Today, it is
more difficult not to know android than it is to know the most popular
operating system in the smartphone world. Google has brought the operating
system a long way to make it the market leader in a very tight market which has
surpassed the feature phones.
With a market
share of 81.9% in the smartphone market in the last quarter (according to Gartner), it is safe to say Android is dominating the smartphone market.
However, there are some facts you may not have heard before about Google’s
operating system.
 |
| Android. Img: Techclone |
Google did not start Android
The Android
operating system was developed by Android Inc. which was established in October
2003. Android Inc. which was founded by Andy Rubin, Chris White, Nick Sears and
Rich Miner was later bought by Google who had been backing the company all
along. The deal was struck in August 2005 at a price of $50 million.
Android officially launched in 2007
Google
officially launched the operating system in November 2007. The operating system
had initially been developed for cameras but Google saw a potential in the
usage of the OS on smartphones which has come to pass today.
First Smartphone
The first
ever smartphone to run on the Android operating system was the HTC Dream or
T-Mobile G1 which was launched into the market in 2008.
Android has over a billion activations
Google’s Vice
President for Android, Sundar Pichai, announced earlier in September this year that the
Android operating system has attained over a billion activations on devices
ranging from smartphones to tablets.
Naming
Apart from
Android 1.0 and 1.1, all other Android versions have been named after sweet
treats. Cupcake, Donut, Ice Cream Sandwich to name a few.
Naming Order
Android
versions have been following an alphabetical order in their naming but many
have failed to notice this. Android Astro (1.0) was followed by Bender (1.1)
followed by Cupcake (1.5). This was followed by Donut (1.6), Éclair (2.0),
Froyo (2.2.x), and Gingerbread (2.3.x). This was before Honeycomb (3.x), Ice
Cream Sandwich (4.x) and Jelly Bean (4.3) entered the equation. Google
announced the KitKat (4.4) recently as its latest OS. L..?
Android is open source
With Google
being a member of Open Handset Alliance (OHA), android has given users or
interested party access to modify the source code of the operating system. This
has allowed users and smartphone manufacturers great flexibility in adding
features to the operating system.
Android is free
Google offers
Android operating system to smartphone manufacturers without payment for its
license.
Google gains from Android
Despite
offering the Android software free to smartphone manufacturers, Google will
likely achieve its aim of becoming the mobile advertising king through android
devices. Google makes its biggest revenue from advertising and this will pay
off in the big way with the exodus of users from PCs to smartphones and
tablets. It must be noted that Android dominates both categories.
There you
have it, what do you think about these facts? What other interesting fact do
you know about Google’s Android that we have omitted?
Posts
Interesting Facts you need to know about Android