Google’s mobile phone OS “Android,” will soon be updated with several new features as a part of a major roadmap update. One of those features will include support for a video recording mode that will also let users share the content. The update, code-named “Cupcake,” has many speculating what that video sharing feature will actually look like. Some have suggested the possibility of being able to upload videos from the phone directly to YouTube. Now that’s something we would like to see!
One of the only drawbacks to Apple’s widly popular iPhone is its lack of support for video recording. Of course, you can jailbreak your iPhone, a process that removes the restrictions put in place by Apple, and then install your preferred video recording application on your newly free device. However, the regular “Joes” of the world who are purchasing the phone don’t necessarily know how to do this or care to learn. If the “other” big smartphone offered video recording support, that would be a great selling point. (Then they would just need some apps.)
We may be jumping the gun a bit in saying that there’s the possibility of video upload to YouTube just around the corner for Android – the roadmap does not specify this. There’s a vague reference to “video intent,” but no mention of YouTube or any other video sharing web sites. Still, we can’t help but hope for that feature, as it would make the Android OS an even more compelling choice for those of us who want a more open smartphone.
Upcoming Features
The “Cupcake” update does include some other features we can get excited about though, including:
- Copy and Paste will come to the web browser in addition to its new WebKit rendering engine
- Inline search will help you find text on the web page you’re viewing
- A port of the “SquirrelFish”Javascript engine from Google’s Chrome browser
- Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP) profile support and Bluetooth Remote Control (AVRCP) support
- Support for 3rd parties to make their own onscreen keyboards
The other mysterious feature listed on the Cupcake roadmap is something called “Basic x86 support.” This feature is
to mean that Android could run natively on the processors used by most modern computers. An Android netbook, perhaps?
