History of Android

Android is the operating system for mobile phones based on Linux that provides an open platform for developers to create their own applications for use by a variety of mobile devices.

At first, Google Inc. bought Android Inc. - newcomers who make software for mobile phones. Then to develop Android, formed the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 34 companies for hardware, software, and telecommunications, including Google, HTC, Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, T-Mobile, and Nvidia.

At the debut release of Android, 5th November 2007, with the Open Handset Alliance Android states support the development of open standards on mobile devices. On the other hand, Google released the Android code under the Apache license, a license is open standard software and mobile devices.

In this world there are two types of distributors operating system Android. The first fully supported by Google or Google Mail Services (GMS) and the second is a completely free distribution without the direct support from Google, also known as the Open Handset Distribution (OHD).

Additionally, Android has some different features with another OS such as:

1. Application Framework, applications that support the replacement of components and reusable.
2. Dalvik virtual machine optimized for mobile devices
3. Integrated browser based on open source WebKit engine
4. The graphics are optimized and supported by a 2D graphics library, 3D graphics based on OpenGL ES 1.0 specification (hardware acceleration optional)
5. SQLite for data storage
6. Support media that supports audio, video, and images (MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG, GIF)
7. GSM Telephony (hardware dependent)
8. Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, and WiFi (hardware dependent)
9. Camera, GPS, compass, and accelerometer (hardware dependent)
10. Development environment is full and rich, including the device emulator, tools for debugging, memory and performance profiles, and plugins for the Eclipse IDE

Android has already developed into a variety of versions, which was originally from the Android version 1.1 has now reached the Android version 4.0 (ICS: Ice Cream Sandwich), follows from the first Android version until now and will continue to evolve.

• Android version 1.1
• Android version 1.5 (Cupcake)
• Android version 1.6 (Donut)
• Android version 2.0/2.1 (Eclair)
• Android version 2.2 (Froyo: Frozen Yogurt)
• Android version 2.3 (Gingerbread)
• Android version 3.0/3.1 (Honeycomb)
• Android version 4.0 (ICS: Ice Cream Sandwich)