Android™ 3 SDK Programming For Dummies®

Chapter 1

Taking a Quick Look at Mobile Applications on Android

In This Chapter

• Knowing what makes mobile application development interesting, challenging, and different from web and desktop app development
• Understanding Android development platform advantages
• Seeing how Android applications make use of Android's capabilities
• Overviewing Android application design

Mobile devices are everywhere. For cellphones alone, the current ownership level in the United States has more than quadrupled from approximately one phone per every four people in 1998 to (as of 2011) a little less than one phone per person, with 35 percent of these phones being smartphones (http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/07/11/pew.smartphone.report.gahran/), such as the Apple iPhone and the BlackBerry — and, of course, Android devices, which can run powerful applications that can truly make a difference in how people live, work, and play. Many folks already use smartphones just as they used to use computers: They create and edit documents; interact with others via e-mail, telephone, and chat; play highly entertaining games; and shop and manage money. Even schools, which used to ban cellphones in the classroom, are considering delivering educational material to students via smartphones. In other words, because the smartphone is ubiquitous and becoming increasingly robust, you might say that it's now our primary computing and communication device.

The smartphone is more than simply a computing and communication ...