Android
Introduction to Android
Android is a Linux based operating system that is designed
primarily for touch screen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet
computers. The android operating system have developed a lot in the last 15
years starting from black and white phones to the recent smartphones or various
mini computers. It is one of the most widely used mobile operating system these
days. The android software was first developed in Palo Alto of California
in 2003.
The android is a very
powerful operating system and it supports a large number of applications in the
Smartphones used now-a-days. These applications are more comfortable and
advanced for the users to use. The hardware that supports the android software is based on ARM (Advanced
RISC Machine) architecture platform. The
android is an open source operating system which
means that it is free and any one can use it. The android has got millions of
apps which are easily available for everyone that can help us manage our life
in one or the other way. It is available for a very cheap cost in market.
Android applications are
written in java programming language.
Android is available as open source for developers to develop applications which
can be further used for selling in android market. There are thousands of
Applications which are developed for android with over 3 billion+ downloads.
Even other packages like API and JSE are not supported. Android depends upon
Linux version 2.6 for the
core system services such as memory management, process management security, and network management. For
software development, Android provides Android SDK (Software development kit) which allows us to develop various
software related to different sectors.
History and Development
In October 2003, the company
Android Inc. was founded in
Palo Alto, California. Its four founders were Rich Miner, Nick Sears, Chris
White, and Andy Rubin. At the time of its starting, Rubin quoted by
saying that Android Inc. was going to develop “smarter mobile devices that are
more aware of its owner’s location and preferences.” The company made pitches
to investors in 2004 that showed how Android, installed on a camera, would
connect wirelessly to a PC and further the PC would then connect to an “Android
Datacenter,” where people could store their photos and different memories
online on a cloud server without the need of any transfer medium.
In 2005, the next huge
change in Android’s history was made when the original company was bought by
Google. Rubin and other founding members of the Android Inc. stayed on for developing
the OS under their new owners. The Linux was used as the basis for the Android OS, and which
meant that Android itself could be offered to third-party mobile phone
manufacturers for free. Google and the Android team then thought of making
money by offering other services that used the OS, including apps.
Google had released two of
its alpha builds before the company launched the public beta of version 1.0 for
developers Nov. 5, 2007.
In Sept. 2008, the very
first android smartphone, the T-Mobile G1, also known as
the HTC dream throughout the world. It went on sale in the
U.S. Oct. of that year. The phone had its 3.2-inch touchscreen combined with a
QWERTY physical keyboard.
However, the Android 1.0 OS inside had already
the trademarks of the Google’s business plan for the OS. It had integrated a
number of the company’s other products and services which included Google Maps,
YouTube, and an HTML browser (pre-Chrome),
that used Google’s search services. It also had the first version of Android
Market, the app store that had dozens of unique, first-of-a-kind Android
applications.
While most Android releases have candy or
dessert-style code names, the first version of the OS (1.0) which was publicly
released in Sept. 2008 did not have a code name. It was not until the launch of
Android 1.5, just a few months later in April 2009 that the OS version got its
first public code name: “Cupcake.” The credit for naming Android versions after
sweet candy and desserts has traditionally gone to its project manager at
Google, Ryan Gibson.
From 2008 to 2013, Hugo
Barra served as product spokesperson, representing Android at press conferences
and Google I/O, Google's annual developer-focused conference. He left
Google in August 2013 to join Chinese phone maker Xiaomi. In June 2014,
Google announced Android one, a set of "hardware reference
models" that would "allow [device makers] to easily create
high-quality phones at low costs", designed for consumers in developing
countries.
A report from The
Information in January 2017 stated that Google is expanding its low-cost
Android One program into the
United States, although The Verge notes that the company will
presumably not produce the actual devices itself. Google introduced the Pixel and Pixel 3XL in
October 2016, marketed as being the first phones made by Google, and
exclusively featured certain software features, such as the Google
Assistant, before wider rollout.
One of the Android’s selling points is the ability to break down the application
boundaries. Another advantage or bonus point for android is that it is easily
developed, not to mention the speed of the application development. A large
community of developers are continuously changing and designing apps that
enhance the capability of devices. These apps are then made available worldwide
through Google’s Android Market, or other third-party sites.
Soon the development of
various versions have made Android OS a lot better than
other OS. Almost 70% of the smartphones and other devices are currently using
this OS.
