history android

Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system,middleware and key applications. Google Inc. purchased the initial developer of the software, Android Inc., in 2005. Android's mobile operating system is based on a modified version of the Linux kernel. Google and other members of the Open Handset Alliancecollaborated on Android's development and release. The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is tasked with the maintenance and further development of Android. The Android operating system is the world's best-selling smartphone platform.

Android has a large community of developers writing applications ("apps") that extend the functionality of the devices. There are currently over 150,000 apps available for Android. Android Market is the online app store run by Google, though apps can also be downloaded from third-party sites. Developers write primarily in the Java language, controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries.

The unveiling of the Android distribution on 5 November 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 80 hardware, software, and telecomcompanies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. Google released most of the Android code under the Apache License, a free software and open source license.

The Android open-source software stack consists of Java applications running on a Java-based, object-oriented application framework on top of Java core libraries running on a Dalvik virtual machine featuring JIT compilation. Libraries written in C include the surface manager, OpenCore media framework, SQLite relational database management system, OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics API, WebKit layout engine, SGL graphics engine, SSL, and Bionic libc. The Android operating system consists of 12 million lines of code including 3 million lines ofXML, 2.8 million lines of C, 2.1 million lines of Java, and 1.75 million lines of C++.

Android Inc. founded in 2003

Android, Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California, United States in October, 2003 by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, et al. to develop, in Rubin's words "...smarter mobile devices that are more aware of its owner's location and preferences." Key employees involved in the founding of Android Inc. include Andy Rubin, also the co-founder of Danger Inc., Andy McFadden, who worked with Rubin at WebTV, and Chris White, who led the design and interface of WebTV. Other crucial employees includes Richard Miner, a co-founder of Wildfire Communications, Inc. and former vice-president of Technology and innovation at Orange, and all those of whom brought considerable wireless industry experience to the company. Despite the obvious past accomplishments of the founders and early employees, Android Inc. operated secretively, admitting only that it was working on software for mobile phones.

Android Inc. acquired by Google

Google acquired Android Inc. in August, 2005, making Android Inc. a wholly-owned subsidiary of Google Inc. 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 so many assumed that Google was planning to enter the mobile phonemarket with this move.

Development accelerates

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 premise 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 Google's 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.

Version history

Main article: Android version history

Android has seen a number of updates since its original release. These updates to the base operating system typically focus on fixing bugs as well as adding new features. Generally each new version of the Android operating system is developed under a code name based on a dessert item.

The most recent released versions of Android are:

• 2.0/2.1 (Eclair), which revamped the user interface and introduced HTML5 and Exchange ActiveSync 2.5 support

• 2.2 (Froyo), which introduced speed improvements with JIT optimization and the Chrome V8 JavaScript engine, and added Wi-Fi hotspot tethering and Adobe Flash support

• 2.3/2.4 (Gingerbread), which refined the user interface, improved the soft keyboard and copy/paste features, and added support for Near Field Communication

• 3.0 (Honeycomb), a tablet-oriented release which supports larger screen devices and introduces many new user interface features, and supports multicore processors and hardware acceleration for graphics. The Honeycomb SDK has been released and the first device featuring this version, the Motorola Xoom tablet, went on sale in February 2011. Google has chosen to withhold the source code for the time being, which calls into question the "open-ness" of this Android release. Google claims this is done to eliminate manufacturers putting a tablet-specific OS on phones, much like the previous autumn, where tablet manufacturers put a non-tablet optimized phone OS (Android 2.x) on their Tablets resulting in bad user experiences.

The upcoming version of Android is:

• Ice Cream, a combination of Gingerbread and Honeycomb into a "cohesive whole, with a possible release in mid-2011