Pocket Edition

Minecraft Pocket Edition is the mobile version of Minecraft intended for Android and iOS devices, initially launching exclusively for the Xperia Play on the Android Market for $6.99/£4.28/4.99€ on August 16, 2011, along with a free demo version.

It was released for other android devices on the 7th of October 2011.

About
The objective of the game remains the same as its original PC and Xbox counterparts, where players can build virtual realities in a sandbox-like environment.

A video of an early prototype was released on Twitter, showing the game on the Xperia PLAY. The alpha version has recently been released, and as of October 7th is no longer exclusive to Xperia PLAY. The non-exclusive version was going to be released on September 29th for Android but there were several severe bugs that needed to be fixed; the release was delayed until the 7th of October. A version for iOS devices is coming before 2012.

Gameplay
The gameplay of the pocket edition is akin to that of the Classic game mode, with the following differences:
 * The terrain generation is similar to that of Alpha's. It lacks many biomes, Caves, and other Generated Structures.
 * In the Pocket Edition one has the ability to place only Wooden Planks, Cobblestone, Sandstone, Dirt, Brick, Stone, Torches, Ladders, yellow Flowers, various shades and colours of Wool, Glass, Leaves, stone and wooden Stairs, stone Slabs, (Oak) Wood, Gold (Block), Iron (Block), Diamond (Block), Sugarcane, Cyan Flowers, Mushrooms and Obsidian.
 * Blocks that exist but are unobtainable are Ice, Snow, Lava, Water, Coal Ore, Iron Ore, Gold Ore, Diamond Ore, Redstone Ore, Grass, Clay, (Birch and Pine/Spruce) Wood, Bedrock and Gravel.
 * The Pocket Edition does not have a visble sky.
 * Water in the pocket edition is finite as compared to the infinite water in Classic.
 * It lacks many of the settings the Classic version has.
 * Neither sand or gravel move directly above the nearest block directly below them (this was Classic's version of falling).
 * The hot bar only contains three different blocks (or 8 for the Xperia Play version)
 * Spawn points cannot be set in the Pocket Edition.

Android Phone
The Android phone features a d-pad at the bottom-left corner of the screen, which controls movement. The jump button is located in the center of the d-pad. Note that when moving towards an adjacent block that is one level higher than the player, the player will jump. One can place blocks by tapping the screen in a desired location. Destroying is similar but rather than tapping, hold. The search button will change the view and the menu and back buttons will open the pause screen. To open the inventory screen, tap the triple dotted button on the right of the hot bar.

System Requirements
According to Aron Nieminen., the system requirements are:


 * Android 2.1 or later
 * The phone must have a CPU that supports floating-point calculations ("ARM-v7a code")
 * The screen must support multi-touch
 * An internet connection is required for multiplayer & to download the game

Aron says that the CPU called "MSM7227" is NOT supported, which unfortunately is in a lot of smartphone models.

According to Kappische, pocket edition won't work with phones that suck - this refers to phones that have under 1 GHz processor and Android version lower than 2.3.

Though some phones below those specs have been known to work fine.

A full list of (in)compatible devices and the performance on said devices can be found here.

Trivia

 * Torches, Redstone Ore and Lava are the only form of lighting in the Pocket Edition.
 * Only 18/36 Blocks are available in the Demo Pocket Edition.
 * Torch light is very faint and only spreads for one block, it is unknown whether this is a glitch or meant to be in the game.
 * Pocket Edition's save files are not compatible with those from the PC version.
 * There are no player skins in either version of Pocket Edition.

Helpful Hints & Tips

 * Make sure your battery is charged, and/or plugged in (As 3D gaming on Android Drains Battery).
 * Have at least a 500k internet speed for Multiplayer.
 * You downloaded Pocket Edition from the Android Market, and not a 3rd party application (which may include viruses in your download).
 * Get used to the controls before playing on servers (it is easy to mine the block under a torch by mistake).
 * You can't use ladders to make water elevators or underwater bases, as water destroys ladders.

Version-Exclusive Blocks

 * Cyan Flower
 * Camera