The Google Android Team released a new Android SDK update. The version is now m5-rc15. Here are the details.

Earlier today we released an update to the Android SDK – we’re calling it m5-rc15. With this update, the SDK now includes all of the incremental changes we’ve been making to the online documentation since m5-rc14 was released in mid-February. In addition to the latest documentation, we’ve also fixed a security issue involving handling of image files.

We recommend that you install m5-rc15 at your earliest convenience. The update doesn’t change any of the Android APIs or introduce any new ones. Eclipse users don’t need to update the ADT plug-in either.

Once you’ve unzipped the file on your machine, you will want to update things like your PATH variable and, if you’re using Eclipse, the SDK location setting for ADT (hint: Preferences > Android).

[via Android Developers Blog]

Do you want to see what the Android team at Google’s been cooking up for Android?  Now here’s your chance!  The team just released apps-for-android which is a compilation of apps the Official Google Android team has created that demos different aspects of the Android Platform.  Here’s what they had to say.

We are pleased to announce that a new open source project has been created on Google code hosting called apps-for-android. Our goal is to share some sample applications that demonstrate different aspects of the Android platform.

The first application to be included in the new project is called WikiNotes for Android.

For anyone not familiar with the concept of a wiki, it is a simple way to link up pages of information using WikiWords (words that use CamelCase). For example, in the previous sentence, both WikiWords and CamelCase would become live links in a Wiki, and would take you to pages of information.

WikiNotes for Android is a form of wiki known as a personal wiki. These run on desktops or (in this case) mobile computing devices, and many people like them. They bring a bit more structure to your notes than just a list of subjects. You can choose to link notes or pages up in any manner you like.

This particular implementation uses a regular expression to match WikiWords and turn them into links that fire Intents to go to other notes. Because of the way the links are implemented, the application will also create links out of telephone numbers that take you to the dialer and URLs that start up the browser.

Search by title and content is also implemented, so even if you forget the structure, you can still find that all-important note about where you left your car in the airport car park.

This wiki has a view mode and an edit mode. In view mode, the links become active and allow you to navigate to other notes, or to other activities like dialer and web browser. In edit mode, you see a plain text view that you can edit, and when you confirm the changes it goes back to view mode. There is both a menu entry and keyboard shortcut to switch to edit view, so that you can very quickly make changes. And, if you get lost in the note structure, there is also an option to take you back to the start page.

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Ever use a mobile web application and suddenly lose your cell connection? That’s happened to me many times. If you’ve shared my pain, you’ll be excited to know that we’ve launched Google Gears for mobile, which lets users access Gears-enabled mobile web apps offline. Initially available for Internet Explorer Mobile on Windows Mobile 5 and 6 devices, mobile web app developers have already started integrating Gears for mobile into their online services.

Take Zoho and Buxfer, for example: Zoho is a powerful suite of web-based productivity applications, while Buxfer is an innovative personal finance web application that helps you track your money. With Google Gears for mobile integrated into mobile Zoho and Buxfer, you can now access these web applications even when your phone is disconnected from the mobile web. Stuck on a plane? No problem — you can still read your docs on your mobile with Zoho Writer Mobile offline. Want to buy that new plasma TV, but can’t remember how much is in your account? Check your balance with Buxfer’s mobile web application, even if there is no cell phone signal. Try them out on your Windows Mobile 6 device by going to m.buxfer.com or mobile.zoho.com.

When you first access mobile Buxfer or Zoho Writer on your Windows Mobile device and go offline, you will be asked to install Google Gears for mobile. Once installed, Gears sits happily on your phone helping you stay connected to your data — even when you lose your network connection.

If you’re a developer who’s interested in creating mobile web applications using Google Gears for mobile you can find out more information on our developer site. Finally, if you’re not a Windows Mobile user, stay tuned — we’re working to roll out Google Gears for other platforms with capable web browsers, including Android.

[via Official Google Mobile Blog]