Android is a one word for gadget-awesomeness. It transforms a smartphone into a power gadget. Here we are with some of the obscure android facts that you have not heard of yet.
1. What Android Means?
Whenever you hear about Android, you could tell it’s the Smartphone OS from Google. And Further? Well Android isn’t a new term, it seems to have originated a few hundred years ago. It was thought to be a robot that gave answers to your queries (Now it really does). To be specific, it was “a humanoid robot”. Android also appeared on many gaming consoles and Movies during the 80’s.
2. Google Did Not Start Android
Andy Rubin – The Man Behind Android
Though Google stays to be the prime reason for Android’s tremendous success, it wasn’t made by Google. Android Inc. was a separate company shaped by Andy Rubin in the US. Google bought Android in 2005 that led to the revolutionary operating system, combining the power of web and mobile into one system.
Google’s decision to make Android open source was one of the best things that they could do. Although Andy Rubin remained the head of Android in Google for a while, he moved on while the other Google officials took over his role.
3. HTC Made the First Ever Android Device
HTC Dream (Also known as the HTC G1) – The First Ever Android Smartphone
If you thought Nexus One was the first smartphone to run Android, you are off beam. The First ever smartphone to run Android was HTC G1 (also called HTC Dream). It was running the Android 1.6 (Donut) version. It came with a 3.2 inch capacitive screen, and a slider QWERTY keyboard. Anyhow it was a breakthrough and this was where the revolution began.
4. Not Just Smartphones – Wearable Glasses to Watches
Android expands its territory to Wearable devices and consumer electronics now. It is no more restricted to smartphones. The Google Glass is an augmented reality device which runs on the Android Ice-cream Sandwich OS. It enables you to take photos while you are busy on something, view notifications and sync everything online, the Google way.
Some months ago, Samsung came up with the Galaxy Camera, a Digital camera running the Android Jelly Bean OS. Although not totally received by the Android fans, it was a delight for amateur photographers to take and edit pics in one go.
It seems this is the time for smart watches. The Galaxy Gear and Qualcomm’s TOQ are a few examples. The Gear runs a modified Android operating system and comes with features like a camera with video recording, a handful of sensors and a tiny yet beautiful screen. Android’s intervention into Smart watches and Smart televisions will bring changes to the way we work with gadgets!5. Totally Free and Open Source
What makes Android spaced out from Windows phone and iOS is the fact that it’s free. Android is [simply put] totally open. You can see what’s running behind the system, edit the source code and maybe create your own flavour of it [If you are up to it]. The AOSP (Android Open Source Project) is released by Google under Apache License which allows distribution and modification of the same, no strings attached.
6. So Far the Most Used Smartphone OS
Android OS happens to be the top Smartphone platform so far. With One Billion+ device activations, no rivals have hit this mark. Although Windows phone and iOS have tried many rivalry tactics from “hackathons” to free development tools for apps (Windows Phone) , nothing seems working so far. Android’s open nature and ease of app development led to their great milestone of hitting one billion activations.
7. Google Play – Formerly Android Market
The Google Play Store was earlier known as Android Market. You should be knowing this if you were an Android user since 2012. Many criticisms arose when Google renamed it to the Play Store but all of them subsided with time.
Google play is not just an App store mow. You can purchase books, movies and music and obviously apps using it. Either you can use the Google wallet service or a credit card for payment. The store now contains more than one million (12,00,000+) applications, which is growing each day. Although Apple claims to have crossed one million apps in its store, nothing comes close when the number of app downloads are matched.
8. Android’s Rivals – Apple’s iOS and Windows Phone
The two rivals of Android OS are windows phone OS and Apple iOS. Though windows app store seems to be a novel rivalry attempt, iOS is not too far behind. Since Android is free while the others are not, there is more adoption. You get the choice to customize the user interface to a great level along with the ability to add custom (third party) launchers.
9. “Sweet” Naming Convention
Android follows a “sweet” naming convention. The latest version (as of this writing) – Android 4.4.2 KitKat takes its name from the delicious wafer chocolate – KitKat. Perhaps Google would have thought that “KitKat” or “Ginger Bread” sounds better than mere numbers like 2.3 or 4.4. It is also interesting to note that after the first two versions, android naming follows an alphabetical order, how “sweet”!
10. Free Development Tools with Enormous Support
Want to develop an Android app? Well, the tools are freely available. Android has a very good documentation at developer.android.com. You can download the Eclipse IDE (Integrated Development Environment) today to get started. One of the besetting thing about iOS app development is that you need to have an iPhone or iPad to test your app. Plus you have to pay for the coding tools like the XCode. Developers around the world support Android and forums like xda-developers and Github provide enormous resources.
11. Google Nexus Devices – Pure Android Experience
If a device is running Android, it doesn’t mean that it runs the “pure or unaltered” Android operating system. Most of the OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) like Samsung, Sony and HTC customize the original OS to create a unique look and feel. This is one of the reasons for the late arrival of updates onto these devices.
Nonetheless, the core of the OS remains the same. If you are a pure Android fan, you might need to consider the Nexus devices that are crafted by Google. These days, other OEMs have also started bringing smartphones with unaltered Android and they call it “[Phone Name] Google Play Edition”. For instance – Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition.
12. Based on Linux Kernel
The Android core runs on the Linux Kernel. This monolithic Kernel enables the OS to make multitasking a breeze. You don’t have to quit applications running in the background to make the system smooth. Android kills the background apps that are not in use for a long time and provides a lag-free interface.
Did we miss something here?
Do you think there are more exciting facts about Android? Well, push them in the comments section below.
0 comments:
Post a Comment