Android (operating system)

Android

Android 2.2
Company / developer	Google Inc., Open Handset Alliance
Programmed in	C (core),¹ C++ (some third party libraries), Java (UI)
Working state	Current
Source model	Free and open source software
Initial release	21 October 2008 (2008-10-21)
Latest stable release	2.2 (Froyo) / 20 May 2010; 3 months ago (2010-05-20)²
Supported platforms	ARM, MIPS, Power Architecture, x86
Kernel type	Monolithic (modified Linux kernel)
Default user interface	Graphical
License	Apache 2.0 and GPLv2³
Official website	android.com

Android is an operating system for mobile devices such as mobile phones, tablet computers and netbooks. Android is developed by Google and is based upon the Linux kernel and GNU software. It was initially developed by Android Inc. (a firm purchased by Google) and later positioned in the Open Handset Alliance.⁴ According to NPD Group, unit sales for Android OS smartphones ranked first among all smartphone OS handsets sold in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2010, at 33%.⁵⁶ BlackBerry OS is second at 28%, and iOS is ranked third with 22%.⁷

Android has a large community of developers writing application programs ("apps") that extend the functionality of the devices. There are currently over 70,000 apps available for Android with some estimates saying 100,000 have been submitted,⁸ which makes it the second most popular mobile development environment.⁹ Developers write managed code in the Java language, controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries.¹⁰ A Ruby implementation, allowing to write full Android apps in Ruby, is in development.¹¹

The unveiling of the Android distribution on 5 November 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 78 hardware, software, and telecom companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices.¹²¹³ Google released most of the Android code under the Apache License, a free software and open source license.¹⁴

The Android operating system software stack consists of Java applications running on a Java based object oriented application framework on top of Java core libraries running on a Dalvik virtual machine featuring JIT compilation. Libraries written in C include the surface manager, OpenCore¹⁵ media framework, SQLite relational database management system, OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics API, WebKit layout engine, SGL graphics engine, SSL, and Bionic libc. The Android operating system consists of 12 million lines of code including 3 million lines of XML, 2.8 million lines of C, 2.1 million lines of Java, and 1.75 million lines of C++.¹⁶

History

Acquisition by Google

In July 2005, Google acquired Android, Inc., a small startup company based in Palo Alto, California, USA.¹⁷ Android's co-founders who went to work at Google included Andy Rubin (co-founder of Danger),¹⁸ Rich Miner (co-founder of Wildfire Communications, Inc.),¹⁹ Nick Sears (once VP at T-Mobile),²⁰ and Chris White (headed design and interface development at WebTV).²¹ At the time, little was known about the functions of Android, Inc. other than that they made software for mobile phones.¹⁷ This began rumors that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market.

At Google, the team led by Rubin developed a mobile device platform powered by the Linux kernel which they marketed to handset makers and carriers on the premise of providing a flexible, upgradeable system. It was reported that Google had already lined up a series of hardware component and software partners and signaled to carriers that it was open to various degrees of cooperation on their part.²²²³²⁴ More speculation that Google would be entering the mobile-phone market came in December 2006.²⁵ Reports from the BBC and The Wall Street Journal noted that Google wanted its search and applications on mobile phones and it was working hard to deliver that. Print and online media outlets soon reported rumors that Google was developing a Google-branded handset.²⁶ More speculation followed reporting that as Google was defining technical specifications, it was showing prototypes to cell phone manufacturers and network operators.

In September 2007, InformationWeek covered an Evalueserve study reporting that Google had filed several patent applications in the area of mobile telephony.²⁷²⁸

Open Handset Alliance

Main article: Open Handset Alliance

"Today's announcement is more ambitious than any single 'Google Phone' that the press has been speculating about over the past few weeks. Our vision is that the powerful platform we're unveiling will power thousands of different phone models."

Eric Schmidt, Google Chairman/CEO⁴

On the 5th of November 2007, the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of several companies which include Texas Instruments, Broadcom Corporation, Google, HTC, Intel, LG, Marvell Technology Group, Motorola, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile was unveiled with the goal to develop open standards for mobile devices.⁴ Along with the formation of the Open Handset Alliance, the OHA also unveiled their first product, Android, a mobile device platform built on the Linux kernel version 2.6.⁴

On 9 December 2008, it was announced that 14 new members would be joining the Android project, including PacketVideo, ARM Holdings, Atheros Communications, Asustek Computer Inc, Garmin Ltd, Softbank, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba Corp, and Vodafone Group Plc.²⁹³⁰

Licensing

With the exception of brief update periods, Android has been available as open source since 21 October 2008. Google published the entire source code (including network and telephony stacks)³¹ under an Apache License.³²

With the Apache License, vendors can add proprietary extensions without submitting those back to the open source community.

Update history

Android has seen a number of updates since its original release. These updates to the base operating system typically fix bugs and add new features. And generally, these updates to the Android operating system is developed under a code name based on a dessert item.

1.1	Released 9 February 2009
1.5 (Cupcake) Based on Linux Kernel 2.6.27	On 30 April 2009, the official 1.5 (Cupcake) update for Android was released.³³³⁴ There were several new features and UI updates included in the 1.5 update:³⁵ Ability to record and watch videos through camcorder mode Uploading videos to YouTube and pictures to Picasa directly from the phone A new soft-keyboard with text-prediction Bluetooth A2DP and AVRCP support Ability to automatically connect to a Bluetooth headset within a certain distance New widgets and folders that can populate the Home screens Animated screen transitions
1.6 (Donut) Based on Linux Kernel 2.6.29³⁶	On 15 September 2009, the 1.6 (Donut) SDK was released.³⁷³⁸ Included in the update were:³⁶ An improved Android Market experience An integrated camera, camcorder, and gallery interface Gallery now enables users to select multiple photos for deletion Updated Voice Search, with faster response and deeper integration with native applications, including the ability to dial contacts Updated search experience to allow searching bookmarks, history, contacts, and the web from the home screen Updated technology support for CDMA/EVDO, 802.1x, VPNs, and a text-to-speech engine Support for WVGA screen resolutions Speed improvements in searching and camera applications Gesture framework and GestureBuilder development tool
2.0/2.1 (Eclair) Based on Linux Kernel 2.6.29³⁹	On 26 October 2009 the 2.0 (Eclair) SDK was released.⁴⁰ Among the changes were:⁴¹ Optimized hardware speed Support for more screen sizes and resolutions Revamped UI New Browser UI and HTML5 support New contact lists Better white-black ratio for backgrounds Improved Google Maps 3.1.2 Microsoft Exchange support Built in flash support for Camera Digital Zoom MotionEvent class enhanced to track multi-touch events⁴² Improved virtual keyboard Bluetooth 2.1 Live Wallpapers The 2.0.1 SDK was released on 3 December 2009.⁴³ The 2.1 SDK was released on 12 January 2010.⁴⁴
2.2 (Froyo)⁴⁵ Based on Linux Kernel 2.6.32⁴⁶	On 20 May 2010 the 2.2 Frozen Yogurt (Froyo) SDK was released.² Changes included:⁴⁷ General Android OS speed, memory, and performance optimizations⁴⁸ Additional application speed improvements courtesy of JIT implementation⁴⁹ Integration of Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine into the Browser application Increased Microsoft Exchange support (security policies, auto-discovery, GAL look-up, calendar synchronization, remote wipe) Improved application launcher with shortcuts to Phone and Browser applications USB tethering and WiFi hotspot functionality Added an option to disable data access over mobile network Updated Market application with batch and automatic update features⁴⁸ Quick switching between multiple keyboard languages and their dictionaries Voice dialing and contact sharing over Bluetooth Support for numeric and alphanumeric passwords Support for file upload fields in the Browser application⁵⁰ Browser can now display animated GIFs (instead of just the first frame) Support for installing applications to the expandable memory⁵¹ Adobe Flash 10.1 support⁵²
Gingerbread Based on Linux Kernel 2.6.33 or 34⁴⁶	Tentatively scheduled for Q4 2010 launch. Confirmed new features: Support for WebM video playback⁵³ Improved copy–paste functionalities⁵⁴ Unconfirmed new features: Android Market music store⁵⁵ Media streaming from PC library⁵⁵ Revamped UI⁵⁶ Support for bigger screens with up to Wide XGA (1366×768) resolution ⁵⁷ New 3D Games support including new Marketplace area for gaming Use of mksh for /system/bin/sh⁵⁸ Support for video calls
Honeycomb⁵⁹	Scheduled for 2011 launch. Feature list started with things that won't make the cut-off for Gingerbread

Features

Current features and specifications:⁶⁰⁶¹⁶²

The Android Emulator default home screen (v1.5).

