Android history and development

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT:

On November 5, 2007, the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of technology companies including Google, device manufacturers such as HTC, Sony and Samsung, wireless carriers such as Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile, and chipset makers such as Qualcomm and Texas Instruments, unveiled itself, with a goal to develop open standards for mobile devices.

Android, Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California 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".

In 2010, Google launched its Nexus series of devices—a line of smartphones and tablets running the Android operating system, and built by a manufacturer partner.

Google releases the Nexus phones and tablets to act as their flagship Android devices, demonstrating Android's latest software and hardware features.

The early intentions of the company were to develop an advanced operating system for digital cameras, when it was realised that the market for the devices was not large enough, and diverted their efforts to producing a smartphone operating system to rival those of Symbian and Windows Mobile (Apple's iPhone had not been released at the time).

Not much was known about Android Inc. at the time, but many assumed that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market with this move.

On 13 March 2013, it was announced by Larry Page in a blog post that Andy Rubin had moved from the Android division to take on new projects at Google.

At Google, the team led by Rubin developed a mobile device platform powered by the Linux kernel.

Reports from the BBC and the Wall Street Journal noted that Google wanted its search and applications on mobile phones and it was working hard to deliver that.

That day, Android was unveiled as its first product, a mobile device platform built on the Linux kernel version 2. 6.

In September 2007, InformationWeek covered an Evalueserve study reporting that Google had filed several patent applications in the area of mobile telephony.

Speculation about Google's intention to enter the mobile communications market continued to build through December 2006.

Google had lined up a series of hardware component and software partners and signaled to carriers that it was open to various degrees of cooperation on their part.

Google marketed the platform to handset makers and carriers on the promise of providing a flexible, upgradable system.

Timeline Of Android OS:

Android 1.0, 23/09/2008:

Android Market application download and updates through the Market app

Web browser to show, zoom and pan full HTML and XHTML web pages – multiple pages show as windows ("cards")

Camera support – however, this version lacked the option to change the camera's resolution, white balance, quality, etc.

Folders allowing the grouping of a number of app icons into a single folder icon on the Home screen

Access to web email servers, supporting POP3, IMAP4, and SMTP

Gmail synchronization with the Gmail app

Google Contacts synchronization with the People app

Google Calendar synchronization with the Calendar app

Google Maps with Latitude and Street View to view maps and satellite imagery, as well as find local business and obtain driving directions using GPS

Google Sync, allowing management of over-the-air synchronization of Gmail, People, and Calendar

Google Search, allowing users to search the Internet and phone apps, contacts, calendar, etc.

Google Talk instant messaging

Instant messaging, text messaging, and MMS

Media Player, enabling management, importing, and playback of media files – however, this version lacked video and stereo Bluetooth support

Notifications appear in the Status bar, with options to set ringtone, LED or vibration alerts

Voice Dialer allows dialing and placing of phone calls without typing a name or number

Wallpaper allows the user to set the background image or photo behind the Home screen icons and widgets

YouTube video player

Other apps include: Alarm Clock, Calculator, Dialer (Phone), Home screen (Launcher), Pictures (Gallery), and Settings

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support

Android 1.5 (Cupcake), 30/04/2009:

Support for third-party virtual keyboards with text prediction and user dictionary for custom words

Support for Widgets – miniature application views that can be embedded in other applications (such as the Home screen) and receive periodic updates

Video recording and playback in MPEG-4 and 3GP formats

Auto-pairing and stereo support for Bluetooth (A2DP and AVRCP profiles)

Copy and paste features in web browser

User pictures shown for Favorites in Contacts

Specific date/time stamp shown for events in call log, and one-touch access to a contact card from call log event

Animated screen transitions

Auto-rotation option

New stock boot animation

Ability to upload videos to YouTube

Ability to upload photos to Picasa

Android 1.6 (Donut), 15/09/2009:

Voice and text entry search enhanced to include bookmark history, contacts, and the web

Ability for developers to include their content in search results

Multi-lingual speech synthesis engine to allow any Android application to "speak" a string of text

Easier searching and ability to view app screenshots in Android Market

Gallery, camera and camcorder more fully integrated, with faster camera access

Ability for users to select multiple photos for deletion

Updated technology support for CDMA/EVDO, 802.1x, VPNs, and a text-to-speech engine

Support for WVGA screen resolutions

Speed improvements in searching and camera applications

Expanded Gesture framework and new GestureBuilder development tool

Android 2.0 (Eclair), 26/10/2009:

Expanded Account sync, allowing users to add multiple accounts to a device for synchronization of email and contacts

Microsoft Exchange email support, with combined inbox to browse email from multiple accounts in one page

Bluetooth 2.1 support

Ability to tap a Contacts photo and select to call, SMS, or email the person

Ability to search all saved SMS and MMS messages, with delete oldest messages in a conversation automatically deleted when a defined limit is reached

Numerous new camera features, including flash support, digital zoom, scene mode, white balance, color effect and macro focus

