Google dropped Bluetooth and the GTalkService instant messaging APIs (application program interfaces) from the set of tools for the first version of the mobile phone OS, Android 1.0, according to the Android Developers Blog.

But the company made clear that handsets using the Android OS will work with other Bluetooth devices such as headsets, for example.

Dropping the Bluetooth API means software developers won’t be able to create applications that utilize Bluetooth for the Android OS. Bluetooth is a short-range radio technology that allows devices to work and communicate together wirelessly. An API is a set of tools and protocols designed to help programmers build new software applications.

The company opted to drop the Bluetooth API because “we plain ran out of time,” said Nick Pelly, one of the Android engineers responsible for the Bluetooth API, on the blog posting.

“The Android Bluetooth API was pretty far along, but needs some clean-up before we can commit to it for the SDK (software developer’s kit),” he added.

Google promised to support a Bluetooth API in a future release of Android, “although we don’t know exactly when that will be.”