Architecture Diagram

Handset layouts	The platform is adaptable to larger, VGA, 2D graphics library, 3D graphics library based on OpenGL ES 2.0 specifications, and traditional smartphone layouts.
Storage	SQLite, a lightweight relational database, is used for data storage purposes
Connectivity	Android supports connectivity technologies including GSM/EDGE, IDEN, CDMA, EV-DO, UMTS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and WiMAX.
Messaging	SMS and MMS are available forms of messaging, including threaded text messaging and now Android Cloud to Device Messaging Framework (C2DM) is also a part of Android Push Messaging service.
Web browser	The web browser available in Android is based on the open-source WebKit layout engine, coupled with Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine. The browser scores a 93/100 on the Acid3 Test.
Java support	While Android applications are written in Java, there's no Java Virtual Machine in the platform and Java byte code is not executed. Java classes get recompiled into Dalvik executable and run on Dalvik virtual machine. Dalvik is a specialized virtual machine designed specifically for Android and optimized for battery-powered mobile devices with limited memory and CPU. Android does not support J2ME, like some other mobile operating systems. J2ME support can be provided via third-part-application such as the J2ME MIDP Runner.⁶³
Media support	Android supports the following audio/video/still media formats: H.263, H.264 (in 3GP or MP4 container), MPEG-4 SP, AMR, AMR-WB (in 3GP container), AAC, HE-AAC (in MP4 or 3GP container), MP3, MIDI, Ogg Vorbis, WAV, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP.⁶²
Additional hardware support	Android can use video/still cameras, touchscreens, GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, proximity and pressure sensors, thermometers, accelerated 2D bit blits (with hardware orientation, scaling, pixel format conversion) and accelerated 3D graphics.
Development environment	Includes a device emulator, tools for debugging, memory and performance profiling, and a plugin for the Eclipse IDE.
Market	Like many phone-based application stores, the Android Market is a catalog of applications that can be downloaded and installed to target hardware over-the-air, without the use of a PC. Originally only free applications were supported. Paid-for applications have been available on the Android Market in the United States since 19 February 2009.⁶⁴ The Android Market has been expanding rapidly. As of August 3, 2010, it had over 100,000 Android applications for download.⁶⁵
Multi-touch	Android has native support for multi-touch which was initially made available in handsets such as the HTC Hero. The feature was originally disabled at the kernel level (possibly to avoid infringing Apple's patents on touch-screen technology).⁶⁶ Google has since released an update for the Nexus One and the Motorola Droid which enables multi-touch natively.⁶⁷
Bluetooth	Support for A2DP and AVRCP were added in version 1.5;³⁵ sending files (OPP) and accessing the phone book (PBAP) were added in version 2.0;⁴¹ and voice dialing and sending contacts between phones were added in version 2.2.⁴⁷
Videocalling	Only supported handsets with a front facing camera support videocalling (like the Samsung i9000 Galaxy S).
Multitasking	Multitasking of applications is available.⁶⁸
Voice based features	Google search through Voice is available as Search Input since initial release.⁶⁹ Also launched Voice actions supported on Android 2.2 onwards.
Tethering	Use your phone as a wireless/wired hotspot (All 2.2 Froyo phones, unofficial on phones running 1.6 or higher via applications available in the Android Market, i.e. PdaNet). To allow a laptop to share the 3G connection on an Android phone software may need to be installed on both the phone and the laptop ⁷⁰

Hardware running Android

Main article: List of Android devices

The first phone to run the Android operating system was the HTC Dream, released on 22 October 2008.⁷¹

Software development

Early Android device.

The early feedback on developing applications for the Android platform was mixed.⁷² Issues cited include bugs, lack of documentation, inadequate QA infrastructure, and no public issue-tracking system. (Google announced an issue tracker on 18 January 2008.)⁷³ In December 2007, MergeLab mobile startup founder Adam MacBeth stated, "Functionality is not there, is poorly documented or just doesn't work... It's clearly not ready for prime time."⁷⁴ Despite this, Android-targeted applications began to appear the week after the platform was announced. The first publicly available application was the Snake game.⁷⁵⁷⁶ The Android Dev Phone is a SIM-unlocked and hardware-unlocked device that is designed for advanced developers. While developers can use regular consumer devices purchased at retail to test and use their applications, some developers may choose not to use a retail device, preferring an unlocked or no-contract device.

Software development kit

The Android SDK includes a comprehensive set of development tools.⁷⁷ These include a debugger, libraries, a handset emulator (based on QEMU), documentation, sample code, and tutorials. Currently supported development platforms include x86-architecture computers running Linux (any modern desktop Linux distribution), Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later, Windows XP or Vista. Requirements also include Java Development Kit, Apache Ant, and Python 2.2 or later. The officially supported integrated development environment (IDE) is Eclipse (3.2 or later) using the Android Development Tools (ADT) Plugin, though developers may use any text editor to edit Java and XML files then use command line tools to create, build and debug Android applications as well as control attached Android devices (e.g., triggering a reboot, installing software package(s) remotely).⁷⁸

A preview release of the Android software development kit (SDK) was released on 12 November 2007. On 15 July 2008, the Android Developer Challenge Team accidentally sent an email to all entrants in the Android Developer Challenge announcing that a new release of the SDK was available in a "private" download area. The email was intended for winners of the first round of the Android Developer Challenge. The revelation that Google was supplying new SDK releases to some developers and not others (and keeping this arrangement private) has led to widely reported frustration within the Android developer community.⁷⁹

On 18 August 2008 the Android 0.9 SDK beta was released. This release provided an updated and extended API, improved development tools and an updated design for the home screen. Detailed instructions for upgrading are available to those already working with an earlier release.⁸⁰ On 23 September 2008 the Android 1.0 SDK (Release 1) was released.⁸¹ According to the release notes, it included "mainly bug fixes, although some smaller features were added". It also included several API changes from the 0.9 version.

On 9 March 2009, Google released version 1.1 for the Android dev phone. While there are a few aesthetic updates, a few crucial updates include support for "search by voice, priced applications, alarm clock fixes, sending gmail freeze fix, fixes mail notifications and refreshing intervals, and now the maps show business reviews". Another important update is that Dev phones can now access paid applications and developers can now see them on the Android Market.⁸²

In the middle of May 2009, Google released version 1.5 (Cupcake) of the Android OS and SDK. This update included many new features including video recording, support for the stereo Bluetooth profile, a customizable onscreen keyboard system and voice recognition. This release also opened up the AppWidget framework to third party developers allowing anyone to create their own home screen widgets.⁸³

In September 2009 the "Donut" version (1.6) was released which featured better search, battery usage indicator and VPN control applet. New platform technologies included Text to Speech engine (not available on all phones), Gestures & Accessibility framework.⁸⁴

Android Applications are packaged in .apk format and stored under /data/app folder on the Android OS. The user can run the command adb root to access this folder as only the root has permissions to access this folder.

App Inventor for Android

On July 12, 2010 Google announced the availability of App Inventor for Android, a Web-based visual development environment for novice programmers, based on MIT's Open Blocks Java library and providing access to Android devices' GPS, accelerometer and orientation data, phone functions, text messaging, speech-to-text conversion, contact data, persistent storage, and Web services, initially including Amazon and Twitter.⁸⁵ "We could only have done this because Android’s architecture is so open," said the project director, MIT's Hal Abelson.⁸⁶ Under development for over a year,⁸⁷ the block-editing tool has been taught to non-majors in computer science at Harvard, MIT, Wellsley, and the University of San Francisco, where professor David Wolber developed an introductory computer science course and tutorial book for non-computer science students based on App Inventor for Android.⁸⁸⁸⁹

Android Developer Challenge

The Android Developer Challenge was a competition for the most innovative application for Android. Google offered prizes totaling 10 million US dollars, distributed between ADC I and ADC II. ADC I accepted submissions from 2 January to 14 April 2008. The 50 most promising entries, announced on 12 May 2008, each received a $25,000 award to fund further development.⁹⁰⁹¹ It ended in early September with the announcement of ten teams that received $275,000 each, and ten teams that received $100,000 each.⁹² ADC II was announced on 27 May 2009.⁹³ The first round of the ADC II closed on 6 October 2009.⁹⁴ The first-round winners of ADC II comprising the top 200 applications were announced on 5 November 2009. Voting for the second round also opened on the same day and ended on November 25. Google announced the top winners of ADC II on November 30, with SweetDreams, What the Doodle!? and WaveSecure being nominated the overall winners of the challenge.⁹⁵⁹⁶

Google applications

Google has also participated in the Android Market by offering several applications for its services. These applications include Google Voice for the Google Voice service, Sky Map for watching stars, Finance for their finance service, Maps Editor for their MyMaps service, Places Directory for their Local Search, Google Goggles that searches by image, Gesture Search for using finger written letters and numbers to search the contents of the phone, Google Translate, Google Shopper, Listen for podcasts and My Tracks, a jogging application.

In mid August 2010 Google launched "Voice Actions for Android"⁹⁷, an innovative feature to its set of applications. The application listens to users voice commands and does actions like search, writing text message, email or call a friend. It also allows for writing text directly by speaking to the phone. The objective is to reduce the typing hassles on touch phones. Whats more, Google is actively participating in the application building, encouraging developers to build high quality and innovative apps.

Third party applications

With the growing number of Android handsets, there has also been an increased interest by third party developers to port their applications to the Android operating system. Notable applications that have been converted to the Android operating system include Shazam, Doodle Jump, and WeatherBug.

The Android operating system has grown significantly, and a lot of the most popular internet sites and services have created native applications. These include MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter.

