Android is an open-source, Linux-based operating system for mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. It is developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance. Android allows developers to access device capabilities to build rich applications. It has the largest installed base of any mobile platform and over 600,000 apps available as of 2012. While some competitors struggle, Android continues growing with over 400 million devices activated as of mid-2012.

1. Android and
Android Phones

3.  Android powers hundreds of millions of
mobile devices in more than 190 countries
around the world. It's the largest installed
base of any mobile platform and growing
fast—every day another million users power
up their Android devices for the first time
and start looking for apps, games, and other
digital content.

4.  Android gives you a world-class
platform for creating apps and
games for Android users
everywhere, as well as an open
marketplace for distributing to
them instantly.

5.  Android is a Linux -based operating system for
mobile devices such as smart phones and tablet
computers, developed by Google in conjunction
with the Open Handset Alliance. Android was
initially developed by Android Inc, whom Google
financially backed and later purchased in 2005.
The unveiling of the Android distribution in 2007
was announced with the founding of the Open
Handset Alliance, a consortium of 86
hardware, software, and telecommunication
companies devoted to advancing open standards
for mobile devices. Google releases the Android
code as open-source, under the Apache License.
The Android Open Sources Product (AOSP) is
tasked with the maintenance and further
development of Android.

6.  Android has a large community of developers
writing applications ("apps") that extend the
functionality of the devices. Developers write
primarily in a customized version of Java,and
apps can be downloaded from online stores
such as Google Play (formerly Android
Market), the app store run by Google, or
third-party sites. In June 2012, there were
more than 600,000 apps available for
Android, and the estimated number of
applications downloaded from Google Play
was 20 billion.

7.  Android became the world’s leading
Smartphone platform at the end of 2010.For
the first quarter of 2012, Android had a 59%
Smartphone market share worldwide.[As of
third quarter 2012, there were 400 million
devices activated and 1.3 million activations
per day.

8.  Many companies including Nokia and
Research in Motion have been struggling to
compete with Apple and manufacturers of
devices running Google's Android software.
That shows in some of the earnings reports
released so far for the latest quarter.

9.  Here's a look at how makers of phones and
tablet computers are doing:
 — July 10: BlackBerry maker Research in Motion
Ltd. asks disgruntled investors at a shareholders
meeting for patience as it develops new devices
to rival the iPhone and Android smartphones.
The company reiterates a warning that the next
several quarters will be challenging. It also
expects to report another operating loss in the
current quarter, which ends Sept. 1, as the
company cuts prices to sell its older BlackBerry
models.

10.  Some phone makers are quietly exploring
alternatives to the Android operating system
implicated in the Samsung-Apple
ruling, industry watchers say, despite their
public pronouncements they are sticking with
the technology.

11.  Last week, a US court ruled Samsung's
Android devices were violating Apple patents
- a major blow to the leading mobile software
platform because it could lead to sales bans
and high licensing fees.

12.  — July 19: Nokia Corp. says its net loss nearly
quadrupled in the second quarter on sagging
sales of smartphones, which fell 39 percent
from a year ago to 10.2 million. The
company's stock jumped, however, as sales of
low-end phones buoyed revenue and
shipments of the new Lumia phones, which
run on Windows software and will replace the
older smartphone models, were not as bad as
feared. In North America, sales of the Lumia
phones offset declines in traditional Symbian
devices.

13.  which completed its purchase of Motorola
Mobility during the quarter, says it saw
strengths in North America with Verizon
Wireless, driven by the Razr Maxx device. But
it says international sales of basic cellphones
and mid-tier smartphones declined. Google
reiterates that 1 million new Android devices
from various phone makers are being
activated each day, with more than 400
million activated worldwide.

14.  — July 24: Apple Inc. says it sold 26 million
iPhones, 28 percent more than a year ago. It
also sold 17 million iPads, an 84 percent
increase and a quarterly record. But average
selling prices for both products were down.

15.  The impact could also hit smaller
vendors that use Android such as
HTC, ZTE, and Sony. Android is used
in more than two-thirds of
Smartphone.

16.  Android was built from the ground-up to
enable developers to create compelling
mobile applications that take full advantage
of all a handset has to offer. It was built to be
truly open. For example, an application can
call upon any of the phone’s core
functionality such as making calls, sending
text messages, or using the camera, allowing
developers to create richer and more
cohesive experiences for users. Android is
built on the open Linux Kernel.

17.  Furthermore, it utilizes a custom virtual
machine that was designed to optimize
memory and hardware resources in a mobile
environment. Android is open source; it can
be liberally extended to incorporate new
cutting edge technologies as they emerge.
The platform will continue to evolve as the
developer community works together to
build innovative mobile applications.

18.  Android does not differentiate between the
phone’s core applications and third-party
applications. They can all be built to have
equal access to a phone’s capabilities
providing users with a broad spectrum of
applications and services. With devices built
on the Android Platform, users are able to
fully tailor the phone to their interests. They
can swap out the phone's homescreen, the
style of the dialer, or any of the applications.
They can even instruct their phones to use
their favorite photo viewing application to
handle the viewing of all photos.

19.  Android breaks down the barriers to building
new and innovative applications. For example, a
developer can combine information from the
web with data on an individual’s mobile phone —
such as the user’s contacts, calendar, or
geographic location — to provide a more
relevant user experience. With Android, a
developer can build an application that enables
users to view the location of their friends and be
alerted when they are in the vicinity giving them
a chance to connect.

20.  Android provides access to a wide range of
useful libraries and tools that can be used to
build rich applications. For example, Android
enables developers to obtain the location of
the device, and allows devices to
communicate with one another enabling rich
peer–to–peer social applications. In
addition, Android includes a full set of tools
that have been built from the ground up
alongside the platform providing developers
with high productivity and deep insight into
their applications.

22. Submitted by: Gregorio, Kristelle Joy L.
BM12103