The NBA has sent a C&D letter to Google, informing them that there are apps in their Android Market that infringe copyright on a few items that the NBA owns. 90+ apps are listed in the letter from the NBA’s Legal Department and they include themes, games, news apps, widgets, tweet apps, and wallpaper apps, and not all of them are paid apps.
The news comes from a 12 page scan of the letter sent to developer HydTech. I can understand the need for the NBA to claim ownership of their own property but it seems that this is going a bit overboard, these are people who are fans of your teams and people want this kind of thing, apparently. Unless the NBA plans on releasing their own versions of the same things (which I don’t see happening) they should just let it go.
(via HydTech and the HydTech Blog)
As I have used Android more and more my developer sense started to tingle and I wanted to create my own Android app. I looked at a couple of development books but they all just seemed to be the same: how to install the development environment and then all about how great the Android is to develop for. Nothing I could find actually moved past walking you through your first app on the code side. So when I was emailed about a new book by authors Shane Conder and Lauren Darcey all about Android Application Development I jumped at the chance to review it!
Android Wireless Application Development is a hefty book, weighing in at 573 pages with appendices and a CD, it is chock full of wonderful little tidbits of information that make Android so much fun to develop for. I was never a fan of Java in my programming classes but now that I see it in another light I’m slowly coming around to it. Of course the book starts you off by getting you to install Eclipse (Win/Mac/Linux) and all the tools necessary to create that app that’s going to make you rich in the end, then you are walked through how to write your first app, run it on the virtual Android phone, and then how to install it on a device to test. The book follows that with introductions in design, interface essentials, common Android APIs, 3D graphics, and finally how to deploy and sell your marvelous app through the Marketplace.
I found the book a marvellous teaching tool, it keeps your attention and has plenty of screenshots, images, and code snippets to satisfy even a beginner (like myself). I was so excited in the intro app when I was able to get my app to play a media file from the web with a small bit of code. The authors have the perfect balance of teaching and explaining that this is one book you will not get bored reading, you will definitely be ready to use what you’ve learned to make a new app as soon as you are done reading about it.
I’ll be looking for YOUR app in the marketplace soon!
Android Wireless Application Development was written by Shane Conder and Lauren Darcey and published by Pearson Education, Inc. It is available in paperback now on Amazon.com for $26.69, on Kindle for $23.75, and at your local bookstore.
