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AndroidAndroid is a Linux-based operating system for mobile devices such as Smartphone's

and tablet computers. It is developed by the Open Handset Alliance, led by Google.Google financially backed the initial developer of the software, Android Inc., and later

purchased it 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 Source Project (AOSP) is tasked with the maintenance and further development of Android.

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. Apps can be downloaded from third-party sites or through online stores such as Google Play (formerly Android Market), the app store run by Google.

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.

Android became the world’s leading smart phone platform at the end of 2010. For the first quarter of 2012, Android had a 59% smart phone market share worldwide. At

the half of 2012, there were 400 million devices activated and 1 million activations per day. Analysts point to the advantage to Android of being a multi-channel, multi-

carrier OS.

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Foundation

Android, Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California, United States 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". Despite the obvious past accomplishments of the founders and early employees, Android Inc. operated secretly, revealing only that it was working on software for mobile phones. 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.

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Acquisition by Google Google acquired Android Inc. on August

17, 2005, making Android Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Google. Key employees of Android Inc., including Andy Rubin, Rich Miner and Chris White, stayed at the company after the acquisition. Not much was known about Android Inc. at the time of the acquisition, but many assumed that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market with this move.

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Post-acquisition development 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.

Speculation about Google's intention to enter the mobile communications market continued to build through December 2006. 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. Print and online media outlets soon reported rumors that Google was developing a Google-branded handset. Some speculated that as Google was defining technical specifications, it was showing prototypes to cell phone manufacturers and network operators.

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

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Version history≥ Cupcake (1.5)≥ Donut (1.6)≥ Éclair (2.0 and 2.1)≥ Froyo (2.2)≥ Gingerbread (2.3.x)≥ Honeycomb (3.x.x)≥ Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.x)≥ Jelly Bean (4.1.x)≥ Key Lime Pie (4.2.x <proposed>)

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Features Handset layouts Storage Connectivity Messaging Multi Language Support Web Browser Java Support Media Support

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BluetoothMulti TouchVideo CallingMulti TaskingExternal StorageScreen CaptureTetheringVoice Based features

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Usage shareVersion Release Date API Level Distribution

4.2.x Key Lime Pie Unreleased Unknown Unknown

4.1.x Jelly Bean July 10, 2012 16 Unknown

4.0.x Ice Cream Sandwich

October 19, 2011

14-15 10.9%

3.x.x Honeycomb

February 22, 2011

11-13 2.1%

2.3.x Ginger Bread

December 6, 2010

9-10 64.0%

2.2 Froyo May 20, 2010 8 17.3%

2.0 , 2.1 Éclair October 26, 2009

7 4.7%

1.6 Doughnut September 15, 2009

4 0.5%

1.5 Cupcake April 30, 2009 3 0.2%

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Copyrights and patents

Both Android and Android phone manufacturers have been the target of numerous patent lawsuits. On August 12, 2010, Oracle sued Google over claimed infringement of copyrights and patents related to the Java programming language. Oracle originally sought damages up to $6.1 billion,

but this valuation was rejected by a federal judge who asked Oracle to revise the estimate. In response, Google submitted multiple lines of defense, counterclaiming that Android did not infringe on Oracle's patents or copyright, that Oracle's patents were invalid, and several other defenses. They said that Android is based on Apache Harmony, a clean room implementation of the Java class libraries, and an independently developed virtual machine called Dalvik.

In May 2012 the jury in this case found that Google did not infringe on Oracle's patents, and the trial judge ruled that the structure of the Java APIs used by Google was not copyrightable. Microsoft has also sued several manufacturers of Android devices for patent infringement, and collects patent licensing fees from others. In October 2011 Microsoft said they had signed license agreements with ten Android device manufacturers, accounting for 55% of worldwide revenue for Android devices. These include Samsung and HTC.

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Google has publicly expressed its dislike for the current patent landscape in the United States, accusing Apple, Oracle and Microsoft of trying to take down Android through patent litigation, rather than innovating and competing with better products and services. In August 2011, Google started the process of purchasing Motorola Mobility for US$12.5 billion, which was viewed in part as a defensive measure to protect Android, since Motorola Mobility holds more than 17,000 patents. In December 2011 Google bought over a thousand patents from IBM.