What is Android?

Android Logo

Now a days everyone of us have a mobile phone device. And if you happen to buy one this time you might have heard a Name Android alot which is used so much with the smartphone device. There are so many people who ask me - What is Android? So here I give a simple Guide for you to understand what is Android and some of its basic terminology.

Android : is basically an Operating System (OS) just like Windows XP, Windows 7, Linux, Mac OS, Symbian but especially designed to run on Mobile Devices. This OS is based on Linux Kernals making it Open Source which makes it easy for develop large number of Application.

Till Date 7 Versions of Android OS have been released the, all these Android Versions names have got their names from Desserts Items

Version	CodeName
1.5	Cupcake
1.6	Donut
2.0/2.1	Eclair
2.2	FroYo
2.3	Gingerbread
3.0/3.1/3.2	HoneyComb
4.0 (Expected)	Ice Cream Sandwich

HTC Dream (T-Mobiles G1)

Android 1.5 was featured on HTC Dream or T-Mobiles G1 which was First Android Phone made its appearance on October 22, 2008 Then Android never looked back Out of all these versions of Android - Android 2.2 FroYo(First Appearance on HTC Nexus One) is the most widely used OS on Mobile Platform, Gingerbread(First Appearance on Samsung Nexus S) is the Latest Available, while Honeycomb is especially Optimized for use on Tablet PC (First Appearance on Motorola Xoom). And the version 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich(Expected to Feature on Samsung Nexus Prime)will be a hybrid of Gingerbread and Honeycomb(Will Feature a Button Less UI).

What Makes Android Special?

Because Android is Open Source just like Linux it has very large number of Apps and its Highly Customizable. There are hundreds of Custom ROMs (Customized OS for any Particular Device) available for any Device. You can check Android Market its a Second largest Application Repository in the World (First is Apple's App Store) but I Android Market place will soon reach Number One Spot in a Year or so, because of great pace it is increasing.