Learn how to develop applications for Android mobile devices using simple examples, ready to run with your copy of the SDK. Author and Android columnist, writer, developer, and community advocate Mark L Murphy shows you what you need to know to get started on programming Android applications–everything from crafting GUIs to using GPS, accessing web services, and more!

The Android development platform, created by Google and the Open Handset Alliance, is a platform in its truest sense, encompassing hundreds of classes beyond the traditional Java classes and open source components that ship with the SDK. Some Android books race through the material, trying to cover as much ground as possible in as few pages as possible. Experienced writer and community advocate Mark Murphy shows you how to develop Android applications simply and with care.

The book includes dozens of sample projects, ready to run with your copy of the SDK–not just one huge project where you have difficulty finding the specific examples of the technique you are looking for. You can even get these sample programs online at Apress.com.

What you'll learn

* Discover what Android is and how to use Android to build Java-based mobile applications for Google Phones G1 and more phones as they hit the market

* Work with the new Android 1.x SDK

* Create user interfaces using both the Android Widget framework and the built-in WebKit-powered web browser components

* Use scripting with BeanShell

* Work with menu inflation, fonts, SDK tools, rotation events, and more

* Work with TabActivity, MyLocationOverlay, DDMS, and more

* Utilize the distinctive capabilities of the Android engine including maps, Internet access, integrated search, media playback, and more

* Use and create similar sample Android applications for services, content providers, mapping, and location-based services/events

Mark Murphy is the founder of CommonsWare and the author of The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development. A three-time entrepreneur, his experience ranges from consulting on open source and collaborative development for Fortune 500 companies to application development on just about anything smaller than a mainframe. He has been a software developer for over 25 years, working on platforms ranging from the TRS-80 to the latest crop of mobile devices. A polished speaker, Mark has delivered conference presentations and training sessions on a wide array of topics internationally.

Mark writes the "Building Droids" column for AndroidGuys and the "Android Angle" column for NetworkWorld.

Outside of CommonsWare, Mark has an avid interest in how the Internet will play a role in citizen involvement with politics and government. He is a contributor to the Rebooting America essay collection, and his personal blog features many posts discussing "cooperative democracy."