Android bluetooth API won’t be in SDK 1.0

I’ve just read an email about Google’s explanation of why the bluetooth API for Android won’t be in version 1.0 of the SDK. It’s kinda sad ‘coz we’d have to also see some delays in I would imagine pretty good ways of using bluetooth in an open mobile platform. Google explains …

that first of all, a bluetooth API WILL be part of the Android SDK. With that said, the main reason for the delay is that they would want to put out an API that’s very much ready to take on the wide possibilities of using such an API.

The bluetooth API of Android, as some of you already know is actually based on the bluetooth protocol stack from bluez. Bluez is the only bluetooth software that is used in linux distros (as far as i know). With version 4.0 of Bluez coming soon, Google would want to take some more time to come up with an Android Bluetoth API that they are ready to support for several years.

I do hope that the version 1.0 Bluetooth API of Android will be very good since I think that bluetooth is such an under-utilize device in a mobile phone. I can just imagine the possibilities of software that can use such a robust and usable means of communication such as bluetooth.

Although bluetooth is a standard, in my experience implementatons are such a frustration and I wish that an open mobile platform such as Android would really be widely accepted globally. With the promise of a good bluetooth communications API, a lot of creative developers would really benefit.