Google Android Compatibility Definition: Android 1.6 - Manual (Page 30)

Appendix C: Future Considerations
This appendix clarifies certain portions of this Android
1.6 Compatibility Definition, and in some cases discusses anticipated or planned changes intended for a
future version of the Android platform. This appendix is for informational and planning purposes only, and
is not part of the Compatibility Definition for Android 1.6.
1. Non-telephone Devices
Android 1.6 is intended exclusively for telephones; telephony functionality is not optional. Future versions
of the Android platform are expected to make telephony optional (and thus allow for non-phone Android
devices), but only phones are compatible with Android 1.6.
2. Bluetooth Compatibility
The Android 1.6 release of Android does not support Bluetooth APIs, so from a compatibility perspective
Bluetooth does not impose any considerations for this version of the platform. However, a future version
of Android will introduce Bluetooth APIs. At that point, supporting Bluetooth will become mandatory for
compatibility.
Consequently, we strongly recommend that Android 1.6 devices include Bluetooth, so that they will be
compatible with future versions of Android that require Bluetooth.
3. Required Hardware Components
All hardware components in Section 8 (including WiFi, magnetometer/compass, accelerometer, etc.) are
required and may not be omitted. Future versions of Android are expected to make some (but not all) of
these components optional, in tandem with corresponding tools for third-party developers to handle these
changes.
4. Sample Applications
The Compatibility Definition Document for a future version of Android will include a more extensive and
representative list of applications than the ones listed in Section 4, above. For Android 1.6, the
applications listed in Section 4 must be tested.
5. Touch Screens
Future versions of the Compatibility Definition may or may not allow for devices to omit touchscreens.
However, currently much of the Android framework implementation assumes the existence of a
touchscreen; omitting a touchscreen would break substantially all current third-party Android applications,
so in Android 1.6 a touchscreen is required for compatibility.