Android platform v1.5 highlights and new features

Four months of discovery and hearsay later, the Android build that we’ve all been waiting for is near. The Android Developers Blog announced today the availability of an “early look” Android 1.5 SDK. This release seems like a mostly complete version of the final release, though Google warns that some of the APIs are bound to change.

Beyond the features that v1.5 brings to the end user (see below), the new SDK carries a few key changes:

• The SDK now supports multiple versions of the platform, so developers can continue to work on applications for the current release (v1.1) while preparing their apps for the next one.
• Developers can now install SDK add-ons. This allows carriers, OEMs, and other third-parties to easily expand the SDK for their needs without Google having to hold their hand.

Some important new features:

• On-screen keyboard support, with support for auto-correct, text prediction, user dictionaries, and third-party keyboard layouts
• Live folders (Auto-updating folder shortcuts for things such as YouTube favorites, Starred Contacts, and, with the API now available, whatever else developers conjure up)
• Video Recording
• MPEG4 and 3GP Video Playback
• Stereo Bluetooth
• Browser enhancements: New ultrafast “Squirrelfish” javascript engine, search within a page, copy and paste, UI changes
• New Linux Kernel
• Google Application enhancements: View Google Talk friend statuses in contacts, SMS, MMS, Gmail, and Email
• New frameworks for developers to build upon: Widget creation, Live Folder creation, Raw audio recording/playback, Video recording, Speech recognition
• Faster GPS, Faster camera startup, faster Gmail scrolling, and smoother browser scrolling

See the full article at MobileCrunch and the full feature list at Android.com.

Universal Music, YouTube near deal on music video site

Universal Music Group, the nation’s largest recording company, and YouTube are closing in on a final agreement to create a new premium music video Web site, according to sources close to the negotiations.

Universal Music Chairman and CEO Doug Morris is behind the new venture with YouTube tentatively called Vevo.

The sources said that the proposed service, which is tentatively named Vevo, would be a destination site closely linked to YouTube. Should an agreement be reached, Vevo would likely be the largest music-oriented site on the Web. Talks are ongoing, but a deal could be reached as early as the next few weeks, sources said.

A YouTube spokesman said: "We are always working with our partners to find creative ways to connect music, musicians, and fans."

Universal’s YouTube channel is by far the largest on the video site. The label’s music videos have been viewed more than 3.5 billion times.

See the full article at CNET News.

Skittles Site Receives an Extreme Social Makeover

Many companies are starting to realize that whatever content they offer online, it still can’t match the various social media offerings out there, where the community contributes to the whole.

Few, however, have taken it so far as candy maker Skittles, which replaced its entire homepage with its Twitter stream. The only think that’s left is a widget-like navigation console in the upper left part of the screen, but lo and behold: instead of pointing you to some company PR nonsense, it sends you to the Skittles entry on other popular social destinations: Wikipedia, YouTube, Flickr.

I’m not sure about the implementation: the navigation console, even when minimized, takes an important portion of the screen; I’d prefer a StumbleUpon-style top bar. I love the idea, however. Skittles is basically saying: “We get it. Whatever we can do cannot be as awesome as what you guys and girls can do, so we’ll just link to it and let you do your thing.”

See the full article at Mashable.

MTV Pulls The Plug On Embeddable Videos

When NBC Universal and News Corporation-backed Hulu launched in Fall 2007, it was a signal that old television media might actually grasp the distributive power of the internet. Not only were great programs made available for free as streaming videos, users could grab and embed them anywhere online – in their entirety or just as clips.

So it’s a bit of a shame to see another giant media conglomerate, Viacom, buck this trend and actually clamp down on the embedding of videos from the MTV Network. Yesterday in a post to its developer blog, a staff member for MTVN developer services announced that video embeds would no longer be available through MTV’s API, starting sometime in early March.

Currently, developers can build websites that embed videos from MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo (such as this one that also embeds videos from YouTube). But soon developers will be allowed to display only thumbnails and meta data associated with MTV’s videos. If users want to watch the actual videos, they’ll have to follow links back to webpages that are owned and monetized by MTVN.

See the full article at TechCrunch.

YouTube introduces paid and free downloads

After years of trying to convince us that, no — we really shouldn’t want a way to watch YouTube content offline, the company has officially confirmed that they are rolling the ability to download YouTube videos. The program is still evolving, but right now, both free and paid downloads are available from a small list of providers.

I’m can’t help but be struck by a sense of déjà vu . If you recall, the now defunct Google Video initially offered paid downloads — it was an epic failure. I don’t want to be too quick to judge, but unless YouTube implements some changes, like FAST, it is going to end the same way.

See the full article at Download Squad.