Until a few years ago, no one could have thought that the word “android”, which was commonly used by science fiction writers and Hollywood directors to refer to humanoid robots, would take on a completely different meaning. And now, when this term is mentioned, millions of people mentally see in front of them a smartphone with a logo in the form of a funny green character. Let's briefly plunge into history and find out what an “android” is in the modern world of information technology and where this “creature” comes from.
To begin with, let's return to the not so distant 2005. It was this year that the modest company Android Inc., developing its own operating system for communicators, was acquired by the well-known corporation Google. From this moment, active work begins on the Linux-based OS, which in a few years will revolutionize the market for tablets, digital players, netbooks, electronic readers and, of course, smartphones. But first things first.
In 2007, Google announced the creation of an alliance jointly developing software for various mobile devices. This union brought together thirty-four companies, among which were not only manufacturers of communicators and program developers, but also the main manufacturers of microcircuits. And at that moment, a package for developing applications for a new operating system called Android appears.
In September next year, HTC, Google and T-Mobile, the mobile operator, introduced the first device running the Android operating system. Only a few years have passed since then, and this OS, with a serious margin from its closest competitors, secured the title of the most popular platform for mobile devices. Let's try to look at the success of this "OS" from different angles and try to answer the question as widely as possible, what is android?
Firstly, this project from Google is not limited to the operating system alone and the release of gadgets running on it. The success of the multi-platform OS is largely due to the ability to develop applications for Android by third-party developers who are able to post their products in a special online store. Therefore, these days, not only every self-respecting software developer, but any advanced user knows what an android is. After all, anyone can post their programs and games on the Android Market (this is the name of the popular "Google" content distribution resource).
Thus, the Google operating system, called Android OS, has made a real revolution in the mobile gadget market, crowding out more eminent competitors. And an important role in the victory over Apple OS, Windows Mobile, Symbian and other popular platforms was played by the opportunity to develop applications for everyone. Given that Google’s operating system software is created in a popular programming language called Java, nowadays only a lazy and inexperienced programmer does not know what an android is.
At the time of writing, the latest version of the platform is Android 4.0, which is used not only in smartphones and communicators, but also in tablet computers, e-books and even laptops of a huge number of manufacturers. But what is android for users? This is, first of all, a convenient operating system for which several hundred programs and games are written daily. It is worth noting that the bigwigs from Google are not going to stop there and in the near future they plan to push their competitors in the global market of mobile gadgets even more. And looking at the overwhelming success of Android 4.0, many analysts believe that in the future the most popular mobile operating system will even more come off its pursuers and will win the hearts of new users.