[levydev]

From what I've seen at the Android demonstration at Worlds, the IOIO board will not be a component used on the FTC platform. The controllers from Modern Robotics will be performing those functions in a way that will make it easy to facilitate OTG comms between the phone and the controllers. I'm also under the impression that teams will not be writing Wifi Direct routines despite that being the method of communication between devices.

I also heard that although there will no longer be a central control mechanism, there will be an attempt to ensure that a robot can be shut down in case of emergencies. (i.e. required code in place to stop motors - if say the driver station app crashes). For the 2016 season, this MAY result in a required driver station runtime app from the Google play store ( no source ). However on the robot side, source will be made available with plenty of sample code.

On Android Studio and your earlier comparison to C++:
I'd say this would be a similar experience to using RobotC in that there will be plenty of examples to use.

The phones:
I can't make any predictions whether or not FTC will require you to use the phones that come with your 2016 registration. All I can tell you is that the phone would need to support "usb host mode", have a snapdragon processor, and run KitKat. (supposedly Lollipop support is still pending).

Again - These are only my impressions from what was demonstrated at Worlds. I do not speak for FTC so I'd suggest that you continue to wait for further announcements.

Hope this helps.
David