What is Android?

In this article, we are going to try to answer the question “What is Android?”It is a fast growing topic and it is really important to know “What is Android?” to its full extent.

What more matters in mobile computing: Hardware or software? It is definitely software when it comes to mobile computing. Android now made smartphones even smarter. Briefly, Android is a mobile operating system. If we make a broader definition:

What is Android?

Android is an open-source operating system based on Linux operating system code which is developed by Google and Open Handset Allience for PDA and mobile phones.

Android has large number of developers who work for improving Android, and its functionality. Android now has more and 400k applications. Developers around world develop apps for Android and Android Market, Play Google now is a huge source of applications.

Android Features

Android’s latest releases come with multitasking, multitouch and flash support. These are really important for an operating system. These features made Android the best choice for smartphones so far. It allows you to install applications by using Android Market, now named Google Play.

Android Handset Drawings

System adapts easily to VGA, 2D graphics archives, OpenGL ES 1.0 graphic archives and traditional phones.

Android Storage

Android uses SQLite for storing data in its database.

Android Connection

Android supports GSM, Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G and Wi-Fi connection types.

Android Messaging

Android can both send SMS and MMS, supports both.

Android Web Browser

Android’s web browser is based on open-source WebKit application framework. Dolphin is now a popular web browser which makes surfing a better experience with Android.

Android Media Support

Android supports various video and audio formats such as MPEG-4, MP4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPEG, PNG and GIF.

Android Accessories

Anti-vibration video photo cameras, speakers and headsets, touchscreens, GPS, compasses and various other accessories are supported with Android.

Android versions

• Android 1.1 Release date: 9 February 2009
• Android 1.5 Cupcake Release date 30 April 2009
• Android 1.6 Donut Release date: 15 September 2009
• Android 2.0 Éclair Release date: 26 October 2009
• Android 2.2 Froyo Release date: 20 May 2010
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread Release date: 6 December 2010
• Android 3.0 Honeycomb Release date: February 2011
• Android 4.0 Ice cream sandwich Release date: 2011 4^th quarter
• Android 5 probably Jelly Bean new release predictions 4^th quarter of 2012, fall 2012.

Android Market: Google Play

Android Market new name Google Play is Google Android’s application store.

Current Top 5 Free Google Play, Android Apps:

1. Skater Boy: Easy but super fun game. Speed up, jump and skate. 25,979 users rated 4.7 average.



2. Pixlr-o-matic: Useful app for adding retro effects to your photos easily. 18,786 reviews 4.6 average.



3. Facebook for Android: Share and stay connected with your friends with the Facebook for Android app. 2,685,453 reviews and 3.6 average rating.



4. Doğru mu yanlış mı? (True or False?): It is a Turkish application which is reviewed by 57 reviewers at the moment with an average of 4.0. It is a true or false game.



5. Cartoon Camera: One of the coolest Android camera apps. Create cartoon and you can sketch it like photography with your smartphone camera. 41,043 reviewers average rating 4,5 average.

   

   For more information about Google Play please visit:

   https://play.google.com/about/features/

   Android OS can be used with various mobile phones such as Samsung, Sony Ericsson, HTC, LG, Motorola and Huawei.