As of 15 July 2010, the Android Marketplace had over 70,000 applications, with over 1 billion downloads.⁹⁸⁹⁹

Languages (locales)

The locales for Android are:

(from Android 2.2)

Chinese, People's Republic of China (zh_CN)
Chinese, Taiwan (zh_TW)
Czech (cs_CZ)
Dutch, Netherlands (nl_NL)
Dutch, Belgium (nl_BE)
English, United States (en_US)
English, Britain (en_GB)
English, Canada (en_CA)
English, Australia (en_AU)
English, New Zealand (en_NZ)
English, Singapore(en_SG)
French, France (fr_FR)
French, Belgium (fr_BE)
French, Canada (fr_CA)
French, Switzerland (fr_CH)
German, Germany (de_DE)
German, Austria (de_AT)
German, Switzerland (de_CH)
German, Liechtenstein (de_LI)
Italian, Italy (it_IT)
Italian, Switzerland (it_CH)
Japanese (ja_JP)
Korean (ko_KR)
Polish (pl_PL)
Russian (ru_RU)
Spanish (es_ES)¹⁰⁰

Native code

Libraries written in C and other languages can be compiled to ARM native code and installed using the Android Native Development Kit. Native classes can be called from Java code running under the Dalvik VM using the System.loadLibrary call, which is part of the standard Android Java classes.¹⁰¹¹⁰²

Complete applications can be compiled and installed using traditional development tools.¹⁰³ The ADB debugger gives a root shell under the Android Emulator which allows native ARM code to be uploaded and executed. ARM code can be compiled using GCC on a standard PC.¹⁰³ Running native code is complicated by the fact that Android uses a non-standard C library (known as Bionic). The underlying graphics device is available as a framebuffer at /dev/graphics/fb0.¹⁰⁴ The graphics library that Android uses to arbitrate and control access to this device is called the Skia Graphics Library (SGL), and it has been released under an open source license.¹⁰⁵ Skia has backends for both win32 and Unix, allowing the development of cross-platform applications, and it is the graphics engine underlying the Google Chrome web browser.¹⁰⁶

Community-based firmware

There is a community of open-source enthusiasts that build and share Android-based firmware with a number of customizations and additional features, such as FLAC lossless audio support and the ability to store downloaded applications on the microSD card.¹⁰⁷ This usually involves rooting the device. Rooting lets users load modified firmwares allowing users of older phones to use applications available only on newer releases.¹⁰⁸

Those firmware packages are updated frequently, incorporate elements of Android functionality that haven't yet been officially released within a carrier-sanctioned firmware, and tend to have fewer limitations. CyanogenMod is one such firmware.

On 24 September 2009, Google issued a cease and desist letter¹⁰⁹ to the modder Cyanogen, citing issues with the re-distribution of Google's closed-source applications¹¹⁰ within the custom firmware. Even though Android OS is open source, phones come packaged with closed-source Google applications for functionality such as the application store and GPS navigation. Google has asserted that these applications can only be provided through approved distribution channels by licensed distributors. Cyanogen has complied with Google's wishes and is continuing to distribute this mod without the proprietary software. He has provided a method to back up licensed Google applications during the mod's install process and restore them when it is complete.¹¹¹

Marketing

Android robot logo.

Logos

Android uses the Droid font family made by Ascender Corporation.¹¹²

Android Green is the color of the Android Robot that represents the Android operating system. The print color is PMS 376C and the online hex color is #A4C639, as specified by the Android Brand Guidelines.¹¹³

Typeface

Text logo.

The custom typeface of Android is called Norad, only used in the text logo.¹¹⁴

Market share

Research company Canalys estimates that by Q2 2009, Android had a 2.8% share of the worldwide smartphone market.¹¹⁵ By the following quarter (Q3 2009), Android's market share had grown to 3.5%.¹¹⁶

In February 2010 ComScore ranked the Android platform as obtaining a 9.0% of the smartphone platform marketshare. This figure was up from an earlier estimate of 5.2% stated in November 2009.¹¹⁷ In July 2010 ComScore revised Android's share for 3 months March/April/May 2010 to 13.0%, an increase of 4 percentage points, 0.2 percentage points behind Microsoft whose share had dropped 1.9%.¹¹⁸

In October 2009, Gartner Inc. predicted that by 2012, Android would become the world's second most popular smartphone platform, behind Nokia's Symbian OS, which is very popular outside the US. Meanwhile, BlackBerry would fall from 2nd to 5th place, iPhone would remain in 3rd place, and Microsoft's Windows Mobile would remain in 4th place.¹¹⁹

Analytics firm Flurry estimates that 250,000 Motorola Droid phones were sold in the United States during the phone's first week in stores.¹²⁰

In May 2010, Android's first quarter US sales surpassed that of the rival iPhone platform. According to a report by the NPD group, Android achieved 28% smartphone sales in the US market, up 8% from the December quarter. In the second quarter, Apple's iOS was up by 1 %, indicating that Android is taking market share mainly from RIM, and still has to compete with heavy consumer demand for new competitor offerings.⁵ Furthermore, analysts point to advantages that Android has as multi-channel, multi-carrier OS, which has allowed it to duplicate the quick success of Microsoft's Window's Mobile.¹²¹

According to an interview with Eric Schmidt in The Guardian, Android is getting 160,000 new users per day (end June 2010) up from 100,000 per day in May 2010.¹²²

As of August 4, 2010 Google is now activating 200,000 new phones to the Android platform per day according to Eric Schmidt. ¹²³

Restrictions and issues

Unlike closed-source mobile platforms like Apple's iOS, Google tracks issues and feature requests publicly at Google Code's site.¹²⁴

Linux compatibility

Android's kernel was derived from Linux but has been tweaked by Google outside the main Linux kernel tree.¹²⁵ Android does not have a native X Window System nor does it support the full set of standard GNU libraries and this makes it difficult to port existing GNU/Linux applications or libraries to Android.¹²⁶
Google no longer maintains the code they previously contributed to the Linux kernel as part of their Android effort, effectively branching kernel code in their own tree, separating their code from Linux.¹²⁷¹²⁸¹²⁹ This was due to a disagreement about new features Google felt were necessary. The code which is no longer maintained was deleted in January 2010 from the Linux codebase.¹³⁰ However, Google announced in April 2010 that they will employ staff to work with the Linux kernel community.¹³¹

Networking issues

Support for setting up a network proxy configuration for WiFi connections is not available.¹³²
Support for setting up a network proxy configuration for APN (i.e. GSM/EDGE) connections is not available.¹³³
Android doesn't natively support EAP extensions configuration.¹³⁴
As most smartphones, Android does not support Cisco-compatible IPsec virtual private networks (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol is supported).¹³⁵

Issues concerning application development

Android does not use established Java standards, i.e. Java SE and ME. This prevents compatibility among Java applications written for those platforms and those for the Android platform. Android only reuses the Java language syntax, but does not provide the full-class libraries and APIs bundled with Java SE or ME.¹³⁶ However, the Myriad Group claim that their new J2Android tool can convert Java MIDlets into Android applications.¹³⁷¹³⁸¹³⁹
Developers have reported that it is difficult to maintain applications on multiple versions of Android, owing to compatibility issues between versions 1.5 and 1.6,¹⁴⁰¹⁴¹ especially the different resolution ratios in use among various Android phones.¹⁴² Such problems were poignantly brought into focus as they were encountered during the ADC2 contest.¹⁴³
The rapid growth in the number of Android-based phone models with differing hardware capabilities also makes it difficult to develop applications that work on all Android-based phones.¹⁴⁴¹⁴⁵¹⁴⁶¹⁴⁷ As of August 2010, 64% of Android phones run the 2.x versions, and 36% still run the 1.5 and 1.6 versions¹⁴⁸
Older versions of Android do not readily support Bluetooth file exchange,¹⁴⁹ although it may still be achieved with some hacking.¹⁵⁰ Bluetooth is supported by more recent phones.¹⁵¹
Android does not support video calls as do other mobile operating systems, such as Symbian OS, iOS, and Windows Mobile, although third-party applications like Qik allow video calling over Internet on some models, and video broadcasting on others.¹⁵²

Protocols

In version 2.2 the rSAP protocol is missing which many vehicles use for handsfree.¹⁵³

Time zones

Using the native Google Calendar functionality for Android phones, an Android device user runs into the same limitations that exist in the Calendar application. The most noticeable defect is the lack of proper time zone support: it is not possible to set the time zone for start/end times of events.¹⁵⁴¹⁵⁵¹⁵⁶ Because of this issue, some users experience difficulty while traveling with Android devices.¹⁵⁷

Intellectual Property

On the 12th of August 2010, Oracle, owner of Java since it acquired Sun Microsystems in April 2009, sued Google over claimed infringement of copyrights and patents. The lawsuit claims that, "In developing Android, Google knowingly, directly and repeatedly infringed Oracle's Java-related intellectual property."¹⁵⁸ Oracle has named Boies, Schiller & Flexner as part of its legal team.¹⁵⁹

Specifically the patent infringement claim references seven patents including United States Patent No. 5,966,702, entitled “Method And Apparatus For Preprocessing And Packaging Class Files”, and United States Patent No. 6,910,205, entitled “Interpreting Functions Utilizing A Hybrid Of Virtual And Native Machine Instructions”.¹⁶⁰ It also references United States Patent No. RE38,104, (“the '104 patent”) entitled “Method And Apparatus For Resolving Data References In Generated Code” authored by James Gosling best known as the father of the Java programming language.¹⁶¹

According to Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney, Android is based on a clean room reverse-engineered version of Java called Dalvik (software) which was developed without using any Sun technology or intellectual property. Oracle says Dalvik is a competitor to Java and infringes several of its patents, which are listed in the complaint, and its Java copyright.¹⁵⁸¹⁶². While officially claiming that "Android is not Java", Google at the same time calls the suit "attack on Java community"¹⁶³, likely making difference between "official Java" and "Java in general".

