Android



Introduction



Operating Systems have developed a lot in last 15 years. Starting from black and white phones to recent smart phones or mini computers, mobile OS has come far away. Especially for smart phones, Mobile OS has greatly evolved from Palm OS in 1996 to Windows pocket PC in 2000 then to Blackberry OS and Android.

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.



Versions



  • Alpha (1.0)
  • Beta (1.1)
  • Cupcake (1.5)
  • Donut (1.6)
  • Eclair (2.0–2.1)
  • Froyo (2.2–2.2.3)
  • Gingerbread (2.3–2.3.7)
  • Honeycomb (3.0–3.2.6)
  • Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0–4.0.4)
  • Jelly Bean (4.1–4.3.1)
  • KitKat (4.4–4.4.4)
  • Lollipop (5.0–5.0.1)


Features





Messaging

SMS and MMS are available forms of messaging, including threaded text messaging and Android Cloud To Device Messaging (C2DM) and now enhanced version of C2DM, Android Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) is also a part of Android Push Messaging service.

Voice based features

Google search through voice has been available since initial release.[4] Voice actions for calling, texting, navigation, etc. are supported on Android 2.2 onwards As of Android 4.1, Google has expanded Voice Actions with ability to talk back and read answers from Google's Knowledge Graph when queried with specific commands. The ability to control hardware has not yet been implemented.

Web browser

The web browser available in Android is based on the open-source Blink (previously WebKit) layout engine, coupled with Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine. The browser scores 100/100 on the Acid3 test on Android 4.0.

Multi-touch

Android has native support for multi-touch which was initially made available in handsets such as the HTC Hero. The feature was originally disabled at the kernel level (possibly to avoid infringing Apple's patents on touch-screen technology at the time).[7] Google has since released an update for the Nexus One and the Motorola Droid which enables multi-touch natively.

Multitasking

Multitasking of applications, with unique handling of memory allocation, is available.

Screen capture

Android supports capturing a screenshot by pressing the power and volume-down buttons at the same time.[10] Prior to Android 4.0, the only methods of capturing a screenshot were through manufacturer and third-party customizations or otherwise by using a PC connection (DDMS developer's tool). These alternative methods are still available with the latest Android.

Multiple language support

Android supports multiple languages.

Streaming media support

RTP/RTSP streaming (3GPP PSS, ISMA), HTML progressive download (HTML5 video tag). Adobe Flash Streaming (RTMP) and HTTP Dynamic Streaming are supported by the Flash plugin.Apple HTTP Live Streaming is supported by RealPlayer for Android,and by the operating system since Android 3.0 (Honeycomb).