Android is an operating system based on the Linux kernel with a user interface based on direct manipulation, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, using touch inputs, that loosely correspond to real-world actions, like swiping, tapping, pinching, and reverse pinching to manipulate on-screen objects, and a virtual keyboard. Despite being primarily designed for touchscreen input, it also has been used in televisions,games consoles, digital cameras, and other electronics. Initially developed by Android, Inc., which Google backed financially and later bought in 2005,[12] Android was unveiled in 2007 along with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance—a consortium of hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standardsfor mobile devices.[13] The first publicly available smartphone running Android, the HTC Dream, was released on October 22, 2008.[14] As of 2011, Android has the largest installed base of any mobile OS and as of 2013, its devices also sell more than Windows, iOS and Mac OS devices combined.[15][16][17][18]
As of July 2013 the Google Play store has had over 1 million Android apps published, and over 50 billion apps downloaded.[19] A developer survey conducted in April–May 2013 found that 71% of mobile developers develop for Android.[20]
Android's source code is released by Google under open source licenses, although most Android devices ultimately ship with a combination of open source and proprietary software.[3] Android is popular with technology companies which require a ready-made, low-cost and customizable operating system for high-tech devices.[21] Android's open nature has encouraged a large community of developers and enthusiasts to use the open-source code as a foundation for community-driven projects, which add new features for advanced users[22] or bring Android to devices which were officially released running other operating systems. The operating system's success has made it a target for patent litigation as part of the so-called "smartphone wars" between technology companies.[23][24]Android, Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California in October 2003 by Andy Rubin (co-founder of Danger),[25] Rich Miner(co-founder of Wildfire Communications, Inc.),[26] Nick Sears[27] (once VP at T-Mobile), and Chris White (headed design and interface development at WebTV)[12] to develop, in Rubin's words "smarter mobile devices that are more aware of its owner's location and preferences".[12] The early intentions of the company were to develop an advanced operating system for digital cameras, when it was realised that the market for the devices was not large enough, and diverted their efforts to producing a smartphone operating system to rival those of Symbian and Windows Mobile.[28] Despite the past accomplishments of the founders and early employees, Android Inc. operated secretly, revealing only that it was working on software for mobile phones.[12] 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.[29]
Google acquired Android Inc. on August 17, 2005; key employees of Android Inc., including Rubin, Miner, and White, stayed at the company after the acquisition.[12]Not much was known about Android Inc. at the time, but many assumed that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market with this move.[12] 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.[30][31][32]
Speculation about Google's intention to enter the mobile communications market continued to build through December 2006.[33] The unveiling of the iPhone, atouchscreen-based phone by Apple, on January 9, 2007 had a disruptive effect on the development of Android. At the time, a prototype device codenamed "Sooner" had a closer resemblance to a BlackBerry phone, with no touchscreen, and a physical, QWERTY keyboard. Work immediately began on re-engineering the OS and its prototypes to combine traits of their own designs with an overall experience designed to compete with the iPhone.[34][35] In September 2007, InformationWeekcovered an Evalueserve study reporting that Google had filed several patent applications in the area of mobile telephony.[36][37]
On November 5, 2007, the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of technology companies including Google, device manufacturers such as HTC, Sony and Samsung, wireless carriers such as Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile, and chipset makers such as Qualcomm and Texas Instruments, unveiled itself, with a goal to develop open standards for mobile devices.[13] That day, Android was unveiled as its first product, a mobile device platform built on the Linux kernel version 2.6.25.[13][38] The first commercially available smartphone running Android was the HTC Dream, released on October 22, 2008.[14]
In 2010, Google launched its Nexus series of devices – a line of smartphones and tablets running the Android operating system, and built by a manufacturing partner. HTC collaborated with Google to release the first Nexus smartphone,[39]the Nexus One. The series has since been updated with newer devices, such as the Nexus 5 phone and Nexus 7 tablet, made by LG and Asus respectively. Google releases the Nexus phones and tablets to act as their flagship Android devices, demonstrating Android's latest software and hardware features. On March 13, 2013, it was announced by Larry Page in a blog post that Andy Rubin had moved from the Android division to take on new projects at Google.[40] He was replaced by Sundar Pichai, who also continues his role as the head of Google's Chrome division,[41] which develops Chrome OS.
Since 2008, Android has seen numerous updates which have incrementally improved the operating system, adding new features and fixing bugs in previous releases. Each major release is named in alphabetical order after a dessert or sugary treat; for example, version 1.5 Cupcake was followed by 1.6 Donut. The latest released version is 4.4.2 KitKat, which was released on December 9,2013
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