The Story of Android

Heard of Android? May be you just have used it.
Android is an operating system for mobile devices. Developed by Open Handset Alliance; headed by Google and is released under a free software license. These days it is considered the best selling mobile platform in the planet.

Open Handset Alliance is an association of 84 computer technology companies looking forward to advance Open standards for mobiles. 

Android OS was originally a development by a company called Android Inc. which was purchased by Google in year 2005. At the end of 2007, Android OS release was officially declared.

The operating system kernel is based on Linux kernel. Most of the core of the OS is written in C. Android is Java Enabled and its user interface is written in Java. It is said that C++ is also used for programming. Most of its code is released to the public.

There has been several Android version releases. Each version is assigned a name of a dessert and naming continues in alphabetic order, starting from 'C'. 

Android versions: Cupcake (Android 1.5), Donut (Android 1.6), Eclair (Android 2.1), Froyo (Android 2.2), Gingerbread (Android 2.3).

The latest version is called Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0)

A large number of developers write applications for Android. This is one major reason why Android has become so popular. Most applications are based on a customized Java version. Further development and maintenance of Android is assigned to Android Open Source Project(AOSP). Some people says the next version will be 'Jelly Beans'!