Google is allowing developers an early look at the SDK for Version 1.5 of the Google Android platform. Based on the "cupcake" branch of the Android Open Source project, this new version includes APIs for a number of new features, including home screen widgets and speech recognition.

Developers can download the Android 1.5 "Early Look" SDK here.

The Early Look SDK features a different component structure than earlier Android SDK releases, meaning that the new SDK does not work with older Eclipse plug-ins (ADT 0.8), which in turn do not work with the new Eclipse plug-in (ADT 0.9).

The tools and documentation for the new SDK are also not complete. And the APIs provided could change before the final Android 1.5 SDK release. "You should not compile any applications for distribution using this version of the SDK," the developers’ download site warns. "If you do so, your applications may not function properly when deployed to Android-powered devices running the final Android 1.5 platform."

The Android 1.5 platform includes a number of new and improved APIs and developer tools, including new UI (user interface) framework, home screen framework, media framework, input method framework and speech recognition framework. 

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