Android was founded in 2003 by Andy Rubin to develop smarter mobile devices. The first commercial version, Android 1.0, was released in 2008. Subsequent releases of Android added new features and improvements. Android is an open source operating system based on the Linux kernel that uses Java applications. It supports a variety of hardware, media formats, and connectivity technologies.

2. Android, Inc. founded in Palo Alto, California, United
States in October 2003 by Andy Rubin(co-founder of
Danger), Rich Miner (co-founder of wildfire
communications. Inc.), Nick Sears(once VP at T-mobile),
and Chris White (headed design and interface
development at WebTV) to develop, in Rubin’s words
“….smarter mobile devices that are more aware of its
owner’s location and preferences”. That same year,
Rubin ran out of money. Steve Perlman, a close friend of
Rubin, brought him $10,000 in cash in an envelope and
refused a stake in the company.

3.  Android 1.0, the first commercial version of
the software, was released on September 23,
2008. This release was robot-related
codename, "Astro", internally at Google, but the
name could not be used officially for
trademark reasons. The first Android device,
the HTC Dream, incorporated the following.

4.  On February 9, 2009, the Android 1.1
update was released, initially for the HTC
Dream only. Like 1.0, this release continued
the robot naming theme, with "Bender"
chosen, but again this was used internally only.
The update resolved bugs, changed
the API and added a number of features

5.  On April 30, 2009, the Android 1.5 update was
released, based on Linux kernel 2.6.27. This was
the first release to use a name based on a
dessert ("Cupcake"), a theme which would be
used for all releases henceforth. The update
included several new features and UI
amendments.

6.  On September 15, 2009, the Android 1.6 SDK
– dubbed Donut – was released, based on
Linux kernel 2.6.29. Included in the update
were numerous new features.

7.  The SDK for Android 4.0.1 (Ice Cream
Sandwich), based on Linux kernel
3.0.1, was publicly released on October 19,
2011. Google's Gabe Cohen stated that
Android 4.0 was "theoretically compatible"
with any Android 2.3.x device in
production at that time. The source
code for Android 4.0 became available on
November 14, 2011. The update
introduced numerous new features,
including

8.  On June 27, 2012, at the Google I/O conference, Google
announced Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). Based on Linux
kernel 3.1.10, Jelly Bean is an incremental update with the
primary aim of improving the user interface, both in terms
of functionality and performance. The performance
improvement involves "Project Butter", which uses touch
anticipation, triple buffering, extended vsync timing and a
fixed frame rate of 60fps to create a fluid and "buttery"-
smooth UI.[ Android 4.1 Jelly Bean was released to
AOSP on July 9, 2012, and an OTA update for the Nexus
7 to Android 4.1.1 was released on July 11, 2012, making it
the first device to run Jelly Bean.

9.  Android consists of a kernel based on the Linux kernel
2.6 and Linux Kernel 3.x (Android 4.0 onwards),
with middleware, libraries and APIs written
in C and application software running on
an application framework which includes Java-
compatible libraries based on Apache Harmony.
Android uses the Dalvik virtual machine with just-in-
time compilation to run Dalvik dex-code (Dalvik
Executable), which is usually translated
from Java byte code.[35]
 The main hardware platform for Android is the ARM
architecture. There is support for x86 from the Android
x86 project,[6] and Google TV uses a special x86
version of Android.

10. Android's kernel is based on the Linux kernel and has further
architecture changes by Google outside the typical Linux kernel
development cycle. Android does not have a native X Window
System by default nor does it support the full set of standard GNU
libraries, and this makes it difficult to port existing Linux
applications or libraries to Android.
Certain features that Google contributed back to the Linux kernel,
notably a power management feature called wake locks, were
rejected by mainline kernel developers, partly because kernel
maintainers felt that Google did not show any intent to maintain
their own code. Even though Google announced in April 2010 that
they would hire two employees to work with the Linux kernel
community, Greg Kroah-Hartman, the current Linux kernel
maintainer for the -stable branch, said in December 2010 that he
was concerned that Google was no longer trying to get their code
changes included in mainstream Linux.

11. Some Google Android developers hinted that "the Android team
was getting fed up with the process", because they were a small
team and had more urgent work to do on Android.
Linux included the auto sleep and wake locks capabilities in the 3.5
kernel, after many previous attempts at merger. The interfaces are
the same but the upstream Linux implementation allows for two
different suspend modes: to memory (the traditional suspend that
android uses), and to disk (hibernate, as it is known on the
desktop). In August 2011, Linus Torvalds said that "eventually
Android and Linux would come back to a common kernel, but it
will probably not be for four to five years".
In December 2011, Greg Kroah-Hartman announced the start of the
Android Mainlining Project, which aims to put some
Android drivers, patches and features back into the Linux kernel,
starting in Linux 3.3. further integration being expected for Linux
Kernel 3.4.

