Android is a mobile operating system (OS) based on the Linux kernel and currently developed by Google. With a user interface based on direct manipulation, Android is designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, with specialized user interfaces for televisions (Android TV), cars (Android Auto), and wrist watches (Android Wear). The OS uses touch inputs that loosely correspond to real-world actions, like swiping, tapping, pinching, and reverse pinching to manipulate on-screen objects, and a virtual keyboard. Despite being primarily designed for touchscreen input, it also has been used in game consoles, digital cameras, regular PCs (e.g. the HP Slate 21) and other electronics.
Android is the most widely used mobile OS and, as of 2013, the highest selling OS overall. Android devices sell more than Microsoft Windows, iOS, and Mac OS X devices combined,[13][14][15][16][17] with sales in 2012, 2013 and 2014[18] close to the installed base of all PCs.[19] As of July 2013 the Google Play store has had over 1 million Android apps published, and over 50 billion apps downloaded.[20] A developer survey conducted in April–May 2013 found that 71% of mobile developers develop for Android.[21] At Google I/O 2014, the company revealed that there were over 1 billion active monthly Android users, up from 538 million in June 2013.[22]
Android's source code is released by Google under open source licenses, although most Android devices ultimately ship with a combination of open source and proprietary software.[3] Initially developed by Android, Inc., which Google backed financially and later bought in 2005,[23] Android was unveiled in 2007 along with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance—a consortium of hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices.[24]
Android is popular with technology companies which require a ready-made, low-cost and customizable operating system for high-tech devices.[25] Android's open nature has encouraged a large community of developers and enthusiasts to use the open-source code as a foundation for community-driven projects, which add new features for advanced users[26] or bring Android to devices which were officially released running other operating systems. The operating system's success has made it a target for patent litigation as part of the so-called "smartphone wars" between technology companies.[27][28]
Contents
History
See also: Android version history
Android, Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California in October 2003 by Andy Rubin (co-founder of Danger),[29] Rich Miner (co-founder of Wildfire Communications, Inc.),[30] Nick Sears (once VP at T-Mobile),[31] and Chris White (headed design and interface development at WebTV[23]) to develop, in Rubin's words, "smarter mobile devices that are more aware of its owner's location and preferences".[23] The early intentions of the company were to develop an advanced operating system for digital cameras.
Though, when it was realized that the market for the devices was not
large enough, the company diverted its efforts toward producing a
smartphone operating system that would rival Symbian and Microsoft Windows Mobile.[32]
Despite the past accomplishments of the founders and early employees,
Android Inc. operated secretly, revealing only that it was working on
software for mobile phones.[23] 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.[33]Google acquired Android Inc. on August 17, 2005; key employees of Android Inc., including Rubin, Miner, and White, stayed at the company after the acquisition.[23] 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.[23] At Google, the team led by Rubin developed a mobile device platform powered by the Linux kernel. Google marketed the platform to handset makers and carriers on the promise of providing a flexible, upgradable system. 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.[34][35][36]
Speculation about Google's intention to enter the mobile communications market continued to build through December 2006.[37] An earlier prototype codenamed "Sooner" had a closer resemblance to a BlackBerry phone, with no touchscreen, and a physical, QWERTY keyboard, but was later re-engineered to support a touchscreen, to compete with other announced devices such as the 2006 LG Prada and 2007 Apple iPhone.[38][39] In September 2007, InformationWeek covered an Evalueserve study reporting that Google had filed several patent applications in the area of mobile telephony.[40][41]
In 2010, Google launched its Nexus series of devices – a line of smartphones and tablets running the Android operating system, and built by manufacturing partners. HTC collaborated with Google to release the first Nexus smartphone,[44] the Nexus One. Google has since updated the series with newer devices, such as the Nexus 5 phone (made by LG) and the Nexus 7 tablet (made by Asus). Google releases the Nexus phones and tablets to act as their flagship Android devices, demonstrating Android's latest software and hardware features. On March 13, 2013 Larry Page announced in a blog post that Andy Rubin had moved from the Android division to take on new projects at Google.[45] He was replaced by Sundar Pichai, who also continues his role as the head of Google's Chrome division,[46] which develops Chrome OS.
Since 2008, Android has seen numerous updates which have incrementally improved the operating system, adding new features and fixing bugs in previous releases. Each major release is named in alphabetical order after a dessert or sugary treat; for example, version 1.5 Cupcake was followed by 1.6 Donut. Version 4.4.4 KitKat appeared as a security-only update; it was released on June 19, 2014, shortly after 4.4.3 was released.[47][48] As of November 2014, the newest version of the Android operating system, Android 5.0 "Lollipop", is available for selected devices.[49]
From 2010 to 2013, Hugo Barra served as product spokesperson for the Android team, representing Android at both press conferences and Google I/O, Google’s annual developer-focused conference. Barra’s product involvement included the entire Android ecosystem of software and hardware, including Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean and KitKat operating system launches, the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 smartphones, the Nexus 7[50] and Nexus 10 tablets,[51] and other related products such as Google Now[52] and Google Voice Search, Google’s speech recognition product comparable to Apple’s Siri.[52] In 2013, Barra left the Android team for Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi.[53]
sumber:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_%28operating_system%29
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