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^ "The NPD Group: Motorola, HTC Drive Android to Smartphone OS Lead in the U.S.". 2010-05-10. http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/20100804/bs_prweb/prweb4350164. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
^ "Report: Android Market surpasses 100,000 apps". 2010-07-04. http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Report-Android-Market-surpasses-100-000-apps-1050505.html. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
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^ "When will other Google products support WebM and VP8?". The WebM Project. http://www.webmproject.org/about/faq/#webm_video_file_format. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
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^ ^a ^b "Android Music Store to Take on Apple iTunes". http://www.pcworld.com/article/196871/android_music_store_to_take_on_apple_itunes.html.
^ "Android Team “Laser Focused” On The User Experience For Next Release". http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/16/android-team-laser-focused-on-the-user-experience-for-next-release/.
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^ commit merging mksh into the tree – /system/bin/sh is the Unix /bin/sh equivalent for Android
^ Beavis, Gareth (19 August 2010). "Revealed: Android Honeycomb next up from Google". TechRadar. http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/revealed-android-honeycomb-next-up-from-google-711132.
^ "What is Android?". Android Developers. 21 July 2009. http://developer.android.com/guide/basics/what-is-android.html. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
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^ ^a ^b "Android Supported Media Formats". Android Developers. http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/media-formats.html. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
^ Android J2ME MIDP RUNNER homepage
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^ Laura June (July 15, 2010). "Android Market now has 100,000 apps, passes 1 billion download mark (update: Google says 70K)". engadget.com. http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/15/android-market-now-has-100-000-apps-passes-1-billion-download-m/. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
^ Musil, Steven (11 February 2009). "Report: Apple nixed Android's multitouch". CNET News. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10161312-37.html. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
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^ "Speech Input for Google Search". Android Developers. http://developer.android.com/resources/articles/speech-input.html.
^ [1]
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^ Paul, Ryan (2007-12-19). "Developing apps for Google Android: it's a mixed bag". Ars Technica. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071219-google-android-plagued-by-dysfunctional-development-process.html. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
^ Morrill, Dan (18 January 2008). "You can't rush perfection, but now you can file bugs against it". Android Developers Blog. http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2008/01/you-cant-rush-perfection-but-now-you.html. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
^ Morrison, Scott (2007-12-19). "Glitches Bug Google's Android Software". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB119800856883537515-lMyQjAxMDE3OTE4ODAxMDg4Wj.html. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
^ "Snake". Android Freeware Directory. http://www.android-freeware.org/download/snake. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
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^ "Tools Overview". Android Developers. 21 July 2009. http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/index.html.
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^ Metz, Cade (14 July 2008). "Google plays Hide and Seek with Android SDK". The Register. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/14/android_developer_unrest/. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
^ "Android — An Open Handset Alliance Project: Upgrading the SDK". http://code.google.com/android/intro/upgrading.html. Retrieved 2008-10-24. ^{dead link}
^ "Other SDK Releases". Android Developers. http://developer.android.com/sdk/older_releases.html. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
^ Jackson, Rob (9 March 2009). "Android Dev Phone Update: Version 1.1!". Android Phone Fans. http://phandroid.com/2009/03/09/android-dev-phone-update-version-11/. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
^ "Android 1.5 Version Notes". Android Developers. April 2009. http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-1.5.html#features. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
^ "Android 1.6 Version Notes". Android Developers. September 2009. http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-1.6-highlights.html. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
^ Claburn, Thomas (2010-07-12). "Google App Inventor Simplifies Android Programming". Information Week. http://www.informationweek.com/news/smb/mobile/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=225702880&subSection=News. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
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^ Kim, Ryan (2009-12-11). "Google brings app-making to the masses". San Francisco Chronicle. http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-12-11/business/17220628_1_computer-science-smart-phone-android. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
^ Wolber, David. "AppInventor.org". http://www.appinventor.org/. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
^ Chen, Jason (12 May 2008). "The Top 50 Applications". Android Developers Blog. http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2008/05/top-50-applications.html. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
^ Brown, Eric (13 May 2008). "Android Developer Challenge announces first-round winners". Linux for Devices. http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS3168326017.html.
^ "ADC I Top 50 Gallery". Android Developer Challenge. http://code.google.com/android/adc/adc_gallery/. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
^ "Android Developer Challenge". Google Code. http://code.google.com/android/adc/. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
^ Chu, Eric (6 October 2009). "ADC 2 Round 1 Scoring Complete". Android Developers Blog. http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2009/10/adc-2-round-1-scoring-complete.html. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
^ "ADC 2 Overall Winners". Android Developer Challenge. Google. http://code.google.com/android/adc/gallery_winners.html. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
^ Kharif, Olga (30 November 2009). "Android Developer Challenge 2 Winners Announced". BusinessWeek. http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/11/android_develop_2.html. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
^ Voice Actions for Android
^ "Android Market Has 100,000 Apps & Passes 1 Billion Downloads". 2010-07-15. http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/15/android-market-now-has-100-000-apps-passes-1-billion-download-m/. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
^ "Android Market Htis 1 Billion Downloads & 100,000 apps". 2010-07-15. http://www.fonehome.co.uk/2010/07/16/android-market-hits-1-billion-downloads-100000-apps/. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
^ "Android Developers SDK". android.com. http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-2.2.html#locs. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
^ Srinivas, Davanum (2007-12-09). "Android — Invoke JNI based methods (Bridging C/C++ and Java)". http://davanum.wordpress.com/2007/12/09/android-invoke-jni-based-methods-bridging-cc-and-java/. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
^ "java.lang.System". Android Developers. http://developer.android.com/reference/java/lang/System.html. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
^ ^a ^b Leslie, Ben (13 November 2007). "Native C application for Android". Benno's blog. http://benno.id.au/blog/2007/11/13/android-native-apps. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
^ Cooksey, Tom (2007-11-07). "Native C *GRAPHICAL* applications now working on Android emulator". android-developers mailing list. http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers/msg/ace258af92fff692?dmode=source&pli=1. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
^ "Skia source". http://src.chromium.org/viewvc/chrome/trunk/src/skia/.
^ Toker, Alp (2008-09-06). "Skia graphics library in Chrome: First impressions". http://www.atoker.com/blog/2008/09/06/skia-graphics-library-in-chrome-first-impressions/. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
^ "Dream android development". xda-developers forum. http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=448. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
^ "Android 2.1 from Motorola Droid Ported to G1". Volt Mobile. March 10, 2010. http://voltmobileandtech.com/blog/.
^ Wimberly, Taylor (24 September 2009). "CyanogenMod in trouble?". Android and me. http://androidandme.com/2009/09/hacks/cyanogenmod-in-trouble/. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ Morrill, Dan (25 September 2009). "A Note on Google Apps for Android". Android Developers Blog. http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2009/09/note-on-google-apps-for-android.html. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ "The current state...". CyanogenMod Android Rom. 27 September 2009. http://www.cyanogenmod.com/home/the-current-state. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
^ Woyke, Elizabeth (26 September 2008). "Android's Very Own Font". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/2008/09/25/font-android-g1-tech-wire-cx_ew_0926font.html.
^ "Brand Guidelines". Android. 23 March 2009. http://www.android.com/branding.html. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
^ "Android Brand Guidelines". Android. 23 March 2009. http://www.android.com/branding.html. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
^ "Canalys: iPhone outsold all Windows Mobile phones in Q2 2009". AppleInsider. 21 August 2009. http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/08/21/canalys_iphone_outsold_all_windows_mobile_phones_in_q2_2009.html. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
^ "Canalys Q3 2009: iPhone, RIM taking over smartphone market". AppleInsider. 3 November 2009. http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/11/03/canalys_q3_2009_iphone_rim_taking_over_smartphone_market.html. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
^ "Top smarthphone platforms, 3 mos. ending 2/10". Bloomberg Television. comScore MobiLens. April 2010. http://www.mycomscore.net/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/4/comScore_Reports_February_2010_U.S._Mobile_Subscriber_Market_Share. Retrieved 2010-04-19. "RIM, 42.1%; Apple, 25.4%; Microsoft, 15.1%; Google (Android), 9.0%; Palm, 5.4%; others, 3.0%"
^ http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/7/comScore_Reports_May_2010_U.S._Mobile_Subscriber_Market_Share
^ "Android to grab No. 2 spot by 2012, says Gartner". ComputerWorld. 6 October 2009. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9139026/Android_to_grab_No._2_spot_by_2012_says_Gartner.
^ "Droid Sales and the Android Explosion". PC World. 17 November 2009. http://www.pcworld.com/article/182310/droid_sales_and_the_android_explosion.html.
^ Greg Sandoval (2010-08-02). "More signs iPhone under Android attack". http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20012418-37.html. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
^ Arthur, Charles (2010-06-25). "Eric Schmidt's dog whistle to mobile developers: abandon Windows Phone". London: The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jun/25/android-schmidt-mobile-platform.
^ Mark, Lightell (2010-09-01). "Google responds to Steve Jobs' activation counting accusations". California?: CNN Money. http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/09/01/steve-jobs-hits-google-with-number-counting-accusations/.
^ "Issues - android". Google Code. http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list. Retrieved 2010-01-15.
^ Androidology - Part 1 of 3 - Architecture Overview. [Video]. YouTube. 2008-09-06. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBGfUs9mQYY. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
^ Paul, Ryan (23 February 2009). "Dream(sheep++): A developer's introduction to Google Android". Ars Technica. http://arstechnica.com/open-source/reviews/2009/02/an-introduction-to-google-android-for-developers.ars. Retrieved 2009-03-07. "In fact, during a presentation at the Google IO conference, Google engineer Patrick Brady stated unambiguously that Android is not Linux. (...) The problem with Google's approach is that it makes Android an island. The highly insular nature of the platform prevents Android users and developers from taking advantage of the rich ecosystem of existing third-party Linux applications. Android doesn't officially support native C programs at all, so it won't be possible to port your favorite GTK+ or Qt applications to Android"
^ Greg Kroah-Hartman (2010-02-02). "Android and the Linux kernel community". http://www.kroah.com/log/linux/android-kernel-problems.html. Retrieved 2010-02-03. "This means that any drivers written for Android hardware platforms, can not get merged into the main kernel tree because they have dependencies on code that only lives in Google's kernel tree, causing it to fail to build in the kernel.org tree. Because of this, Google has now prevented a large chunk of hardware drivers and platform code from ever getting merged into the main kernel tree. Effectively creating a kernel branch that a number of different vendors are now relying on.(...) But now they are stuck. Companies with Android-specific platform and drivers can not contribute upstream, which causes these companies a much larger maintenance and development cycle."
^ "Linux developer explains Android kernel code removal". ZDNet. 2010-02-02. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-389733.html. Retrieved 2010-02-03.
^ "What is Android?". Android Developers. http://developer.android.com/guide/basics/what-is-android.html. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
^ "Android versus Linux?". www.h-online.com. 9 February 2010. http://www.h-online.com/open/features/Android-versus-Linux-924563.html. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
^ "DiBona: Google will hire two Android coders to work with kernel.org". www.zdnet.com. 15 April 2010. http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=6274. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
^ Issue 1273, first reported 12 November 2008, unreviewed as of June 2010.
^ [2], listed as released but not resolved
^ Issue 1386, first reported 28 November 2008, unreviewed as of June 2010.
^ Issue 3902, first reported 15 September 2009, unreviewed as of August 2010.
^ van Gurp, Jilles (13 November 2007). "Google Android: Initial Impressions and Criticism". Javalobby. http://www.javalobby.org/nl/archive/jlnews_20071113o.html. Retrieved 2009-03-07. "Frankly, I don't understand why Google intends to ignore the vast amount of existing implementation out there. It seems like a bad case of "not invented here" to me. Ultimately, this will slow adoption. There are already too many Java platforms for the mobile world and this is yet another one"
^ "Myriad's New J2Android Converter Fuels Android Applications Gold Rush". 19 March 2010. http://www.myriadgroup.com/Media-Centre/News/Myriad-New-J2Android-Converter-Fuels-Android-Applications-Gold-Rush.aspx.
^ "J2Android hopes you don't know that Android is Java-based". 23 March 2010. http://www.javaworld.com/community/node/4170. "On the other hand, you might think this is kind of a scam aimed at developers who don't really understand the nature of the platform they're targeting. My biggest complaint is that you'd think that Mikael Ricknäs, the IDG News Service reporter who wrote the first story linked to above (who toils for the same company that publishes JavaWorld), would have at least mentioned the relationship between Java and Android to make the oddness of this announcement clear."
^ "Myriad CTO: J2Android moves MIDlets to "beautiful" Android framework". 31 March 2010. http://www.javaworld.com/community/?q=node/4210. "We will have to wait and see exactly how much pickup J2Android actually sees. The tool isn't actually available on the open market just yet; while Schillings spoke optimistically about "converting 1,000 MIDlets in an afternoon," at the moment they're working with a few providers to transform their back catalogs. So those of you out there hoping to avoid learning how to write Android code may have to wait a while."
^ "HTC Developer center: Android Dev Phone 1". HTC Corporation. http://developer.htc.com/adp.html. Retrieved 2010-01-15. "For development, you should select the lowest possible Android platform version that meets the needs of your applications. For example, if you are working in the Android 1.1 SDK and your application is using APIs introduced in Android 1.1, then you should download the Android 1.1 system image. If you are using the Android 1.1 SDK but your application does not use Android 1.1 APIs, then using Android 1.0 image is sufficient. For testing, consider downloading all platform versions with which your application is compatible, then running your applications on those platform versions to ensure that they work as designed."
^ "Android's Weakest Link". ZDNet. 2009-10-11. http://blogs.zdnet.com/Greenfield/?p=481. Retrieved 2010-01-15.
^ "Complications looming for Android developers". androidandme.com. 2009-11-06. http://androidandme.com/2009/11/news/complications-looming-for-android-developers/. Retrieved 2010-01-15.
^ "A Chink In Android's Armor". TechCrunch. 2009-10-11. http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/11/a-chink-in-androids-armor/. Retrieved 2009-10-11. "And now they're faced with a landslide of new handsets, some running v.1.6 and some courageous souls even running android v.2.0. All those manufacturers/carriers are racing to release their phones by the 2009 holiday season, and want to ensure the hot applications will work on their phones. And here's the problem – in almost every case, we hear, there are bugs and more serious problems with the apps.[...]First of all, the compatibility between versions issue may be overblown. The reported problems have been limited to an Android developer contest[...]We haven’t heard of any major app developers complaining of backwards or forward compatibility problems. Also, I’ve now upgraded my phone from 1.5 to 1.6, and every application continues to work fine."
^ "Android’s Rapid Growth Has Some Developers Worried". Wired News. 2009-11-16. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/11/android-fragmentation/. Retrieved 2010-02-26. "Fagan’s concerns about the fragmentation of Android is being echoed by other developers, says Sean Galligan, vice president of business development at Flurry, an mobile app analytics company(...)"You may build an app that works perfectly with all three firmwares, but then when you run it on carriers’ ROMs it completely blows up," says Fagan. "So we find ourselves having to create apps that are compatible with multiple firmwares, multiple ROMs and multiple devices with different hardware."
^ "Android just reproducing Java ME's problems, now". JavaWorld. 2009-11-17. http://www.javaworld.com/community/node/3704. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
^ "Android's Spread Could Become a Problem". BusinessWeek. 2009-10-15. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2009/tc20091015_626136.htm. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
^ "Google Android's self-destruction derby begins". InfoWorld. 2010-02-22. http://infoworld.com/d/mobilize/google-androids-self-destruction-derby-begins-863. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
^ "Platform Versions". developer.android.com. 2010-05-03. http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
^ "Issue 719 - android - enhanced low-level Bluetooth support". Google Code. http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=719. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
^ Yueh, Erin. "Reading, Writing and Arithmetic". http://i-miss-erin.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
^ "Transferring files to the HTC Desire and HTC Legend via Bluetooth". http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/transferring-files-htc-desire-and-htc-legend-bluetooth. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
^ Kim, Ryan (2010-06-04). "Sprint to offer Qik video chat on smart phones". The San Francisco Chronicle. http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-06-04/business/21656741_1_video-chat-video-phone-qik. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
^ http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=4402 Fehlendes rSAP in Android
^ Community-powered support for Google
^ Android Guys, Fix Google Calendar!
^ Washington Post, Google Calendar's time zone weakness
^ http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=5892 Android Code issue 5892
^ ^a ^b James Niccolai (2010-08-12). "Oracle sues Google over Java use in Android". http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9180678/Update_Oracle_sues_Google_over_Java_use_in_Android?taxonomyId=13. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
^ Mark Hachman. "Oracle Sues Google Over Android Java Use". pcmag.com. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2367761,00.asp. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
^ "Oracle's complaint against Google for Java patent infringement". scribd.com. http://www.scribd.com/doc/35811761/Oracle-s-complaint-against-Google-for-Java-patent-infringement. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
^ Ed Burnette (12 August 2010). "Oracle uses James Gosling patent to attack Google and Android developers". ZD Net. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/burnette/oracle-uses-james-gosling-patent-to-attack-google-and-android-developers. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
^ Android and Java comparison in Java.net
^ Google dubs Oracle suit 'attack on Java community. The Registrar

