Android Operating System

Android is a Linux-based operating system for mobile devices such as smart phones and tablet computers, developed by Google in conjunction with the Open Handset Alliance. Android was initially developed by Android Inc, whom Google financially backed and later purchased in 2005. The unveiling of the Android distribution in 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 86 hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. Google releases the Android codeas open-source, under the Apache License. The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is tasked with the maintenance and further development of Android. 

Android has a large community of developers writing applications ("apps") that extend the functionality of the devices. Developers write primarily in a customized version of Java, and apps can be downloaded from online stores such as Google Play (formerly Android Market), the app store run by Google, or third-party sites. In June 2012, there were more than 600,000 apps available for Android, and the estimated number of applications downloaded from Google Play was 20 billion.

Android became the world’s leading smart phone platform at the end of 2010. For the first quarter of 2012, Android had a 59% smart phone market share worldwide. As of third quarter 2012, there were 480 million devices activated and 1.3 million activations per day.