What is Android?

Android is a software stack for mobile devices. The Android SDK provides the tools and APIs necessary to begin developing applications on the Android platform using the Java programming language. Android delivers a complete set of software for mobile devices. The software includes an operating system, middleware and key mobile applications. Middleware is computer software that connects software components or applications. The software consists of a set of services that allows multiple processes running on one or more machines to interact. In July of 2005, Google acquired Android, Inc. a small company based in California, USA. When Google took over little was known about the function of Android, Inc. the only thing that was known was that they made software for mobile phones. Today we see that Google has been very busy incorporating the use of Android to create a new hot mobile phone which is now available through T-mobile. The very first phone to run the Android Operating System was the HTC Dream, which was released very recently on October 22, 2008.

Android history timeline

July 2005 Google purchased a little known company called Android Inc.

November 5th, 2007 Open Handset Alliance announces Android

November 12th, 2007Early look SDK released

April 17th, 2008Android Developer Challenge I. $5 million in total awarded to developers for great Android applications

August 28th, 2008Android Market announced

September 23rd, 2008T-Mobile G1 World's first Android-powered phone announced.

September 23rd, 2008Android 1.0 SDK releaseDevelopers have access to first 1.0 compatible SDK.

October 21st, 2008Android Open Source ProjectSource code is released

Android ArchitectureThis diagram shows the major components of the Android operating system.

Android 1.5 Platform HighlightsThe Android 1.5 platform introduces many new features for users and developers. Below is a list of the new features which will make Android even better!

Performance ImprovementsFaster Camera start-up and image captureMuch faster acquisition of GPS location (powered by SUPL AGPS)Smoother page scrolling in BrowserSpeedier GMail conversation list scrolling

New FeaturesOn-screen soft keyboard

Works in both portrait and landscape orientationSupport for user installation of 3rd party keyboardsUser dictionary for custom words

Home screen Widgets

Bundled home screen widgets include: analog clock, calendar, music player, picture frame, and search

Live foldersCamera & Gallery

Video recordingVideo playback (MPEG-4 & 3GP formats)

Bluetooth  Stereo Bluetooth support (A2DP and AVCRP profiles)Auto-pairingImproved hands free experience

Browser Updated with latest Webkit browser & Squirrelfish JavaScript enginesCopy 'n paste in browserSearch within a pageUser-selectable text-encodingUI changes include:

Unified Go and Search boxTabbed bookmarks/history/most-visited screen

Contacts Shows user picture for FavoritesSpecific date/time stamp for events in call logOne-touch access to a contact card from call log event

System New Linux kernel (version 2.6.27)SD card file system auto-checking and repairSIM Application Toolkit 1.0

Google applications (not available in the Android 1.5 System Image that is included in the Android SDK) View Google Talk friends' status in Contacts, SMS, MMS, GMail, and Email applicationsBatch actions such as archive, delete, and label on Gmail messagesUpload videos to YouTubeUpload photos on Picasa

Continued New Features

New to Android?Android uses the java programming language and for anyone who has learned Java the Hello World example is a good reminder of that very first class or online tutoring session. First you will need to download the Android SDK kit and if you are using Eclipse install the ADT Plug-in, this is very easy and all of the information you need to do this can be found at http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html.Below is an example of the Hello World program. You will see that the coding is similar to that of java but not exactly the same. You can also see that it is fairly simple and this makes everyone happy

package com.example.helloandroid;

import android.app.Activity; import android.os.Bundle;

public class HelloAndroid extends Activity {

/** Called when the activity is first created. */ @Override public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.main); }

}

Running your application

If you decide to use Eclipse (probably your best choice) the ADT plug-in that you install makes it very easy and simple to run your applications.

1.Select run -> run 2.Select Android Application

The Eclipse ADT will automatically create a new run configuration for your project and the Android Emulator will automatically launch. Once the emulator is booted up, your application will appear and should look like this:

You can see that this process is verySimple, quick, convenient and easy. Thisis one reason why Android is such a greatApplication development kit. If you prefer not to use Eclipse don't worry because the Android SDK includes a tool named "android" that can be used to create all the source code and directory stubs for your project, as well as an ant-compatible build.xml file. This allows you to build your project from the command line, or integrate it with the IDE of your choice. So many Options!!!

Phones using AndroidHere is the complete list of all phones currently on the market using Android.

HTC Dream/T-Mobile G1 -G1 launched October 22nd, 2008 Available internationally

HTC Magic/T-Mobile MyTouch 3G-HTC Magic Launched May 1, 2009 and July 10th, 2009 in Japan

HTC Hero/T-Mobile G2 Touch/Sprint HTC Hero -HTC Hero Launched July 24th for Orange UK. T-Mobile G2 Touch

Huawei U8230/ Pulse-Available in T-Mobile UKreleased in Europe this October

Samsung Galaxy -Launched in July; Available with European Carriers

HTC Tattoo/HTC Click -Launched October 8th 2008 on 2009 Vodaphone

Motorola CLIQ -Available October 19th, 2009 on T-Mobile and Orange UK

Motorola Droid-Available

Samsung Moment/InstinctQ November 6th

- Available November 1st 2009 on Verizonfrom Sprint wireless. *Most

advanced droid phone available

Phones using Android continued

ConclusionIn conclusion, Android seems to be the future of mobile OS's and mobile softwareDevelopment. In today's increasingly complicated technology this OS just adds to all of the fun, making phones cooler and development easier.

It also seems as though Android could easily move its way into the market from phones to netbooks and desktops as developers become more accustomed with it, and this will only create more business.

Currently there are about 20 Android phones available on the market with more than 75 million Android handsets forecasted by 2012. This statistic is very impressive and proves that there is indeed a bright future for Android.

Since Android is an open source (meaning it is available to anyone) developers and handset manufacturers have full access to it. This means that developers and manufacturers all over the world are taking advantage of the Android operating system. This also means that the Business should grow very rapidly!

Go Android Go!!!!!!!!

Bibliography

http://developer.android.com/guide/basics/what-is-android.html

http://www.android.com/about/timeline.html

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

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/19/android-galore-a-complete-list-of-the-android-phones-and-their-specs-droid-best/

http://www.linkedin.com/answers/technology/wireless/TCH_WIR/597621-43529102

Below is a list of all of the websites I used in the making of this report: