Not another humonoid, zombie or a Star Trek character (like Commander Data) . Infact it is a software platform and operating system for mobile devices, based on the Linux kernel, developed by Google and later by the Open Handset Alliance (a business alliance of 34 hardware, software and telecom firms including Google, HTC, Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, Samsung, LG, T-Mobile, Nvidia and Wind River Systems to develop open standards for mobile devices). The Open Handset Alliance was formed on 05th November 2007 on the same day when Android was unveiled.
Android Transition:
1. In July 2005, Google acquired Android, Inc., a small startup company based in Palo Alto, CA. At the time, little was known about the functions of Android, Inc. other than they made software for mobile phones. So the fuss began that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market, although it was unclear what function it might perform in that market.
2. A Googler team lead name Rubin, developed a Linux-based mobile device OS which promissed to provide a flexible, upgradeable system. And you know they keep their promisses, don’t you . This was marketed to handset makers and carriers. By then Google have already developed a series of softwares and made contracts with a series of hardware vendors which was a point of interests for many carriers.
3. As a consequence every one else went banana and the noises get louder that Google wanted its search and applications on mobile phones and it was working hard to deliver that (Guess, what was your reaction if you were working in mobile development arena and out of no where a reputed company like Google started offering an open source mobile development platform to vendors and carriers. Aaaaaahhhh you could have uttered loudly).
4. In September 2007 Google filed many patents applications for mobile platform.
5. On 5th November 2007 Open Handset Alliance (OHA) was founded and OHA also introduced its first product, “Android”.
6. In September 2008 the first phone running Google Android was demonstrated by T-Mobile, it was the “T-Mobile G1″ and it was enthusiastically approved. Several vendors have now shown interests in implementing Google Android in their handsets.
7. In February and May 2008 Google unveiled a few prototypes Androids featuring many Google applications.
8. On 21st October 2008, Google threw open the entire source code of Android which was not available earlier.
9. From 22nd October 2008 to onwards T-Mobile’s G1 the first Android powered commercial smart phone is available to consumers for purchase for about $176 per phone.
Software Development Kit (Android SDK):
Android SDK includes debugger, libraries, handset emulator, documentation, sample code, and tutorials. Currently supported development platforms include:
1. x86-based computers running Linux (any Linux Distribution)
2. Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later
3. Windows XP or Vista
Pre-Req includes Java Development Kit, Apache Ant, and Python 2.2 or later. The officially supported integrated development environment (IDE) is Eclipse (3.2 or later) using the Android Development Tools (ADT) Plugin, though developers may use any text editor to edit Java and XML files then use command line tools to create, build and debug Android applications.
A preview release of the Android software development kit (SDK) was released on 12th November 2007 and on 18th August 2008 the Android 0.9 SDK beta was released providing an updated and extended API, improved development tools and an updated design for the home screen and finally on 23rd September 2008 the Android 1.0 SDK (Release 1) was released.
On 21st October 2008 Android went open source. However it’s been criticized by not completely open source since some hardware specific parts remains proprietry and are not considered part of the platform. However, Google has since announced that all parts of the OS will be released under the Apache License where applicable and under the GPL elsewhere. Google’s applications that interact with Google’s systems, such as their email service, are not open source.
There is a bit for Android critics, at least for now software installed by users must be written in Java and will not have access to lower level device APIs. However there is a pitfall which is the compatibility issue among Java applications written for non Android platforms and those for the Android platform. Android only reuses the Java language syntax, but does not provide the full-class libraries and APIs bundled with Java SE or ME so I guess you are clever enough to understands what does it implies because Google will certainly hate to admit or even to mention it.
Important Links:
This virtual space is not enough to cover what packages with android so I’ll strongly suggest you guys to spear some time and read about what this new platform has to offer.
Android Home
SDK Download
Documentation & Tutorial
Developers Discussion Group
Open Source Android
Android Source Code
Android Blog
T-Mobile G1
Android Transition:
1. In July 2005, Google acquired Android, Inc., a small startup company based in Palo Alto, CA. At the time, little was known about the functions of Android, Inc. other than they made software for mobile phones. So the fuss began that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market, although it was unclear what function it might perform in that market.
2. A Googler team lead name Rubin, developed a Linux-based mobile device OS which promissed to provide a flexible, upgradeable system. And you know they keep their promisses, don’t you . This was marketed to handset makers and carriers. By then Google have already developed a series of softwares and made contracts with a series of hardware vendors which was a point of interests for many carriers.
3. As a consequence every one else went banana and the noises get louder that Google wanted its search and applications on mobile phones and it was working hard to deliver that (Guess, what was your reaction if you were working in mobile development arena and out of no where a reputed company like Google started offering an open source mobile development platform to vendors and carriers. Aaaaaahhhh you could have uttered loudly).
4. In September 2007 Google filed many patents applications for mobile platform.
5. On 5th November 2007 Open Handset Alliance (OHA) was founded and OHA also introduced its first product, “Android”.
6. In September 2008 the first phone running Google Android was demonstrated by T-Mobile, it was the “T-Mobile G1″ and it was enthusiastically approved. Several vendors have now shown interests in implementing Google Android in their handsets.
7. In February and May 2008 Google unveiled a few prototypes Androids featuring many Google applications.
8. On 21st October 2008, Google threw open the entire source code of Android which was not available earlier.
9. From 22nd October 2008 to onwards T-Mobile’s G1 the first Android powered commercial smart phone is available to consumers for purchase for about $176 per phone.
Software Development Kit (Android SDK):
Android SDK includes debugger, libraries, handset emulator, documentation, sample code, and tutorials. Currently supported development platforms include:
1. x86-based computers running Linux (any Linux Distribution)
2. Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later
3. Windows XP or Vista
Pre-Req includes Java Development Kit, Apache Ant, and Python 2.2 or later. The officially supported integrated development environment (IDE) is Eclipse (3.2 or later) using the Android Development Tools (ADT) Plugin, though developers may use any text editor to edit Java and XML files then use command line tools to create, build and debug Android applications.
A preview release of the Android software development kit (SDK) was released on 12th November 2007 and on 18th August 2008 the Android 0.9 SDK beta was released providing an updated and extended API, improved development tools and an updated design for the home screen and finally on 23rd September 2008 the Android 1.0 SDK (Release 1) was released.
On 21st October 2008 Android went open source. However it’s been criticized by not completely open source since some hardware specific parts remains proprietry and are not considered part of the platform. However, Google has since announced that all parts of the OS will be released under the Apache License where applicable and under the GPL elsewhere. Google’s applications that interact with Google’s systems, such as their email service, are not open source.
There is a bit for Android critics, at least for now software installed by users must be written in Java and will not have access to lower level device APIs. However there is a pitfall which is the compatibility issue among Java applications written for non Android platforms and those for the Android platform. Android only reuses the Java language syntax, but does not provide the full-class libraries and APIs bundled with Java SE or ME so I guess you are clever enough to understands what does it implies because Google will certainly hate to admit or even to mention it.
Important Links:
This virtual space is not enough to cover what packages with android so I’ll strongly suggest you guys to spear some time and read about what this new platform has to offer.
Android Home
SDK Download
Documentation & Tutorial
Developers Discussion Group
Open Source Android
Android Source Code
Android Blog
T-Mobile G1
