Google Releases Donut To Developers, Says Farewell To Cupcake

By AIC Staff on July 27th, 2009 9

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There is something about Google Android operating systems that always gets me hungry…hmm.

Donut

On July 26, Google released the “Donut” branch to developers which is widely believed to eventually become Android 2.0. The Donut branch, much like the Cupcake branch, will be available for our HTC Dream/Magic devices and essentially all HTC devices, whether they are branded “with Google” or “Rogers” (remember the SenseUI issue).

android-art The Donut branch is to bring a slew of new features to Android that include, but are not limited to Universal Search, which allows local and online search through the device apps, a text to speech API, handwriting gestures, such as drawing the letter “M” and being taken to that letter position in a contact list, music list, etc and automated backups.

There are also updates coming in the way of a redesigned camera application, new widgets including a home screen toggle for Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, and Brightness and probably the most significant update is multitouch with gesture support, which is likely the most sought after feature of the Donut branch.

Donut does not equal Android 2.0

As many continue to believe that Donut will eventually become Android 2.0, more recently an Android Team Member “Romain Guy” has said that Donut is in fact not Android 2.0. Furthermore he claims that Donut will not include multitouch support, as previously discussed.

While Donut may not be Android 2.0, it may more likely be version 1.6 or another incremental fix eventually leading up to version 2.0. This is similar to Cupcake, which was not officially version 1.5, but improvements made in the Cupcake branch did eventually become what is now known to be Android 1.5.

However, the rumored withdrawal of multitouch support, if true, is sure to draw criticisms, as this was the feature that I, along with many others, was looking forward to. At this time however, neither of the two claims have been officially confirmed.

Since Donut has just been released to developers, a release date has yet to be confirmed but it seems that Donut, or Android 2.0, will be a welcomed update.