One of the most widely used mobile
OS these days is ANDROID. Android is a software bunch comprising
not only operating system but also middleware and key applications. Android Inc
was founded in Palo Alto of California, U.S. by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sears
and Chris White in 2003. Later Android Inc. was acquired by Google in 2005.
After original release there have been number of updates in the original
version of Android.
Android is a Linux-based open source software stack that comes along with operating system , middleware, native mobile applications, along with set of API libraries for building third party applications. It was designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and now its focus has spread wider across other embedded systems. Initially developed by Android Inc.,(founded in 2003 and is based in Palo Alto, California) which operated as subsidiary of Google and later purchased by Google in 2005.
ANDROID VERSIONS
Android Beta
ü First Version of Android.
ü The focus of Android beta is testing incorporating usability.
ü Android beta will generally have many more problems on speed
and performance.
Android Astro 1.0
ü First full version of android.
ü Released on September 23, 2008.
ü Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support.
ü Quite slow in operating.
ü Copy and paste feature in the web browser is not present.
Android Cupcake 1.5
ü Released on April 30, 2009.
ü Added auto-rotation option.
ü Copy and Paste feature added in the web browser.
ü Increased speed and performance but not upto required level.
Android Donut 1.6
ü Released on September 15, 2009.
ü Voice search and Search box were added.
ü Faster OS boot times and fast web browsing experience.
ü Typing is quite slower.
Android Éclair 2.0/2.1
ü Released on October 26, 2009.
ü Bluetooth 2.1 support.
ü Improved typing speed on virtual keyboard, with smarter
dictionary.
ü No Adobe flash media support.
Android Froyo 2.2
ü Released on May 20, 2010.
ü Support for Adobe Flash 10.1
ü Improved Application launcher with better browser
ü No internet calling.
Android Gingerbread 2.3
ü Released on December 6, 2010.
ü Updated User Interface with high efficiency and
speed
ü Internet calling
ü One touch word selection and copy/paste.
ü New keyboard for faster word input.
ü More successful version of Android than previous versions.
ü Not supports multi-core processors.
Android Honeycomb 3.0
ü Released on February 22, 2011.
ü Support for multi-core processors
ü Ability to encrypt all user data.
ü This version of android is only available for tablets.
Android IceCreamSandwich(ICS) 4.0
ü Released on November 14, 2011.
ü Virtual button in the UI.
ü A new typeface family for the UI, Roboto.
ü Ability to shut down apps that are using data in the
background.
Android JellyBean 4.1
ü Released on June 27, 2012.
ü Latest version of Android.
ü Smoother user interface.
Features & Specifications
Android is a powerful Operating System supporting a large number of
applications in Smart
Phones. These applications make life more
comfortable and advanced for the users. Hardware that support Android are
mainly based on ARM
architecture platform. Some of the current
features and specifications of android are:
Android is a Linux-based open source software stack that comes along with operating system , middleware, native mobile applications, along with set of API libraries for building third party applications. It was designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and now its focus has spread wider across other embedded systems. Initially developed by Android Inc.,(founded in 2003 and is based in Palo Alto, California) which operated as subsidiary of Google and later purchased by Google in 2005.
Android
was publically announced in 2007 and first phone was sold on October 2008.
Fig 37: Framework of Android Operating System
Android applications are written in
java programming language. Android is available as open source for developers
to develop applications which can be further used for selling in android
market. There are around 200000 applications developed for android with over 3
billion+ downloads. Android relies on Linux version 2.6 for core system
services such as security, memory management, process management, network
stack, and driver model. For software development, Android provides Android
SDK (Software development kit).
Applications
These are the basics of Android
applications:
•
Android applications are composed of one or more application components
(activities, services, content providers, and broadcast receivers)
• Each
component performs a different role in the overall application behavior, and
each one can be activated individually (even by other applications)
• The
manifest file must declare all components in the application and should also
declare all application requirements, such as the minimum version of Android
required and any hardware configurations required
•
Non-code application resources (images, strings, layout files, etc.) should
include alternatives for different device configurations (such as different
strings for different languages)
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