ANDROID:
Android is Google’s entry into the smartphone market as an open source solution that has been
adopted by many cell phone providers. In addition, Google has launched their own phone:
Nexus One – based on Android, available with a contract or unlocked
(www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/05/google.nexus.announcement/index.html?iref=allsearch).
Android has a robust development environment (http://developer.android.com/index.html)
with a Software Development Kit (SDK - http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html) , a
detailed development guide (http://developer.android.com/guide/basics/what-isandroid.html), and an ability to integrate with different IDEs, including: Eclipse
(http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/eclipse-adt.html) with limited support for
other IDEs.
To assist in the development process, there is a robust set of available tools
(http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/index.html) including an Android
Emulator (http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/emulator.html) and the
ability to configure Android Virtual Devices with respect to platform, hardware, etc.
(http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/avd.html).