Bibliography

Ed, Burnette (November 10, 2009). Hello, Android: Introducing Google's Mobile Development Platform (2nd ed.). Pragmatic Bookshelf. ISBN 1934356492. http://pragprog.com/titles/eband2/hello-android.
Rogers, Rick; Lombardo, John; Mednieks, Zigurd; Meike, Blake (May 1, 2009). Android Application Development: Programming with the Google SDK (1st ed.). O'Reilly Media. ISBN 0596521472. http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596521509.
Ableson, Frank; Collins, Charlie; Sen, Robi (May 1, 2009). Unlocking Android: A Developer's Guide (1st ed.). Manning. ISBN 1933988673. http://www.manning.com/ableson/.
Conder, Shane; Darcey, Lauren (September 7, 2009). Android Wireless Application Development (1st ed.). Addison-Wesley Professional. ISBN 0321627091. http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0321627091.
Murphy, Mark (June 26, 2009). Beginning Android (1st ed.). Apress. ISBN 1430224193. http://www.apress.com/book/view/1430224193.
Hashimi, Sayed Y.; Komatineni, Satya; MacLean, Dave (February 26, 2010). Pro Android 2 (2nd ed.). Apress. ISBN 1430226595. http://www.apress.com/book/view/1430226595.
Meier, Reto (November 24, 2008). Professional Android Application Development (1st ed.). Wrox Press. ISBN 0470344717. http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/WroxTitle/Professional-Android-Application-Development.productCd-0470344717.html.
DiMarzio, Jerome (July 30, 2008). ANDROID A PROGRAMMERS GUIDE (1st ed.). McGraw-Hill Osborne Media. ISBN 0071599886. http://www.mhprofessional.com/product.php?isbn=0071599886&cat=112.
Haseman, Chris (July 21, 2008). Android Essentials (1st ed.). Apress. ISBN 1430210648. http://www.apress.com/book/view/1430210648.

External links

Wikinews has related news: Google Android smartphone sales triple in the UK this year

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Android (operating system)

Official Android page
Google Projects for Android from Google Code
Android Wiki
Sergey Brin introduces the Android platform at YouTube
Android: Building a Mobile Platform to Change the Industry — lecture given by Google Mobile Platforms Manager, Richard Miner at Stanford University (video archive).
Android (operating system) at the Open Directory Project

v • d • e Android (Google Inc., Open Handset Alliance)

Development	Android SDK · Apache Ant · Dalvik · Developer Challenge · Eclipse · Google Code · Google App Inventor · Google I/O

User interfaces	HTC Sense · Motorola Motoblur · Samsung TouchWiz · Sony Ericsson UX

Apps	Earth · Goggles · Gmail · Maps · Sky Map · Talk · Translate · Voice · YouTube

Services	Android Market

Lists	Android based devices · Android related topics

v • d • e Mobile operating systems

Linux-based	Access Linux · Android · DSLinux · Familiar · iPodLinux · LiMo · MeeGo (Moblin · Maemo · Qt Extended) · Mobilinux · Openmoko Linux · OPhone · SHR · Qt Extended Improved · Ubuntu Mobile · webOS

Others	bada · BlackBerry OS · GEOS · iOS · Nintendo DSi OS · Nokia OS (S30 · S40) · Palm OS · PSP OS · Symbian platform (Symbian OS · MOAP(S) · UIQ · S60 · S80 · S90) · SavaJe · Windows Mobile (Windows Phone 7)

Related platforms	BREW · Java ME (FX Mobile)

See also: List of digital distribution platforms for mobile devices, Mobile development

v • d • e Google Inc.

