Over the past 24-hours, electronic archeologists — of sorts — have been sifting through the Android 2.3 SDK looking for little nuggets of information that could indicate future features destined to drop on Google’s mobile OS. It hasn’t taken the software sleuths very long, as they have found several interesting artifacts under the SDK’s hood: video chat icons and API calls for a PlayStation-like controller.
The presence video chat icons are pretty self explanatory. We don’t have to stretch our imaginations very far to envision Google incorporating Google Talk video-chat — a service that is up and running on the desktop — into Android. At yesterday’s D:Dive Into Mobile talk, Google’s Andy Rubin showed-off a prototype Motorola tablet. When Mr. Rubin powered the tablet on, he noted that we were looking at a version of Google Talk that had video chat icons before quickly clearing it off the screen. Google’s next developer phone, the Nexus S, includes a front-facing video camera, making a video-chat feature both expected and likely in the very near future.
The second bit of information comes in the form of API calls. Android now includes calls for R1, R2, L1, L2, select, and start keys, similar to those found on a PlayStation controller. The fabled PlayStation Phone is anything but a secret and hopefully — if the device ever comes to market — it will be rocking out with Android 2.3.
Read [Chat Icons] Read [API Calls]
