The document provides an overview of the Android operating system, including:
- Android is an open source operating system developed by the Open Handset Alliance, led by Google, to offer more flexibility and choices to users.
- It was initially developed by Android Inc. which was later acquired by Google in 2005 and the first Android phone was launched in 2008.
- The architecture of Android is based on a modified Linux kernel with four main layers - applications, application framework, libraries and Android runtime.
- Android has grown to become the world's leading smartphone platform and continues to gain more market share with each new version, which are named after desserts in alphabetical order.