Pro Android 4

Pro Android 4 shows you how to build real-world and fun mobile apps using the new Android SDK 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich), which unifies Gingerbread for smartphones, Honeycomb for tablets and augments further with Google TV and more.

This Android 4 book updates the best selling Pro Android 3 and covers everything from the fundamentals of building apps for embedded devices, smartphones, and tablets to advanced concepts such as custom 3D components, multi-tasking, sensors/augmented reality, better accessories support and much more.

• Using the tutorials and expert advice, you'll quickly be able to build cool mobile apps and run them on dozens of Android-based smartphones.
• You'll explore and use the Android APIs, including those for media and sensors.
• And you'll check out what's new with Android 4, including the improved user interface across all Android platforms, integration with services, and more.

After reading this definitive tutorial and reference, you gain the knowledge and experience to create stunning, cutting-edge Android 4 apps that can make you money, while keeping you agile enough to respond to changes in the future.

What you’ll learn

• How to use Android 4 to build Java-based mobile apps for Android smartphones and tablets
• How to build irresistible standard and custom User Interfaces and User Experiences (UI and UX) across Android devices
• How to populate your application with data from data sources, using Content Providers
• How to create 3D graphics with OpenGL and custom components
• How to build multimedia and game apps using Android's media APIs and OpenGL
• How to use Android's location-based services, network-based services, and security
• How to use new Android features, such as Fragments and the ActionBar

Who this book is for

This book is for professional software engineers and programmers looking to move their ideas and applications into the mobile space with Android. It assumes a passable understanding of Java, including how to write classes and handle basic inheritance structures.

Table of Contents

1. Introducing the Android Computing Platform
2. Setting up Your Development Environment
3. Understanding Resources
4. Understanding Content Providers
5. Understanding Intents
6. Building User Interfaces and Using Controls
7. Adding Menus
8. Fragments
9. Dialogs: Regular and Fragment
10. Action Bar
11. Advanced Debugging and Analysis
12. Responding to Configuration Changes
13. Working with Preferences and Saving State
14. Security and Permissions
15. Working with Services
16. Exploring Packages, Processes, and Library Projects
17. Exploring Processes, Components, Threads, and Handlers
18. Advanced Async Task
19. Exploring Broadcast Receivers and Long Running Services
20. Exploring the Alarm Manager
21. Unveiling 2D Animation
22. Exploring Maps and Location Services
23. Using the Telephony APIs
24. Understanding the Media Frameworks
25. Home Screen Widgets
26. Home Screen List Widgets
27. Android Search User Experience
28. Drag and Drop
29. Using Sensors
30. Understanding the Contacts API
31. Deploying your Application: Android Market and Beyond

About the Author

Satya Komatineni has been programming for more than 20 years in the IT and Web space. He has had the opportunity to work with Assembly, C, C++, Rexx, Java, C#, Lisp, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, SVG, relational databases, object databases and related technologies. He has published more than 30 articles touching many of these areas, both in print and online. He has been a frequent speaker at O'Reilly Open Source Conference, speaking on innovations around Java and Web. Satya has done a considerable amount of original work in creating Aspire, a comprehensive open-source Java-based web framework, and has explored personal web productivity and collaboration tools through his open-source work for KnowledgeFolders.com. Satya holds a master's degree in electrical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Andhra University, India. You can find his website at SatyaKomatineni.com.

Dave MacLean is a software engineer and architect living and working in Jacksonville, Florida. Since 1980, he has programmed in many languages, developing solutions ranging from robot automation systems to data warehousing, from web self-service applications to electronic data interchange transaction processors. Dave has worked for Sun Microsystems, IBM, Trimble Navigation, General Motors, and several small companies. He graduated from the University of Waterloo in Canada with a degree in systems design engineering. Visit his blog at http://davemac327.blogspot.com or contact him at davemac327@gmail.com.