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The Birth of Android

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The Birth of Android
1. INTRODUCTION
Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications. Android is a software platform and operating system for mobile devices based on the Linux operating system and developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance. It allows developers to write managed code in a Java-like language that utilizes Google-developed Java libraries, but does not support programs developed in native code.
The unveiling of the Android platform on 5 November 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 34 hardware, software and telecom companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. When released in 2008, most of the Android platform will be made available under the Apache free-software and open-source license.

1. THE BIRTH OF ANDROID

1 Google Acquires Android Inc.

In July 2005, Google acquired Android Inc., a small startup company based in Palo Alto, CA. Android's co-founders who went to work at Google included Andy Rubin (co-founder of Danger), Rich Miner (co-founder of Wildfire Communications, Inc), Nick Sears (once VP at T-Mobile), and Chris White (one of the first engineers at WebTV). At the time, little was known about the functions of Android Inc. other than they made software for mobile phones.

At Google, the team, led by Rubin, developed a Linux-based mobile device OS which they marketed to handset makers and carriers on the premise of providing a flexible, upgradeable system. It was reported that Google had already 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.

1. Open Handset Alliance Founded On 5 November 2007, the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of several companies which include Google, HTC, Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel and NVIDIA, was unveiled with the goal to develop open standards for



References: 1. http://www.android.com - Android Official Webpage 2. http://code.google.com/android/ - Official Android Google Code Webpage 3. http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/ - Open Handset Alliance Webpage 4. http://www.androidwiki.com – Android Wiki 5. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/ - Official Google Blog 6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(mobile_phone_platform)–Wikipedia Information 7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQLite 8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebKit 9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_(software) 10. http://www.itworld.com/google-android-dr-080213

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