What is Android?• a Linux-based operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, developed by Google in conjunction with the Open Handset Alliance. Android was initially developed by Android Inc., whom Google financially backed and later purchased in 2005.The unveiling of the Android distribution in 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 86 hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. Google releases the Android code as open-source, under the Apache License. The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is tasked with the maintenance and further development of Android.• Android has a large community of developers writing applications ("apps") that extend the functionality of the devices. Developers write primarily in a customized version of Java, and apps can be downloaded from online stores such as Google Play (formerly Android Market), the app store run by Google, or third-party sites. In June 2012, there were more than 600,000 apps available for Android, and the estimated number of applications downloaded from Google Play was 20 billion.• Android became the world’s leading smartphone platform at the end of 2010.[ For the first quarter of 2012, Android had a 59% smartphone market share worldwide. At the half of 2012, there were 400 million devices activated and 1 million activations per day.
Foundation &Google Acquisition• Android, Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California, United States in October 2003 by Andy Rubin (co-founder of Danger), Rich Miner(co-founder of Wildfire Communications, Inc.), Nick Sears(once VP at T-Mobile), and Chris White (headed design and interface development at WebTV) to develop, in Rubins words "...smarter mobile devices that are more aware of its owners location and preferences". Despite the obvious past accomplishments of the founders and early employees, Android Inc. operated secretly, revealing only that it was working on software for mobile phones. That same year, Rubin ran out of money. Steve Perlman, a close friend of Rubin, brought him $10,000 in cash in an envelope and refused a stake in the company.• Google acquired Android Inc. on August 17, 2005, making Android Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Google. Key employees of Android Inc., including Andy Rubin, Rich Miner and Chris White, stayed at the company after the acquisition. Not much was known about Android Inc. at the time of the acquisition, but many assumed that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market with this move.[• At Google, the team led by Rubin developed a mobile device platform powered by the Linux kernel. Google marketed the platform to handset makers and carriers on the promise of providing a flexible, upgradable system. Google had lined up a series of hardware component and software partners and signaled to carriers that it was open to various degrees of cooperation on their part.[Speculation about Googles intention to enter the mobile communications market continued to build through December 2006.Reports from the BBC and The Wall Street Journal noted that Google wanted its search and applications on mobile phones and it was working hard to deliver that. Print and online media outlets soon reported rumors that Google was developing a Google-branded handset. Some speculated that as Google was defining technical specifications, it was showing prototypes to cell phone manufacturers and network operators.• In September 2007, InformationWeek covered an Evalueserve study reporting that Google had filed several patent applications in the area of mobile telephony.
Open Handset Alliance &Android Open Source Project • On November 5, 2007, the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of several companies which include Broadcom Corporation, Google, HTC, Intel, LG, Marvell Technology Group,Motorola, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and Texas Instruments unveiled itself. The goal of the Open Handset Alliance is to develop open standards for mobile devices. On the same day, the Open Handset Alliance also unveiled its first product, Android, a mobile device platform built on the Linux kernel version 2.6. • On December 9, 2008, 14 new members joined, including ARM Holdings, Atheros Communications, Asustek Computer Inc, Garmin Ltd, Huawei Technologies, PacketVideo, Softbank, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba Corp, and Vodafone Group Plc. • The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is led by Google, and is tasked with the maintenance and development of Android.According to the project "The goal of the Android Open Source Project is to create a successful real-world product that improves the mobile experience for end users."[AOSP also maintains the Android Compatibility Program, defining an "Android compatible" device "as one that can run any application written by third-party developers using the Android SDK and NDK", to prevent incompatible Android implementations. The compatibility program is also optional and free of charge, with the Compatibility Test Suite also free and open-source.
Design • Android consists of a kernel based on the Linux kernel 2.6 and Linux Kernel 3.x (Android 4.0 onwards), with middleware, libraries and APIs written in C and application software running on an application framework which includes Java-compatible libraries based on Apache Harmony. Android uses the Dalvik virtual machine with just-in-time compilation to run Dalvik dex- code (Dalvik Executable), which is usually translated from Java bytecode. • The main hardware platform for Android is the ARM architecture. There is support for x86 from the Android x86 project, and Google TV uses a special x86 version of Android.
Features9) Streaming media support• RTP/RTSP streaming (3GP PSS, ISMA), HTML progressive download (HTML5 <video> tag). Adobe Flash Streaming (RTMP) and HTTP Dynamic Streaming are supported by the Flash plugin. Apple HTTP Live Streaming is supported by RealPlayer for Android, and by the operating system in Android 3.0 (Honeycomb).10) Additional hardware support• Android can use video/still cameras, touchscreens, GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes, barometers, magnetometers, dedicated gaming controls, proximity and pressure sensors, thermometers, accelerated 2D bit blits (with hardware orientation, scaling, pixel format conversion) and accelerated 3D graphics.11)Multi-touch• Android has native support for multi-touch which was initially made available in handsets such as the HTC Hero. The feature was originally disabled at the kernel level (possibly to avoid infringing Apples patents on touch-screen technology at the time Google has since released an update for the Nexus One and the Motorola Droid which enables multi-touch natively.12)Bluetooth• Supports A2DP, AVRCP, sending files (OPP), accessing the phone book (PBAP), voice dialing and sending contacts between phones. Keyboard, mouse and joystick (HID) support is available in Android 3.1+, and in earlier versions through manufacturer customizations and third-party applications.13)Video calling• Android does not support native video calling, but some handsets have a customized version of the operating system that supports it, either via the UMTS network (like the Samsung Galaxy S) or over IP. Video calling through Google Talk is available in Android 2.3.4 and later. Gingerbread allows Nexus S to place Internet calls with a SIP account. This allows for enhanced VoIP dialing to other SIP accounts and even phone numbers. Skype 2.1 offers video calling in Android 2.3, including front camera support.14) Multitasking• Multitasking of applications, with unique handling of memory allocation, is available.15)Voice based features• Google search through voice has been available since initial release.Voice actions for calling, texting, navigation, etc. are supported on Android 2.2 onwards.
