For this course, you will need one computer for each student and one for the instructor. Each computer will need the following minimum hardware configurations:

• 2 gigahertz (GHz) 64-bit processor that supports the VT-x or AMD-V virtualization instruction set.
• 6 gigabytes (GB) of Random Access Memory (RAM) (8 GB recommended).
• 100 GB storage drive.
• Monitor capable of a screen resolution of at least 1,024 × 768 pixels.
• Display adapter.
• Bootable DVD-ROM and/or USB drive.
• Keyboard and mouse or a compatible pointing device.
• Network cards and cabling for local network access.
• Internet access (contact your local network administrator).
• Projection system to display the instructor's computer screen.

Android Devices:

Android devices are not required to teach this course. To enable you to equip a classroom inexpensively and with minimal effort, this course has been designed around the use of emulated (rather than real) Android devices, focusing on an emulated API level 22 smartphone and an API level 23 tablet.

This course could be taught using real devices, if you have smartphones and a tablet available for each student that meet these requirements. However, if you choose to use real devices, you should key through the course completely before you teach the class to ensure that you will be able to deal with any differences that may arise between the configuration of the real devices and the emulated devices.

Even if you do not have enough real devices to equip the classroom, you might consider providing opportunities for students to experiment with those that you have on hand. Students might find it beneficial to learn to work with real devices as an activity above and beyond those provided in the student manual. Practice labs provide a good opportunity for students to do such experimentation.

Emulation Technology and Processor Requirements:

The emulators that come with the Android SDK are optimized to run on Intel® processors with the VT-x virtualization instruction set. If VT-x isn't enabled, you must enable it from the computer's BIOS. The course was developed using emulators that take advantage of Intel's HAXM virtualization engine. This significantly increases the speed of the emulators.

However, if you teach this course on computers with AMD processors, you can still run the SDK's emulators. Instead of installing the Intel x86 Atom system images as detailed in the upcoming setup, you must install the ARM EABI system images instead. These may run considerably slower, however. You must also ensure that AMD-V is enabled in the system's BIOS.

Alternatively, you may want to consider running the Genymotion emulators (www.genymotion.com). These emulators can run on both Intel and AMD CPUs. Keep in mind that this course was not designed with or tested on the Genymotion emulators, so you need to verify performance and functionality before teaching with them.

Another factor that affects performance is the power of the display adapter. The Android emulators can use software to display graphics, or they can use the computer's hardware display adapter. The latter offers improved performance, especially in graphics-intensive apps. Using computers with modern display adapters is highly recommended.