If you don’t know what a smartphone is, read on. Now, a smartphone can be loosely defined as any phone, offering many more advanced features and connectivity options than most phones of its day. These phones are sometimes compared to personal handheld computing devices. Software developers also have an ideal platform to work with, as these phones work around an operating system. They include powerful processors and great memories. The category made up of smartphones has witnessed the highest growth in sales in recent times.
Now that you know what smartphones are, you must have realized that they run an operating system very much like your personal computer.
Android is the mobile operating system launched by Google after the company acquired Android, Inc. It has now been bought by the Open Handset Alliance. The word Android literally translates to something that has a biological basis and resembles a human being. The foundation of Android is made up of the ARM architecture. ARM stands for Advanced RISC Machine or Acorn RISC Machine and both are used interchangeably. There are other mobile phone operating systems based on the ARM architecture that Android competes with. Some of these operating systems are Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and Windows Phone, Apple’s proprietary iOS, and the older mobile operating system, the Symbian platform. Any phone that uses an Android operating system is an Android smartphone. These are manufactured by a wide variety of reputable mobile phone manufacturing companies. Additionally, many mobile service providers seamlessly integrate these devices into their networks.
From a technological point of view, Android consists of:
1. An operating system
2. Middleware
3. Key application
Android smartphones use a version of the Linux kernel that has been modified to serve the mobile environment. Therefore, it is open source. The Android operating system was first released on October 21, 2008. Since then, several updates have been seen. These updates have primarily addressed security issues or added new features. The fourth and last version of Android is 2.2. It is also known as Froyo. It has been based on Linux Kernel 2.6.32. The next version, dubbed Gingerbread, will be released in the last quarter of 2010. Android smartphones generally have the following features:
• A wide variety of phone designs.
• SQLite is used for structured data storage.
• Connectivity options such as Bluetooth, WI-Fi, GSM, EDGE, 3G, etc. are available.
• Support for multi-touch technology has been incorporated into the operating system.
• Additional hardware devices such as cameras, GPS, touchscreens, etc. are supported.
• A fully functional web browser is provided.
• Various applications such as calendar, maps, email client, etc. are provided in the box. However, you can download and install many other applications and install them. These applications can be free or paid.
• Android provides a healthy development environment. It contains several tools for debugging, as well as a device emulator.
• The prices of Android smartphones are usually lower than those of smartphones with similar hardware specifications but with a different operating system.
Android smartphones, in their short lifespan, have already made a big impact. These phones are only expected to pack better features and be cost effective.