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Our site is dedicated to bringing you timely, informative, helpful and fun information about the ubiquitous android operating system. You will find regular content about android applications and development tutorials, handheld devices, new releases, updates, technology news, reviews and much. Read on to find out how android has been developed or you can skip to our many articles via the page links.
Android’s History
Android is a groundbreaking Linux-based software that allows multiple platform users (laptops, handsets, tablets from a multitude of manufacturers) to perform a variety of tasks. This system is developed by Open Handset Alliance, a body of 34 mobile phone manufacturers and service providers headed by Google. The most notable thing about Android is that it has an open source structure, which means that developers anywhere can modify it to carry our new functions.
Prior to the introduction and it’s phenomenal growth, the mobile handset market was dominated by iOS from Apple and Blackberry from RIM. Customers looking for smooth, user-friendly operation with great styling preferred iPhone while Blackberry was the gadget of choice for business people who wanted to use business specific services. In 2003, the Open Handset Alliance was formed and was later acquired by Google in 2007. The purpose of the Alliance was to bridge the gap between consumer and business services and devise an operating system that could perform a variety of tasks in multiple environments.
Android took some time to warm up and rolled out versions in quick succession from 2009 to 2011. These included Android 1.1, 1.5 (Cupcake), 1.6 (Donut), 2.0/1 (Eclair), 2.2 (Froyo), 2.3 (Gingerbread) and 3.0 (Honeycomb). 2012 saw it soaring to new heights with 4.0 (Icecream Sandwich) and 4.1 Jelly Bean. Ice cream Sandwich 4.0, jelly bean 4.2 ( Nov 2012) then 4.2.1 (27 Nov 2013) while the latest Gen tablets and some smartphones rely on Jelly Bean 4.2.2 ( Feb 2013). Being an open source platform it appears unstoppable and continues to evolve even as you read these words.
The Rise of The Android
The improvements in software were accompanied by skyrocketing sales as this platform carved out a big chunk of the technology market for itself. The first Android based smart phone, the G1 from Google, was launched in October 2008. But it was the advent of version 2.0 and Motorola Droid in October 2009 that spurred the market share. In May 2010, Google revealed that 100,000 Android phones were being activated every day, a number that swelled 3 times (to 300,000 activations per day) by December the same year. With later editions entering the market it has never looked back and claims over 72% market share in Q4 of 2012, up from 52.5% in the same quarter in 2011. Out of every 4 handsets sold today, 3 are android devices. Apple’s iOS market share stayed stagnant at around 15% in 2010 and 2011, and has now dropped to 13.9%. The remaining portion of the market is divided among RIM, Bada, Microsoft and Symbian. The explosive growth makes Android the predominantly popular platform today, to the extent that is looks poised to sweep the whole market and practically annihilate competition.
Apple had initially been able to withstand the Android invasion because of its superior and larger number of apps, something that is tilting fast in Android’s favor. As more and more users turn to this system, the number of Android market apps is growing by the hundreds everyday and has already crossed a whopping 700,000 apps on the Google store. Most of the top iPhone apps are already available for Android, and currently Android apps have overtaken iOS apps both in numbers and quality of Oct 2013. Apple has lost it’s market share as more and more people have become aware of its higher pricing structure.
(CNET 2013)