How-to: Cupcake on the Android Emulator (with video)

[Step 1] Download the SDK from here and install it.  Once you have it installed, which is pretty painless, you can then [Step 2] download the Cupcake image files ZIP for the emulator.  Make a note of where you install the SDK (ie. “C:android-sdk”).

[Step 3] Backup your <sdk-directory>/tools/lib/images directory first, then [Step 4] extract the 3 files in the Cupcake ZIP file to that same directory (they will overwrite 3 of the existing files).

[Step 5] Then start the emulator by running <sdk-directory>/tools/emulator.exe from a command prompt or from Windows Explorer and wait for Android to boot.  You can see that part for yourself in the video, below.

That’s it.  In a few seconds you will have a virtual copy of Cupcake running so that you test out how the virtual keyboard and other new features work.