12.  Handset layouts
 The platform is adaptable to larger, VGA, 2D graphics library, 3D
graphics library based on OpenGL ES 2.0 specifications, and
traditional Smartphone layouts.
 Storage
 SQLite, a lightweight relational database, is used for data storage
purposes.
 Connectivity
 Android supports connectivity technologies
including GSM/EDGE, IDEN, CDMA, EV-DO, UMTS, Bluetooth, Wi-
Fi, LTE, NFC and WiMAX.
 Messaging
 SMS and MMS are available forms of messaging, including
threaded text messaging and Android Cloud To Device
Messaging (C2DM) and now enhanced version of C2DM,
Android Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) is also a part of
Android Push Messaging Service.

13.  Multiple language
 Support Android supports multiple languages.
 Web browser
 The web browser available in Android is based on the open-
source WebKit layout engine, coupled with Chrome's V8 JavaScript
engine. The browser scores 100/100 on the Acid3 test on Android 4.0.
 Java support
 While most Android applications are written in Java, there is
no Java Virtual Machine in the platform and Java byte code is not
executed. Java classes are compiled into Dalvik executables and run
on Dalvik, a specialized virtual machine designed specifically for
Android and optimized for battery-powered mobile devices with
limited memory and CPU. J2ME support can be provided via third-party
applications.
 Media support
 Android supports the following audio/video/still media
formats: WebM, H.263, H.264 (in 3GP or MP4 container), MPEG-4 SP, AMR,
AMR-WB (in 3GP container), AAC, HE-AAC (in MP4 or 3GP
container), MP3, MIDI, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, WAV, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, WebP.

14.  Streaming media support
 RTP/RTSP streaming (3GPP PSS, ISMA), HTML progressive
download (HTML5 <video> tag). Adobe Flash Streaming
(RTMP) and HTTP Dynamic Streaming are supported by
the Flash plugin. Apple HTTP Live Streaming is supported
by RealPlayer for Android, and by the operating system in
Android 3.0 (Honeycomb).
 Additional hardware support
 Android can use video/still
cameras, touchscreens, GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes, baro-
meters, magnetometers, dedicated gaming
controls, proximity and pressure sensors, thermometers,
accelerated 2D bit blits (with hardware orientation, scaling, pixel
format conversion) and accelerated 3D graphics.

15.  Multi-touch
 Android has native support for multi-touch which was initially
made available in handsets such as the HTC Hero. The feature
was originally disabled at the kernel level (possibly to avoid
infringing. Apple's patents on touch-screen technology at the
time). Google has since released an update for the Nexus One and
the Motorola Droid which enables multi-touch natively.
 Bluetooth
 Supports A2DP, AVRCP, sending files (OPP), accessing the
phone book (PBAP), voice dialing and sending contacts between
phones. Keyboard, mouse and joystick (HID) support is available
in Android 3.1+, and in earlier versions through manufacturer
customizations and third-party applications.
 Video calling
 Android does not support native video calling, but some
handsets have a customized version of the operating system that
supports it, either via the UMTS network (like the Samsung
Galaxy S) or over IP. Video calling through Google Talk is
available in Android 2.3.4 and later. Gingerbread allows Nexus
S to place Internet calls with a SIP account. This allows for
enhanced VoIP dialing to other SIP accounts and even phone
numbers. Skype 2.1 offers video calling in Android 2.3, including
front camera support.

16.  Multitasking
 Multitasking of applications, with unique handling of memory
allocation, is available.
 Voice based features
 Google search through voice has been available since initial
release. Voice actions for calling, texting, navigation, etc. are
supported on Android 2.2 onwards.
 Tethering
 Android supports tethering, which allows a phone to be used as a
wireless/wired Wi-Fi hotspot. Before Android 2.2 this was
supported by third-party applications or manufacturer
customizations.
 Screen capture
 Android supports capturing a screenshot by pressing the power
and volume-down buttons at the same time.Prior to Android 4.0,
the only methods of capturing a screenshot were through
manufacturer and third-party customizations or otherwise by
using a PC connection (DDMS developer's tool). These
alternative methods are still available with the latest Android.

17.  External storage
 Most Android devices include microSD slot and can read
microSD cards formatted with FAT32, Ext3 or Ext4 file system.
To allow use of high-capacity storage media such as USB flash
drives and USB HDDs, many Android tablets also
include USB 'A' receptacle. Storage formatted with FAT32 is
handled by Linux Kernel VFAT driver, while 3rd party solutions
are required to handle other popular file systems such
as NTFS, HFS Plus and exFAT.

18.  Applications are usually developed in
the Java language 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++, Google App
Inventor, a visual environment for novice
programmers and various cross platform mobile web
applications frameworks.
 Applications can be acquired by end-users either
through a store such as Google Play or the Amazon
Appstore, or by downloading and installing the
application's APK file from a third-party site.

19.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(op
erating_system)
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astro_(oper
ating_system)#cite_note-eclair-
highlights-21

20. Payumo, Patricia Maye S.
FM12103