So, I recently started using the HTC Incredible (aka the Droid Incredible) and I love it.  It's so much better than previous phones I have used.  Now that I've been using it for a couple weeks, I've started getting a little more advertrous in the app market looking for things that may or may not impact the performace of the device.  There are some great apps out there, but so many of them come at a cost (all be it only a couple bucks) and not all of them have demos available. Well, long story short, my son has an iPod Touch and has found a few apps that don't exist in the app market. Me being the big nerd I am, I'm thinking some of these things are pretty simple and perhaps I could reproduce them for the android os.  The following blog post will be my ledger for thoughts and resources I happen apon as I venture to produce something usefull.  Fell free to comment or make suggestions if you feel you have something usefull to contribute.

Handy Links To Get You Started

1. http://www.eclipse.org - Because android runs applications written in Java, you will need a compiler like this to get started
   1. http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/download.php?file=/technology/epp/downloads/release/galileo/SR2/eclipse-java-galileo-SR2-win32.zip
   2. If that link doesn't work hopefully this one will - http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/
2. It's recomended you install the SDK prior to the ADT (Android Development Toolkit)
   1. http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing.html#Installing - It will helpfull if you actually read this.
   2. http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html - Location of the most recent SDK for different OS's
3. Ok, now for the ADT (Android Development Toolkit)
   1. http://developer.android.com/sdk/eclipse-adt.html
4. Now that you have it all installed and configured, time for your first program
   1. http://developer.android.com/resources/tutorials/hello-world.html - Yup, the good old "Hello World"
5. Hopefully things have gone smooth to this point,  the next step is boaring...
   1. http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/fundamentals.html - JUST READ IT.  Ya, it's not fun, but tough it out.  You will be better off for it.

So, a couple of my observations as I worked down through the list of tasks above.  Eclipse has a number of downloadable builds.  You don't need anything special.  Just get the plain jane "Eclipse IDE for Jave Developers".  It's half the size of the other options and has everything you need.  The SDK installation was straight forward.  Just follow the instrucitons and don't be afraid to download more than you need for this.  To install the ADT if you missed it in the docs is done from within eclipse by click "Help" -> "Install new software".  Click the add button and ender the following url, with or without the https, https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/.  Check the Developer Tools box and hit next.

More to come as I have time... Sorry for not proof reading this first :P