards, home screen widgets, live folders and speech recognition.

On his blog, Xavier Ducrohet, a software engineer for Google, said: "At the developer site, you can download the early-look Android 1.5 SDK, read important information about upgrading your Eclipse plugin and existing projects, and learn about what's new and improved in Android 1.5."

The new SDK releases will also include multiple versions of the Android platform allowing developers to target different platforms from a single SDK installation.

Across the next few weeks, more blogs will be released with support documents to help developers prepare their applications and the final version is expected to be released at the end of this month.

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.