Improved typing speed on virtual keyboard, with smarter dictionary that learns from word usage and includes contact names as suggestions

Refreshed browser UI with bookmark thumbnails, double-tap zoom and support for HTML5

Calendar agenda view enhanced, showing attending status for each invitee, and ability to invite new guests to events

Optimized hardware speed and revamped UI

Support for more screen sizes and resolutions, with better contrast ratio

Improved Google Maps 3.1.2

MotionEvent class enhanced to track multi-touch events

Addition of live wallpapers, allowing the animation of home-screen background images to show movement

Android 2.2 (Froyo), 20/05/2010:

Speed, memory, and performance optimizations

Additional application speed improvements, implemented through JIT compilation

Integration of Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine into the Browser application

Support for the Android Cloud to Device Messaging (C2DM) service, enabling push notifications

Improved Microsoft Exchange support, including security policies, auto-discovery, GAL look-up, calendar synchronization and remote wipe

Improved application launcher with shortcuts to Phone and Browser applications

USB tethering and Wi-Fi hotspot functionality

Option to disable data access over mobile network

Updated Market application with batch and automatic update features

Quick switching between multiple keyboard languages and their dictionaries

Voice dialing and contact sharing over Bluetooth

Support for Bluetooth-enabled car and desk docks

Support for numeric and alphanumeric passwords

Support for file upload fields in the Browser application

Support for installing applications to the expandable memory

Adobe Flash support

Support for high-PPI displays (up to 320 ppi), such as 4" 720p screens

Gallery allows users to view picture stacks using a zoom gesture

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), 06/12/2010:

Updated user interface design with increased simplicity and speed

Support for extra-large screen sizes and resolutions (WXGA and higher)

Native support for SIP VoIP internet telephony

Faster, more intuitive text input in virtual keyboard, with improved accuracy, better suggested text and voice input mode

Enhanced copy/paste functionality, allowing users to select a word by press-hold, copy, and paste

Support for Near Field Communication (NFC), allowing the user to read an NFC tag embedded in a poster, sticker, or advertisement

New audio effects such as reverb, equalization, headphone virtualization, and bass boost

New Download Manager, giving users easy access to any file downloaded from the browser, email, or another application

Support for multiple cameras on the device, including a front-facing camera, if available

Support for WebM/VP8 video playback, and AAC audio encoding

Improved power management with a more active role in managing apps that are keeping the device awake for too long

Enhanced support for native code development

Switched from YAFFS to ext4 on newer devices

Audio, graphical, and input enhancements for game developers

Concurrent garbage collection for increased performance

Native support for more sensors (such as gyroscopes and barometers)

Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), 22/02/2011:

Optimized tablet support with a new virtual and “holographic” user interface

Added System Bar, featuring quick access to notifications, status, and soft navigation buttons, available at the bottom of the screen

Added Action Bar, giving access to contextual options, navigation, widgets, or other types of content at the top of the screen

Simplified multitasking – tapping Recent Apps in the System Bar allows users to see snapshots of the tasks underway and quickly jump from one app to another

Redesigned keyboard, making typing fast, efficient and accurate on larger screen sizes

Simplified, more intuitive copy/paste interface

Multiple browser tabs replacing browser windows, plus form auto-fill and a new “incognito” mode allowing anonymous browsing

Quick access to camera exposure, focus, flash, zoom, front-facing camera, time-lapse, and other camera features

Ability to view albums and other collections in full-screen mode in Gallery, with easy access to thumbnails for other photos

New two-pane Contacts UI and Fast Scroll to let users easily organize and locate contacts

New two-pane Email UI to make viewing and organizing messages more efficient, allowing users to select one or more messages

Support for video chat using Google Talk

Hardware acceleration

Support for multi-core processors

HTTPS stack improved with Server Name Indication (SNI)

Filesystem in Userspace (FUSE; kernel module)

Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwhich), 19/10/2011:

Optimized tablet support with a new virtual and “holographic” user interface

Added System Bar, featuring quick access to notifications, status, and soft navigation buttons, available at the bottom of the screen

Added Action Bar, giving access to contextual options, navigation, widgets, or other types of content at the top of the screen

Simplified multitasking – tapping Recent Apps in the System Bar allows users to see snapshots of the tasks underway and quickly jump from one app to another

Redesigned keyboard, making typing fast, efficient and accurate on larger screen sizes

Simplified, more intuitive copy/paste interface

Multiple browser tabs replacing browser windows, plus form auto-fill and a new “incognito” mode allowing anonymous browsing

Quick access to camera exposure, focus, flash, zoom, front-facing camera, time-lapse, and other camera features

Ability to view albums and other collections in full-screen mode in Gallery, with easy access to thumbnails for other photos

New two-pane Contacts UI and Fast Scroll to let users easily organize and locate contacts

New two-pane Email UI to make viewing and organizing messages more efficient, allowing users to select one or more messages

Support for video chat using Google Talk

Hardware acceleration

Support for multi-core processors

Ability to encrypt all user data

HTTPS stack improved with Server Name Indication (SNI)

Filesystem in Userspace (FUSE; kernel module)

Android 4.1 (Jellybean), 09/07/2012:

Smoother user interface:

Vsync timing across all drawing and animation done by the Android framework, including application rendering, touch events, screen composition and display refresh

Triple buffering in the graphics pipeline

Enhanced accessibility

Bi-directional text and other language support

User-installable keyboard maps

Expandable notifications

Ability to turn off notifications on an app specific basis

Shortcuts and widgets can automatically be re-arranged or re-sized to allow new items to fit on home screens

Bluetooth data transfer for Android Beam

Offline voice dictation

Tablets with smaller screens now use an expanded version of the interface layout and home screen used by phones.

