Android: One Mantra for all Mobile Devices
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By Manoj AP
Android is an operating system for mobile devices such as
smartphones and tablet computers. It is developed by the Open Handset Alliance
led by Google.
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 Rubin's words "...smarter
mobile devices that are more aware of its owner's 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.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.
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 signalled to carriers that it was
open to various degrees of cooperation on their part.
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 their 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, Packet Video, Softbank,
Sony Ericsson, Toshiba Corp, and Vodafone Group Plc.
The unveiling of the Android distribution on November 5,
2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium
of 84 hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing
open standards for mobile devices Google released most of the Android code
under the Apache License, a free software license The Android Open Source
Project (AOSP) is tasked with the maintenance and further development of
Android.
Android consists of a kernel based on the Linux kernel, 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 compiled Java code. 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. There are currently more than 520,000 apps available for
Android. Apps can be downloaded from third-party sites or through online stores
such as Android Market, the app store run by Google.
Android was listed as the best-selling smartphone platform
worldwide in Q4 2010 by Canalys with over 190 million Android devices in use by
October 2011.
Developers can create their own apps using the Android SDK
and the Java language.
About the Author: Manoj AP is an active blogger from India, he regularly blogs on science and technology. His blog: Lyconpedia
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