Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Some provisioning applications allow the user to paste in the UDID.
Recently, some services can also detect the UDID via a website
connection, doing away with the need to copy the device ID from iTunes.
Google's Android
Hot on the heels of Apple's unveiling of the iPhone SDK, Google
followed up with the first announcement of its new mobile operating
system: Android. This operating system is a mostly open-source-
based system centered around a Linux kernel, although the kernel has
been heavily modified enough, so that it is now considered a fork, or
separate version. In fact, at this point, full compatibility with existing
Linux systems is quite difficult to implement. Similar to Apple, Google
has been taking steps to make sure app and hardware developers
don't fragment their codebase.
Credit:
Jeremy Engel.
The Android operating system can be implemented on compatible
mobile hardware, including tablets and laptops, from any maker.
Thus there is a huge and growing market for Android with a number
of better- and lesser-known brands. Similar to App store, Google has
taken the same approach as Apple with the launch of the Google
Play Store.
One dif erence between iOS and Android is that device makers
supporting Android can implement certain features or applications
voluntarily. As a result, Android's market is more atomized and
varied. Depending on the device you use, certain features are
available and others disabled. Still, the overall trend is that older,
less-featured versions are becoming less common. Like iOS, Android
has gone through several revisions. Each is named after a dessert:
Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream
Sandwich, and Jellybean, with Kit Kat being the most recent.
SOUND ON ANDROID
Sound on Android is handled mainly by its Linux kernel, and
requires OpenSL ES to run. This is an embedded device library that
is roughly similar to OpenAL. One big dif erence is that OpenSL ES
does include MIDI Support. OpenSL ES uses what it calls Proi les to
help carry out basic audio tasks. These tasks include music playback
(similar to iPod or other players), plus phone UI and ringtones. There
is also a more full featured version of OpenSL ES that is used for
gaming and features positional (3D) audio, ef ects and more.
