What is it?
An Android OS based cellphone developed by Google which offers more advanced computing ability and sophisticated applications allowing features of mobile phones and handheld computers to be integrated into single device.
It started in July 2005, with the acquisition of Android Inc., a mobile software development startup by Google.
In September 2007, Google filed several patents in the area of mobile telephony.
In November 2007, a consortium of several companies known as OHA (Open Handset Alliance) led by Google was established to promote open standards for mobile devices. It also unveiled Android, an open source mobile phone platform based on Linux kernel version 2.6.
It is interesting to note that development of smartphones by various companies dates back to 1992 most notable being the Symbian based Nokia Communicator in 1996, RIM based Blackberry in 2002 and the Apple OS based iPhone in 2007.
Technology
The software stack contains Java applications running on a Java based framework. The runtime includes Java core libraries on top of a proprietary virtual machine known as ‘Dalvik’ featuring JIT (just-in-time) compilation.
Middleware includes libraries written in C which accounts for the main firepower. The WebKit engine powers the Chrome Lite browser. The OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics API and SGL 2D graphics engine make up the graphics core. SQLite lightweight relational database provides efficient storage capability.
An Android phone can also run multiple applications at the same time in the background, making multitasking easier and the functionality of the phone more fluid than other cellphones.
Android OS has been available as open source mobile platform since October 2008 promoting mobile application development all over the world. Google has also promoted its growth by releasing an Android SDK (Software Development Kit) and App Inventor for developers along with a SIM and hardware unlocked Android Dev Phone for advanced developers. It also launched competitions like ‘Android Developer Challenge’ for promoting innovative applications.
For an end user, Android boasts of the following available smart features/applications besides the regular stuff available for most mobile phones:
- All possible connectivities including GSM/EDGE, IDEN, CDMA, EV-DO, UMTS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and WiMAX.
- Support for all possible audio/video/still media formats.
- Additional hardware support including touchscreens, GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes, thermometers etc.
- Google applications like ‘Google Voice’, ‘Sky Map’, ‘MyMaps’, ‘Google Goggles’ and many others.
- Third party applications like ‘Shazam’, ‘Doodle Jump’, WeatherBug’ etc.
- Using the phone as a wireless/wired hotspot.
Analysis suggests that worldwide smartphone market share for Android stood at 3.5% by Q3 2009. Based on the popularity, Android promises to bring out many more amazing features in the forthcoming versions for the next generation smartphones.
And talking about versions the Android OS versions are really a yummy treat if you go by the names. Starting off with ‘Cupcake’ (version 1.5) the series includes ‘Donut’, ‘Éclair’ to the present ‘Froyo’ (version 2.2). Even the future versions named ‘Gingerbread’ and ‘Honeycomb’ promise to please a certain taste buds.
Check out the latest list of Android based handsets available in the market:
Nice, informative articles. Keep it up.
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