Inspiration For Developers: Want Examples Of Excellent Android Code, Including The Fragments API? Google Just Open Sourced The I/O 2011 Android App

Beginning and experienced developers will appreciate the latest altruistic move by the core Android team member Roman Nurik who, now that the Google I/O conference is over, revealed the full sources for the I/O 2011 Android app for everyone to see.

If you haven’t used the app yet, I am here to tell you that it’s an Android masterpiece, in both UI/UX (user interface/usability) and coding paradigms. The app utilizes the new Fragments APIheavily, so the source should provide plenty of implementation guidelines for those just picking it up. Thanks to the said Fragments, it runs great on both Honeycomb tablets and phones, making its code the perfect example of a relatively complex Android app done very-very right.

Thank you, Roman – your work is much appreciated.

If you want to play with the app itself without having to build it, you can grab it from the Markethere.

Source: Google Code

 

Skyhook Joins Forces With MapQuest, Brings More Accurate Navigation To

Mapquest’s navigation app already offers a slew of features that we’ve come to expect from a worthy GPS app, but it has recently seen an update that brings Skyhook’s hybrid positioning engine into the mix. This engine not only uses satellites for global positioning, but it also judges accurate location by using nearby WiFi networks (Google Location does this as well – but Skyhook utilizes their own proprietary magic and claim it’s more accurate).

  

Even though Google and Skyhook haven’t always played nice, the addition of the Skyhook engine in Mapquest really does make it a worthy competitor to our beloved Google Navigation (some may say that it already was). It includes a swarm of the same features – like voice search, turn-by-turn voice navigation, auto-reroute, and walking or driving direction.

Mapquest is free in the Android Market, so give it a whirl and let us know how it compares to Google Navigation in your area.