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, 2007
Early look
SDK released
August 28th,
2008
Android
Market
announced
April 17th, 2008
Android Developer
Challenge I. $5 million
in total awarded to
developers for great
Android applications
September 23rd, 2008
Android 1.0 SDK release
Developers have access
to first 1.0 compatible
SDK.
September 23rd, 2008
T-Mobile G1 World's
first Android-powered
phone announced.
October 21st,
2008
Android Open
Source Project
Source code is
released
Android Architecture
This diagram shows the major components of the Android operating system.
Android 1.5 Platform Highlights
The 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 Improvements
Faster Camera start-up and image capture
Much faster acquisition of GPS location (powered by SUPL AGPS)
Smoother page scrolling in Browser
Speedier GMail conversation list scrolling
New Features
On-screen soft keyboard
Works in both portrait and landscape orientation
Support for user installation of 3rd party keyboards
User dictionary for custom words
Home screen
Widgets
Bundled home screen widgets include: analog clock, calendar, music player, picture frame, and
search
Live folders
Camera & Gallery
Video recording
Video playback (MPEG-4 & 3GP formats)
Bluetooth
Stereo Bluetooth support (A2DP and AVCRP profiles)
Auto-pairing
Improved hands free experience
Continued New Features
Browser
Updated with latest Webkit browser & Squirrelfish JavaScript engines
Copy 'n paste in browser
Search within a page
User-selectable text-encoding
UI changes include:
Unified Go and Search box
Tabbed bookmarks/history/most-visited screen
Contacts
Shows user picture for Favorites
Specific date/time stamp for events in call log
One-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 repair
SIM 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 applications
Batch actions such as archive, delete, and label on Gmail messages
Upload videos to YouTube
Upload photos on Picasa
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 very
Simple, quick, convenient and easy. This
is one reason why Android is such a great
Application 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 Android
Here 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 UK
released in Europe this October
Phones using Android continued
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
Samsung Moment/InstinctQ
Available November 1st
from Sprint
-
Motorola Droid
-Available
November 6th
2009 on Verizon
wireless. *Most
advanced droid phone available
Conclusion
In conclusion, Android seems to be the future of mobile OS's and mobile software
Development. 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
Below is a list of all of the websites I used in the making of this report:
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-acomplete-list-of-the-android-phones-and-their-specs-droid-best/
http://www.linkedin.com/answers/technology/wireless/TCH_WIR/
597621-43529102