I FIRST STARTED PLAYING WITH THE ANDROID SDK before it was offi cially released as a 1.0 release. Back then, the tools were unpolished, the APIs in the SDK were unstable, and the documentation was sparse. Fast forward two and a half years, Android is now a formidable mobile operating system, with a following no less impressive that the iPhone. Having gone through all the growing pains of Android, I think now is the best time to start learning about Android programming — the APIs have stabilized and the tools have improved. But one thing remains: Getting started is still an elusive goal for many. What’s more, Google has recently released their latest version of the Android SDK — 3.0, for tablet development. The Android 3.0 SDK comes with several new features for tablet developers, and understanding all these new features requires some effort on the part of beginners. It was with this mission in mind that I was motivated to write a book that beginning Android tablet programmers could appreciate, and one that would enable them to write progressively sophisticated applications.

This book was written to help jump-start beginning Android developers, in particular developers targeting tablet devices. It covers just enough for you to get started with tablet programming using Android. You will learn the basics of the new features in Android 3.0. For a more comprehensive overview of the various programming capabilities of Android, I suggest you look at my other book, Beginning Android Application Development (Wrox, 2011).

To make the learning interesting, this book walks through the process of building two projects. The fi rst project shows how to build a mapping application for your Android tablet. You will be able to monitor your current location using the built-in GPS, cellular, and wireless network connections. In addition, you will be able to view your location using the Google Maps. The second project demonstrates how to build a pair of location tracker applications, allowing you to track the geographical locations of other Android users through the use of SMS messaging. These two projects serve as a solid starting point for building real-life tablet applications. Have fun!