Introduction

Over the last three years, Google’s Android operating system (OS) has gone from a virtually unknown open source solution to the current mobile OS market leader among all mobile handsets, with over one-half of the market share and still climbing. Android has even started to dominate the tablet OS marketplace, and is also the foundation for the popular iTV OS known as GoogleTV as well as for e-book e-readers from Sony, Amazon (Kindle), and Barnes and Noble (Nook). There seems to be no end in sight for Android’s rocketing success, which is great news for the owners of this book.

I’ve heard a great many people say, “I have a really phenomenal idea for a smartphone and tablet application! Can you program it for me!?” Rather than sit back ...

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