Most of us own a smart phone and that is powered by android. In spite of using an android mobile how many of us know what an android operating system is about and how it functions when it is launched and why is it so famous.
October 2003 Android was founded by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick sears and Chris White. Android was a nick name of the Andy as he is fascinated with the robots.
It was initially designed for the cameras not for the mobile when it was realized that the market for the devices was not large enough, and diverted their efforts to producing a smart phone operating system to rival those of Symbian and Windows Mobile.
Despite the past accomplishments of the founders and early employees, Android Inc. operated secretly, revealing only that it was working on software for mobile phone 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.
Google acquired Android Inc. on August 17, 2005, making it a wholly owned subsidiary of Google. Key employees of Android Inc., including Rubin, Miner and White, stayed at the company after the acquisition. Not much was known about Android Inc. at the time, but many assumed that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market with this move. 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.
There are 13 versions of android which include Cup Cake, Donut, Éclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honey Comb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, Kit Kat. where Kit Kat is the new version of android which is due to release.