Features16) Tethering• Android supports tethering, which allows a phone to be used as a wireless/wired Wi- Fi hotspot. Before Android 2.2 this was supported by third-party applications or manufacturer customizations.17)Screen capture• Android supports capturing a screenshot by pressing the power and volume-down buttons at the same time. Prior to Android 4.0, the only methods of capturing a screenshot were through manufacturer and third-party customizations or otherwise by using a PC connection (DDMS developers tool). These alternative methods are still available with the latest Android.18)External storage• Most Android devices include microSD slot and can read microSD cards formatted with FAT32, Ext3 or Ext4 file system. To allow use of high-capacity storage media such asUSB flash drives and USB HDDs, many Android tablets also include USB A receptacle. Storage formatted with FAT32 is handled by Linux Kernel VFAT driver, while 3rd party solutions are required to handle other popular file systems such as NTFS, HFS Plus and exFAT.
Uses• While Android is designed primarily for smartphones and tablets, the open and customizable nature of the operating system allows it to be used on other electronics, including laptops and netbooks, smartbooks ebook readers, and smart TVs (Google TV). Further, the OS has seen niche applications on wristwatches, headphones, car CD and DVD players, smart glasses (Project Glass), refrigerators, vehicle satnav systems, home automation systems, games consoles, mirrors,cameras,portable media players, landlines, and treadmills.The first commercially available phone to run Android was the HTC Dream, released on October 22, 2008. In early 2010 Google collaborated with HTC to launch its flagship Android device, the Nexus One. This was followed later in 2010 with the Samsung- made Nexus S and in 2011 with the Galaxy Nexus.• iOS and Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread may be set up to dual boot on a jailbroken iPhone or iPod Touch with the help of OpeniBoot and iDroid.
• An Android phone is a smartphone running on Googles open-source Android operating system. Many different manufacturers make Android phones, including HTC, Motorola, and Samsung. Dozens and dozens of different Android phones are now available, and all of the major cellular carriers in the U.S. offer Android phones.• Originally derived from the Linux desktop operating system, Android is a customizable platform that can look and feel very different on very different handsets. That means that an HTC Android phone will look and operate differently than an Android phone made by Samsung. It also means that an HTC Android phone from T-Mobile wont be exactly like an HTC Android phone that runs on Sprints network.
• Still, all Android phones do share some common features. All of them have touchscreens. Some also have hardware keyboards, but not all of them do. All come with a desktop that is made up of a certain number of screens (some Android phones have 3, others have 5, while still others have 7) that you can customize to your liking. You can populate screens with shortcuts to apps or widgets that display news headlines, search boxes, or more.• All Android phones also offer access to the Android Market, where you can download Android apps. As of this writing, more than 150,000 apps are available in the Android Market.
• Googles Android operating system is an open-source platform thats currently available on a wide variety of smartphones. Android has its advantages -- its highly customizable, for one -- but its also somewhat geeky software that can seem intimidating to smartphone newbies.• Android is available on a variety of handsets, including Googles Nexus One (which is manufactured by HTC) and Verizons Motorola Droid. The open nature of the Android platform allows handset manufacturers to customize the software for use on their handsets. As a result, the Android software can look and feel very different on different handsets.
• All Android smartphones are touch-screen devices; some -- but not all -- have hardware keyboards, too. All come with a desktop that is made up of a certain number of screens (some Android phones have 3, others have 5, while still others have 7) that you can customize to your liking. You can populate screens with shortcuts to apps or widgets that display news headlines, search boxes, or more. The customization is certainly a bonus; no other smartphone platform offers as much flexibility in setting up your desktop screens to your liking.• In addition to using shortcuts on your various screens for accessing apps and files, Android also offers a comprehensive menu. You access the menu in different ways on different phones, but none of them make it difficult to find. From the menu, you can click on the small but neatly organized icons to access apps and features like the Android Market.
• The Android interface will vary slightly from phone to phone, but, in general, the software itself has become more polished looking over time. The first version, which I reviewed on theT-Mobile G1 more than a year ago, was somewhat rough around the edges, appearance wise. The latest version, 2.1, which I tested on the new Nexus One, is far sleeker looking.• But even in its latest version, the Android interface lacks some of the polish and pizzazz found in two of its key rivals: Apples iPhone OS and Palms webOS. Both of these platforms look more elegant than Android. The iPhone OS, in particular, is a bit more intuitive to use; getting comfortable with Android can take more time and practice.
Application• Androids open nature means that almost anyone can create an application to run on it. And you will find a growing selection of titles available in the Android Market, the platforms answer to Apples App Store. Android supports multi-tasking, too, so you can run multiple apps at once. This means you can open a Web page, for example, and as it loads, check for incoming e- mail. Its handy.• Android also has the benefit of being closely tied to Google; the company offers lots of excellent mobile apps. Some, like Google Maps, are available on different mobile platforms, but others, like the excellent Google Maps Navigation (beta), are only available on Android phones.