What is Android?
Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications. The Android OS is built on Linux kernel.Android is run and maintained by Google, ever since they bought ut from Android.Inc. in 2005. Android over through Nokia’s Symbian OS ,(which reigned for 10 years) to become the leading Smart-phone OS.
The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is tasked with the maintenance and further development of Android.
So What features are in Android ?
Android is basically built for portable devices like tablets and Smartphones. A Android based device is capable of doing pretty much everything that you can expect it to. Right from the basic tasks of making a call, to reading your email, or even turning your cell phone to WiFi hot spot.So are there Apps available for Android OS ?
Yes, There are a plethora of Apps available for Android.There is a huge range of apps and games available to download from the Android Market(the equivalent of Apple’s iTunes App Store).As of December 2010 there were about 200,000 games, applications and widgets available on the Android Market.Users can also install apps directly using .APK files, or from alternative app markets.(Unlike Apple, Google allows independent app stores to operate for Android).
While a majority of Apps are free, for those which are available at a premium rate only you’ll have to set up an account with Google Checkout in order to pay for apps. The you can make payment via either by debit or credit card.
Does Google Offer any Apps for Android?
Since Google now maintains the Android it has launched most of its features as Apps for Android platform. Some of the Apps offered by Google are Google Voice for the Google Voice service, Sky Map for watching stars, Finance for their finance service, Maps Editor for their MyMaps service, Places Directory for their Local Search, Google Goggles that searches by image, Gesture Search for using finger-written letters and numbers to search the contents of the phone, Google Translate, Google Shopper, Listen for podcast and My Tracks, a jogging application.
How Can i develop an App for Android ?
Well most of the coding for the Android is done in JAVA using the Android Software Development Kit, but other development tools are available, including a Native Development Kit for applications or extensions in C or C++, and Google App Inventor, a visual environment for novice programmers. If you don’t have a android device use a emulator.So Are there updates for Android?
Google has been constantly working on Android and has been releasing its updates frequently,Android has seen a number of updates since its original release. Each of the updates version name is based on the name of a dessert item.The most recent released versions of Android are:
- Cupcake: Android 1.5
- Donut: Android 1.6
- 2.0/2.1 (Eclair), which revamped the user interface and introduced HTML5 and Exchange ActiveSync 2.5 support.
- 2.2 (Froyo), which introduced speed improvements with JIT optimization and the Chrome V8 JavaScript engine, and added Wi-Fi hotspot tethering and Adobe Flash support. FRoyo stands for Frozen Yogurt .
- 2.3 (Gingerbread), which refined the user interface, improved the soft keyboard and copy/paste features, and added support for Near Field Communication
- 3.0/3.1 (Honeycomb), a tablet-oriented release which supports larger screen devices and introduces many new user interface features, and supports multicore processors and hardware acceleration for graphics.
So who makes Android Devices?
Android has been gaining popularity and more and more vendors are now going for it, The reason is simple , its Open Source. HTC, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, LG, Acer, Dell and Huawei are the key players in this game. Apart from smart-phones you may also see Android running on a Tablet, Samsung galaxyS runs on Android.