Improved voice search

Improved camera app

Google Wallet (for the Nexus 7)

High-resolution Google+ contact photos

Google Now search application

Multichannel audio

USB audio (for external sound DACs)

Audio chaining (also known as gapless playback)

Stock Android browser is replaced with the Android mobile version of Google Chrome in devices with Android 4.1 preinstalled

Ability for other launchers to add widgets from the app drawer without requiring root access

Android 4.3(Jellybean "An even Sweeter Jellybean") 24/07/2013:

Bluetooth Low Energy support.

Bluetooth Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP) 1.3 support

OpenGL ES 3.0 support, allowing for improved game graphics

Restricted access mode for new user profiles

Filesystem write performance improvement by running fstrim command while device is idle

Dial pad auto-complete in the Phone app

Improvements to Photo Sphere

Reworked camera UI, previously introduced on Google Play edition phones

Added fine-grained application permissions controls (hidden by default)

4K resolution support

Many security enhancements, performance enhancements, and bug fixes

System-level support for geofencing and Wi-Fi scanning APIs

Background Wi-Fi location still runs even when Wi-Fi is turned off

Developer logging and analyzing enhancements

Added support for five more languages

Improved digital rights management (DRM) APIs

Hebrew and Arabic right-to-left (RTL) support

Clock in the status bar disappears if clock is selected as lockscreen widget

Android 5.0 (Key Lime Pie), Yet To Be Released:

Information about the new Android OS has yet to have an official release date yet and no specifications about the update has been finalised and released yet at this current stage of Android's operating system.

(This Part was directly taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history#Android_1.0_.28API_level_1.29) Due to the fact I wanted to be deadly accurate with all the features within the different updates to the Android OS.

Android's Target Audience:

Android's target audience started off with a small niche population of just computer geeks and nerds, who loved to code and use open source programming like linux. Then Android realized that they need to expand it so more and more phones began to pick up the OS make it more user friendly and got it out to rival Apple's IOS and now has overtaken Apple and has become the most successful Operating System for Mobile Phones and Tablets in the market today.

The future success of Android operating system will be in the new Android 5.0 called Key Lime Pie, because all Android operating systems ever since Android 1.5 have had names based of different food. The new Android 5.0 will have new features such as Google Now, Project Butter, OpenGL ES 3.0, Bluetooth Low Energy. The new operating system will be released on the new Nexus 7 2, and the Nexus 10.2 tablet devices as their key devices like they did with the release of Android 4.1 Jellybean with the original Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablet and smartphone devices. The Google Nexus 10.2 has not been released with all the specs for the devices but rumors have it that the device will have a screen resolution of 2560*1600 and the new Snapdragon 800 chipset. More information on the new Android 5.0 operating system and new Google Nexus smart devices will not be released until the IFA Berlin 2013 (Germany's biggest Consumer Electronics Expo) which will be held in early September. These new Android Devices will available in time for this years holiday season for Christmas.

Source:http://crossmap.christianpost.com/news/android-5-0-key-lime-pie-release-date-features-specs-os-update-on-qualifying-phones-nexus-7-and-10-2-rumors-on-brand-new-improvements-for-android-os-4483

ANDROID TECHNOLOGY IN OTHER DEVICES (BESIDES TABLETS AND SMARTPHONES):

There are a lot of different devices that run the Android operating system besides tablets and smartphones themselves. Some of the most notable ones that people may have heard about are the Samsung Galaxy Camera and the Nikon Coolpix S800c, which both use Android 4.0 Ice cream sandwhich operating system and have most of your usual built in Android apps and functions that you would see on a normal Android smartphone or tablet. Some of these include Wifi, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all your quick social network uploads. Google Play store and Bluetooth. Other devices include Google Glasses, Sony's Smartwatch, Smart TV (Google TV), Smart and Netbooks, portable media players and Voips and Landlines. The Biggest breakthrough for a device that uses Android operating system is the Ouya, which Android's on home video game console that became one the most ever successful Kickstart campaigns in the small lifetime history of the Kickstarter website having a community contribution of over $8.5 million U.S. dollars. This system runs the latest Android operating software and allows users to download games from the Google Play store and play them on their television and has since seen other forms of Android home and portable gaming consoles like the Project Shield by NVIDIA and the Acer Transformer tablet series.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)#Beyond_smartphones_and_tablets