ANDROID™
Android™
is a mobile phone platform based on the Linux operating system and developed
by the Open Handset Alliance™.
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 telecoms 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 v2 open-source license.
© 2007 Open Handset Alliance.
Key features of the current Android OS™:
Supports a wide variety of connectivity technologies (GSM, Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, and Wi-Fi)
Web browser based on the open-source WebKit application framework
Support advanced audio/video/still media formats (MPEG-4, H.264, MP3, and AAC, AMR, JPEG, PNG, GIF)
"Android and Android OS based trademarks are brands of Open Handset Alliance."
On 5 November 2007, the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of several companies which include Google, HTC , Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, T-Mobile, and NVIDIA, was unveiled with the goal to develop open standards for mobile devices
In July 2005, Google acquired Android Inc., a small startup company based in Palo Alto, CA. This began rumors that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market, although it was unclear at the time what function they might perform in that market.