Chairman/CEO: Eric E. Schmidt · Director/Technology President/Co-founder: Sergey Brin · Director/Products President/Co-founder: Larry Page Other directors: John Doerr · John L. Hennessy · Arthur D. Levinson · Ann Mather · Paul Otellini · Ram Shriram · Shirley M. Tilghman · Senior Advisor: Al Gore

Advertising	Ad Manager · AdMob · Adscape · AdSense · Advertising Professionals · AdWords · Analytics · Checkout · DoubleClick · Invite Media

Communication	Alerts · Buzz · Calendar · Friend Connect · Gmail (history · interface) · Groups · Gtalk · Latitude · Notebook · Orkut · Q & A · Reader · Slide · Translate · Voice · Wave

Software	Chrome · Chrome OS · Desktop · Earth · Gadgets · Goggles · Japanese Input · Pack · Picasa · Picnik · Pinyin · PowerMeter · SketchUp · Talk · Toolbar · Updater · Urchin

Platforms	Account · Android (Nexus One) · App Engine · Apps · Base · BigTable · Caja · Co-op · Gears · GFS · Health · Native Client · OpenSocial · Public DNS · Wave

Development tools	AJAX APIs · App Inventor · AtGoogleTalks · Closure Tools · Code · Gadgets API · GData · Go · Googlebot · Guice · GWS · Image Labeler · KML · MapReduce · SketchUp Ruby · Sitemaps · Summer of Code · Web Toolkit · Google Website Optimizer

Publishing	3D Warehouse · Blogger · Bookmarks · Docs · FeedBurner · iGoogle · Jaiku · Knol · Map Maker · Panoramio · Picasa Web Albums · Sidewiki · Sites (JotSpot) · YouTube

Search (PageRank)	Aardvark · Appliance · Audio · Books (Library Project) · Code · Desktop · Fast Flip · Finance · GOOG-411 · Images · Maps (Street View, Street View privacy concerns) · News · Patents · Products · Scholar · Usenet · Videos · Web Search (History · Personalized · Real-Time) · Analysis: Insights for Search · Trends

Discontinued	Answers · Browser Sync · Click-to-Call · Dodgeball · Joga Bonito · Lively · Mashup Editor · Page Creator · SearchWiki · Video Marketplace · Web Accelerator

See also	Acquisitions · Bomb · Criticism · Doodles · Foundation · Google China · Google TV · Google.org · Googleplex · History · Hoaxes · Google Fiber · Illegal flower tribute · I'm Feeling Lucky · I/O · Labs · Logo · Lunar X Prize · Products · Google Ventures · WiFi

Annual revenue: US$21.80 billion (FY 2008, ▲31% from 2007) · Employees: 19,786 full-time (Jun. 30, 2009) · Stock symbol: (NASDAQ: GOOG, LSE: GGEA) · Motto: Don't be evil · Website: www.google.com

v • d • e Linux operating system

Linux	Adoption · Comparison with Windows · Criticism · History · Kernel (kernel names · supported architectures) · Linus' Law · Linux Foundation · Tux

Distribution	Distribution (general comparison · netbook-specific comparison) · Live CD · Live USB · Mini Linux · Package formats

GNU	Free Software Foundation · GNU · GNU GPL · GNU/Linux naming controversy · GNU packages · GNU Project

Window manager	X Window Manager · AfterStep · Blackbox · CTWM · Enlightenment · FVWM · Hackedbox · IceWM · Metisse · OLVWM · PLWM · PWM · Sawfish · vtwm · wm2 · wmx · Xmonad

User interface	CLI · GUI · GNOME · KDE · Xfce · LXDE

Applications	Desktop · Devices · Embedded · Gaming · LAMP · Thin client

People	Jono Bacon · Alan Cox · Jon 'Mad Dog' Hall · Benjamin Mako Hill · Greg Kroah-Hartman · David S. Miller · Andrew Morton · Ian Murdock · Daniel Robbins · Mark Shuttleworth · Richard Stallman · Linus Torvalds · Theodore Ts'o · Patrick Volkerding · Matt Zimmerman

Media	Free Software Magazine · Linux.com · Linux Format · Linux For You · Linux Gazette · Linux Journal · Linux-Magazin · Linux Magazine · Linux Outlaws · LugRadio · LWN.net · O3 Magazine · Phoronix

Lists	Devices · Distributions · Distributions that run from RAM · Live CDs · Proprietary software for Linux

System arrangement and features	Startup process · Console · Framebuffer · Kernel modules

Mobile	Access Linux Platform · Android · bada · LiMo Foundation · LiMo Platform · Linux Phone Standards Forum · MeeGo (Maemo · Moblin) · Mobilinux · Open Handset Alliance · Openmoko · OPhone · webOS · SHR · Ubuntu Mobile

Other topics	Linux conference · Linux Documentation Project · Malware · Linux Standard Base · Linux User Group (LUG) · Revolution OS · SCO and Linux · Tanenbaum–Torvalds debate

The Mobile View from South Africa | ANDROID OPERATING SYSTEM: Google Android Operating System, Android OS, Apps, Projects, Widgets & Phones.
Why is the Froyo update for the Android operating system such a ...: The 2.2 release of the Android operating system that is named Froyo has been getting a lot of buzz from Android phone enthusiast over the past couple of months. It is example of how an update can bring about huge change.
Tapas, Android-based Mobile Operating System | Rikez Cybercheeze: Are known too well the problems that Google has had with the Chinese administration in recent years, which among other things have affected the Android.
Android openness may not be all it is meant to be | TeleRead ...: A number of people have been touting cell phones based on the competing Android operating system for their greater degree of “openness”. The Android operating system is open source (excepting for certain apps that Google keeps to ...
Purchasing A Top Android Phone Is A Good Decision | CellPhone ...: The Motorola Quench is one of the top Android phones. The Quench is a later model Motorola that has been enhanced with the Android operating system. This phone is among seven other Motorola models, using the Android system. ...
Android to whup BlackBerry OS, Apple iOS market share by 2014 ...: By 2014, Android will have stormed past BlackBerry OS and Apple's iOS in terms of market share, becoming the second most popular mobile operating system behind Symbian, according to research firm IDC. IDC predicts Android's market share ...
DNAML Announces DNL 2, the Operating System and Device Agnostic ...: Beverly Hills, CA (PRWEB) May 17, 2010 DNAML Pty Ltd ('DNAML') today announced that it has commenced testing of its new DNL 2 eBook.
First Android TV Launches Weeks Before Google TV Arrives: Meanwhile a Swedish company has just launched its own Internet TV, built on top of Google's open source Android Operating System. The company is called People of Lava and its new line of Internet TVs is called Scandinavia (in the same ...
Samsung Considering Using Google Android OS On Its HDTVs ...: Samsung may implement the Google Android operating system on the company's future HDTV sets, which will allow users to access a variety of movies, music, games and applications directly on the TVs via broadband internet connection, ...
Android Market has more than 80000 apps, Android's Rubin says ...: The worldwide smartphone market is expected to grow 55.4 percent in 2010, and while the Android operating system is expected to see major gains in the coming years, no one mobile OS is expected to dominate the market. IDC · Android ...
Samsung intended to push Android software Internet TV to compete ...: Earlier this month, 99 U.S. dollars Apple TV set-top box that allows TV network rent films and TV shows, Apple has about 250000 app (application), iphone pouches far more than the Android operating system has a 70000 app . ...
HTC Wildfire A Android Smartphone At Cheap Deals: Publisher: susan hargreaves. The latest HTC phone to feature the Android operating system has now been released on Vodafone, the HTC Legend can now be connected to a range of Vodafone contract deals from free. ...
The first Android has landed « AndroidBoss: G1 – so insignificant is now called the eagerly much tension first phone with Google's Android operating system. In the rumor mill stage, it was still called Dream – and it has the right stuff, Apple's iPhone attack. ...
T-Mobile officially announces the G2 Android smartphone, expected ...: ... the spark that set the Android world ablaze two years ago with the launch of the world's first Android-powered mobile phone, the T-Mobile G1, which remains an important milestone for both T-Mobile and the Android operating system,” ...
Android TV from People of Lava:: So you will have probably heard of Google TV, 'a software platform for set-top boxes and HDTVs based on the Android operating system and co-developed by Google, Intel, Sony and Logitech.' Well, in the meantime a Swedish company called ...
Will the bungled Froyo rollout hurt Android and Google ...: I think the answer will be: "The ability we have to customize the open source Android operating system to conform with our set of parameters was a critical selling point in the adoption of Android." Indeed, from the point of view of the ...
Android Is As Open As The Clenched Fist I'd Like To Punch The ...: My point is not to bash Google — what they've created is an excellent mobile operating system. My point is that the same “openness” that Android users are touting as a key selling point of the OS could very well end up being its weak ...
Android Captures 25 Percent Mobile Internet Market Share: Android is not being choosy regarding the mobile operating systems from which it is stealing market share. It has taken a piece from each of the majors, including Windows Mobile 6.5, Symbian, RIM, and even Apple's very popular iOS. ...
Android Now at 80000 Market Apps | Android Phone Fans: In case you didn't catch it late last night in T-Mobile's press release for their G2, Andy Rubin had some words to say for the successor to the first phone to carry his beloved operating system, Android, and had a quick fact to throw ...
Search Engine Optimization Seo Tutorial: Updated Android Trojan ...: Mobile attacks may have reached a tipping point, as researchers observe search engine optimization used to spread a malicious program for mobile devices running the Android operating system. One month after researchers first identified ...
iPhone 4 versus Samsung I9000 GALAXY S – iOS 4 vs. Android 2.1 ...: Apple are so scared they won't even release their chip specifications. Their so called A9 processor is probably an A8 in reality… Samsung Galaxy has a much better GPU and the Android operating system is faster, thats Android 2.1… ...
RUMOR: Verizon To Shiv Google, Make Bing Default On Android Phones: ... Microsoft and Yahoo! announced a deal in which Bing would power Yahoo! Search. More » · Edit This » · Android. Android. Summary. Android is Google's smartphone operating system and is a competitor to Apple's iPhone operating system. ...
Android Is As Open As The Clenched Fist I'd Like To Punch The ...: The game remains the same. My point is not to bash Google — what they've created is an excellent mobile operating system. My point is that the same “openness” that Android users are touting as a key selling point of the OS could.
Android May Paddle Samsung Canoe Into Turbulent Web TV Waters: Samsung is reportedly mulling a line of televisions that would run Google's Android operating system, an OS more commonly found in smartphones. Mating Android with a boob tube could allow a TV to better hand Web content, ...
HTC Hero Android Phone | Android Phone News: It is a part of the A series Android phone manufactured by HTC Corporation. It is HTC's third handset to be powered by the android operating system. The HTC Hero has the signature curve at the lower end and has a sleek and stylish body ...
History repeats itself: IBM vs Apple then, iPhone vs Android now ...: Apple, of course, is the only manufacturer and vendor of phones running the iPhone operating system, while any manufacturer is able to run Android if it wishes. This mirrors Apple's history pitting its Macintosh operating system against ...
Free Download Factory » T-Mobile myTouch Slide Android Phone, Black: Updating the original myTouch 3G with a roomy slide-out QWERTY keyboard and the latest version of the Android operating system (version 2.1), the T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide mobile phone also offers a variety of unique new features to ...
PeopleOfLava.com: Scandinavia – World's first Android TV ...: Little-known Swedish television manufacturer, People of Lava is the first company to show a fully interactive internet TV running Google's Android operating system. At the peopleoflava.com, people can find and buy premium full HD TV and ...
Remote Notifier for Android -- forward notifications from phone to ...: Grab the client for your computer's operating system from Android Developer Leandro's Google code page right here, and keep in mind if you're using a Mac you can set up Growl instead. Install the package, and run the application. ...
Archos 5 500 GB Internet Tablet with Android | Popular Gadgets Choice: ARCHOS, award-winning for its constant technology innovation, now introduces its new ARCHOS 5 Internet Tablet. This product combines all the multimedia know-how that ARCHOS is famous for, with the ANDROID operating system. ...
Which Top Android Phone is Meant For You? | Pocket Concepts: Without even realizing it, the fact is the Google's Android phones are all over the cell phone market! The reason is many different manufactures of cell phones chose to adopt the Android operating system into their phones. ...
T-Mobile G2 Android 2.2 Phone Sports 4G Speed | Nowcosm: T-Mobile Sept. 9 introduced the 4G-enabled T-Mobile G2 running on T-Mobile's new HSPA+ network. The Android 2.2 device has a 3.7-inch screen and supports H...
The Android logo stolen from a game from the 90s ?: Even so, according to the Engadget blog, the game was, allegedly an inspiration source for the creators of the Android operating system logo. So, amongst characters like Nerd, Punkrocker or Pirate, characters that players could have ...
Mediactive » Now we have to jailbreak our Android phones, too: The heart of this notion was Google's Android operating system running on a device that wasn't subject to a mobile carrier's deliberate limitations on how it could be used. The experiment wasn't a rousing success for several reasons, ...
Android vs Chrome OS: It's All About the Webapps: Should tablets that try to compete against the iOS and Windows run Android or Chrome OS? This is a major point of contention right now, with those who are impressed by Google's smartphone operating system of the belief that tablets ...
Archos 5 32 GB Internet Tablet with Android | Popular Gadgets Choice: This product combines all the multimedia know-how that Archos is famous for, with the Android operating system. It offers you an uncompromised Internet, Media and TV experience in a customizable interface. In perpetual evolution with ...
Samsung Wants A Web TV Platform: Google Android or Samsung Bada?: Samsung, one of the premiere makers of LCD, LED and Plasma televisions, is reportedly pondering whether to build televisions that use the Google Android operating system. This is the Google dream, to get their Android operating system ...
Android OS-powered T-Mobile G2 Formally Announced: It will run Android OS 2.2 on an 800 MHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. This means it will have the current version of Google's mobile operating system, but a slower processor than most other high-end models. ...
Android software licensing is not free, Microsoft says | Seer Press: software licensing1 300x225 Android software licensing is not free, Microsoft says With its launch of its Windows Phone 7, Micrsoft has been criticizing its competitor Google's mobile operating system Android as offering software ...
Chinese Tech Firms Plan Mobile Devices That Use Android Operating ...: ZTE Corp. and Huawei Technologies Co., China's two biggest telecommunications hardware makers, said they will offer new mobile devices that use Google Inc.'s Android operating system, with ZTE saying it plans to release a tablet ...
IDC: Smartphone Market Exploding, Android is 'Wild Card' - ITNewsFeed: PC Magazine - The worldwide smartphone market is expected to grow 55.4 percent in 2010, and while the Android operating system is expected to see major gains in the coming years, no one mobile OS is expected to dominate the market, ...
Samsung Considers Using Androids OS for TV Sets: samsungtv Samsung Considers Using Androids OS for TV Sets Samsung keen to develop the tv of the future, are according to Bloomberg, looking to manufacture TV sets with Google's Android Operating System (OS) integrated within the ...
3CX Releases Free VoIP Phone for Android: 3CXPhone: 3CX, developer of the popular Windows softphone 3CXPhone and VoIP PBX 3CX Phone System, today announced the release of a free SIP phone for the Android Smartphone operating system. With 3CXPhone for Android, users can make free phone ...
3CX VoIP blog » 3CX releases free VoIP phone for Android: 3CXPhone: London, September 8– 3CX, developer of the popular Windows softphone 3CXPhone and VoIP PBX 3CX Phone System, today announced the release of a free SIP phone for the Android Smartphone operating system. With 3CXPhone for Android, ...
T-Mobile to launch G2 phone two years after first Google Android ...: It was almost two years ago that I got my hands on a G1, the first cellphone that used Google's Android operating system. Now, a couple of hundred thousand Android phones are being activated a day. So T-Mobile hopes to reignite some of ...
Samsung Uses Google's Free Android Software, Blocks Google Search: This is the risk of offering an "open" mobile operating system for Google. Handset makers and carriers can push Google off the phone, thus negating the whole point of making Android, which drives mobile search, which makes Google money. ...
OpenFeint's PlayTime Brings iOS And Android Gamers Together ...: The thought of a truly open mobile operating system is very appealing. The problem is that in practice, that's just simply not the reality of the situation. Maybe if Google had their way, the system would be truly open. But they don't. ...
eLocity A7 Android Tablet Hits Pre-Order on Amazon | Geeky Gadgets: The eLocity A7 will run Android 2.2 for the operating system. The device has a 7-inch touchscreen that should be good for streaming video content and more. The tablet has 512MB of DDR2 RAM and runs an NVIDIA Tegra 2 T-20 processor at ...
Samsung Considering Android-Based Television to Rival Apple TV ...: TV titan Samsung is kicking around the notion of using Google's Android operating system in its television sets. Will this better enable it to keep up with Apple, which is launching its Apple TV set-top device later this month?
Samsung Galaxy Tab Android Tablet Review & Features | Latest ...: The Galaxy Tab Android tablet (Model: Samsung GT-P1000) is Samsung's first tablet device, which will be driven by Google Android Operating System 2.2. Representing a new category of mobile products for the company, the new GALAXY Tab ...
hu-tui.com » Blog Archive » Unite, send department 3G Android chip ...: The high mountain is graceful to think, if a large amount of Android intellectual mobile phones at under a thousand yuan are listing, will exert a great influence on the pattern of the mobile phone operating system. ...
Two More 10-Inch Tablets Revealed, Run Android and Windows 7 ...: This product also features 512MB of RAM and 32GB of internal hard drive storage while being loaded with the Android operating system. The second tablet, the Smart Touch, was unveiled by Smart PC and has specifications more or less akin ...
Samsung considering a switch to Android-based HDTVs: The company is currently considering a switch to all Android, but a Bada-based operating system that will connect TVs and phones is said to be in development. If a decision to switch to Android is reached, it is unclear whether Bada ...
Customized Android-based OS “Tapas” Looking to Sample the Chinese ...: While this isn't the first Android knockoff to appear in the Asian tech scene—that dubious distinction goes to China's mobile OPhone—it does seem to have the most potential to compete with the major mobile operating systems in today's ...
Android's newest flavour: Tapas: Today, ex-Google China president, Kai-Fu Lee, announced in the Wall Street Journal that he will launch a whole new mobile operating system based on Android, to be known as “Tapas“. This isn't the first not-quite-Android OS that China ...
Android Tablet Buying Tips | Android Tapp. Android App Reviews: And we should expect Android tablets, with their free operating system, to be available from a lot of sources. The floodgates are building. So, what should a potential Android tablet buyer look for? Well, the most logical answer is ...
Android Openness? Not If The Carriers Have Their Say « Web 3.0: From his post – “My point is not to bash Google — what they've created is an excellent mobile operating system. My point is that the same “openness” that Android users are touting as a key selling point of the OS could very well end up ...
Google (GOOG) Android & Apple (AAPL) iPhone | InvestorPlace: So it's surprising then that, given the massive success of devices running iOS, that Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and its Android mobile operating system are stealing away its market share. The shift in control of the mobile operating ...
I n - T e c h: LG Shine Plus: Android-smartphone for Canada: ... Wi-Fi adapter and Bluetooth, the receiver-satellite navigation system GPS, 100 MB of internal memory and slot for flash MicroSD card with up to 32 GB. Powered by the Android operating system version 2.1 with the services of Google. ...
Kai-Fu Lee to launch an Android based mobile OS called Tapas: Google China's former president, Kai-Fu Lee, is set to launch a new mobile operating system based on Android. The OS, dubbed Tapas, will feature software that is geared towards the Chinese market, including the ability to sync with ...
Hero HTC Android Phone « AndroidBoss: Part of series of android phones-A manufactured by HTC Corporation. And 'the third with HTC android operating system will be operated. Widgets are the signature curve to the lower end and has a sleek and stylish body, 4.4-inches long, ...
Android software licensing is not free, Microsoft says ...: With its launch of its Windows Phone 7, Micrsoft has been criticizing its competitor Google's mobile operating system Android as offering software licensing that is not really free, but is actually more costly than its own product. ...
Virtual Box: How to run Android OS and Android Apps on Your ...: Name your virtual machine, choose Linux as operating system, in the Version dropdown menu, choose Linux 2.6. Click on Next to continue. 4. In the next step, you have to set base memory size. 256MB is enough. Click on Next to jump to ...
Irobot style (Apad) 7” Android tablet – special expanded 4GB ...: In a nutshell: affordable tablet with double the memory, in a portable 7” format, with the unmatched flexibility and freedom of the Android operating system. – FREE SHIPPING IN LESS THAN A WEEK – AND FREE SLEEVE, ...
Can Android maintain its accelerated momentum? | TG Daily: Android is currently the fastest growing operating system in the mobile sphere. But can Google's popular OS maintain its accelerated momentum and fend off challenges from iOS and Symbian? Well, senior IDC research analyst Kevin Restivo ...
TechKive » Blog Archive » First Android TV Launches Weeks Before ...: It's slated for this fall (US) and will be integrated into a new line of Sony Internet TVs. Meanwhile a Swedish company has just launched its own Internet TV, built on top of Google's open source Android Operating System.
3CX Releases Free VoIP Phone for Android: 3CXPhone | Telecom Reseller: 8 /PRNewswire/ — 3CX, developer of the popular Windows softphone 3CXPhone and VoIP PBX 3CX Phone System, today announced the release of a free SIP phone for the Android Smartphone operating system. With 3CXPhone for Android, ...
The Circuit - Android vs. iPhone is no easy call: Even leaving aside the improved display and other advances in the latest model, the iPhone is a remarkably easy device to use. It's far more approachable than the Droid 2, which runs the latest Android operating system, Version 2.2. ...
Enjoy DVD and video on popular Google Android phone: Sony X3, Moto ...: Android system has been taken into our memory early, many friends favor Smartphone input more energy to concern and discuss. The operating system of mobile Google was just come in, many firms are involved in its ranks. ...
New T-Mobile G2 Touch Android Cell Phone release date and price in ...: Speaking of delectable operating system revisions, T-Mobile confirms you'll indeed find Android 2.2 under the hood accompanied by Flash Player 10.1, as well as “one-touch quick keys” the carrier claims provide Speedy Gonzales-like ...
Android vs. IPhone Is No Easy Call | iPhone News Updated: Google's Android mobile operating system proved a formidable rival to the wildly popular iPhone in a recent real-world test.
The Samsung Galaxy S Is An Appealing Android Smartphone ...: Utilising the popular android operating system, in this case v2.1 (Eclair), the Samsung Galaxy S offers a great platform for customisation and expansion, thanks to access to Android Market, which allows users to browse and download ...
Android Rogers Magic Owners Are Getting 2.1 | TheUnlockr: Please note that during the update process, the device will be Hard Reset and anything that is NOT part of the Operating System (contacts, calendar, music, etc) will be permanently deleted; always make a point of backing up your ...
Can Android Be Stopped in the World of Smartphones? «: More intriguing is how IDG IDC sees the mobile operating system shaking out by 2014: Google Android devices are expected to be the no. 2 mobile operating system, behind only Nokia's Symbian platform. ...
T Mobile Cell Phones Incorporates With Android | G1 Android Apps ...: Other T-Mobile cell phones using the Android operating system include the HTC Desire, the T-Mobile myTouch 3G (Or HTC Magic), the Nexus One, LGs GW620 Eve, the Motorola Cliq, and the Samsung Behold II. T-Mobiles Pulse Mini and the HTC ...
Verizon Samsung Fascinate hands-on and initial impressions ...: I would NEVER, EVER buy a android operating system phone that only uses bing for search!! What an absolute joke this is!! Hopefully this phone crashes and burns for verizon so they can wake up already. Who is the idiot at VZW who ...
People of Lava Android TV Specs & Review: Scandinavia is first ...: The company has now demonstrated a fully-interactive internet TV running Google's Android operating system. Known as the Lava Android TV, the prototype of this device was shown. This is actually an HD TV and seems to be the most ...
5 Tips for Mastering Search on Android | The Android Phone: Published: September 9, 2010 Posted in: Android News, Devices, Reviews, Tips. Google is known for search, so it's no wonder that search plays a prominent role in Google's operating system. That tends to happen when the company that ...
T-Mobile G2 Official Details Announced: ... the Android world ablaze two years ago with the launch of the world's first Android-powered mobile phone, the T-Mobile G1, which remains an important milestone for both T-Mobile and the Android operating system," said Cole Brodman, ...
Operating System Update - Android Forums: Operating System Update Samsung Moment. ... Old Today, 12:12 PM. neomedic. New Member. Join Date: Sep 2010. Posts: 2. Device(s): Thanks: 0. Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts. Default Operating System Update ...
T-Mobile G2 Unveiled, Pre-Orders This Month | Answer My Query: ... the spark that set the Android world ablaze two years ago with the launch of the world's first Android-powered mobile phone, the T-Mobile G1, which remains an important milestone for both T-Mobile and the Android operating system” ...
Verizon to make Bing default search on all Android phones ...: Quite a zinger has been given to Google today for their Android mobile operating system, by none other than Verizon Wireless. Verizon will apparently be shifting to Bing as the default search provider for all upcoming Android phones ...
T-Mobile to launch G2 phone two years after first Google Android ...: T-Mobile to launch G2 phone two years after first Google Android VentureBeat. It was almost two years ago that I got my hands on a G1, the first cellphone that used Google's Android operating system. Now, a couple of hundred thousand . ...
Free Download Factory » Samsung Moment M900 Android Phone: This was my second smart phone after owning an iPhone 3GS and my first experience with the Android Operating System. As a complete Google-slave, I simply had to give Android a try. In the past I have owned one Samsung phone (SCH-A950) ...
Android Ruling The Roost | UK Telecoms News | Phone System News ...: android Smartphone mobiles powered by the Android operating system are now used for a quarter of all mobile internet in America. That is according to information revealed by the August 2010 Mobile OS Share report from research firm ...
TelcoNews.com - Telecom and VoIP Industry News » Blog Archive ...: A bevy of Android devices will ultimately mean that Google's mobile operating system will control largely half of the smartphone market, according to a Piper Jaffray report. Apple's iOS will probably top out with market share of 20 ...
Top five iPad rivals | iBlogAuto: The company that brought us the stunning Samsung Galaxy S smartphone has turned its hand to tablets with a 7-inch device based on version 2.2 of Google's Android operating system. The device, which also works as a phone, ...
Astro File Manager app for Android mobile | AndroidCity.org: The ASTRO File Manager helps you get the most out of your Android smart phone. The Android operating system is designed to be very open and flexible, giving its users the chance to do more things on their phone than ever before. ...
iOS Bigger than Linux and Android Combined [STATS]: “It's something to take note of when a mobile operating system passes something that's been around forever. Mobile's growth curve is strong and mobile is becoming quite a phenomenon on the Internet. ...
Why Android Handsets Keep Gaining Ground on the iPhone - DailyFinance: The latest evidence that Google's (GOOG) fast-rising Android operating system is gaining ground in the smartphone sphere comes from online traffic counter Quantcast. It has released data showing that Android now owns 25% of the U.S. ...
Samsung Galaxy S – Social hub makes it stand out from other ...: nice toy! but the operating system is from google :-( goodbye privatcy. 1schweineficker1 says: September 9, 2010 at 9:54 am. nice toy! but the operating system is from google :-( goodbye privatcy. 1schweineficker1 says: ... That's the most beautiful ANDROID phone I've seen from you Samsung. Question why do you put a 5mp instead of a 8mp and theirs no LED FLASH? Can't you put Flash LED for taking pictures? And is it true that it's coming to AT&T if it is I WOULD LOVE TO ...
Bronte Capital: Microsoft laid bare: The new hot mobile phone operating system is linux-based with overlay system developed by Google called Android. It is open source and phone makers (HTC, Samsung and even Motorola) can take this system and incorporate it in their phone ...
Huawei Announces IDEOS Smartphone with Google Android 2.2: The name “Ida” embodies the creativity and inspiration: the “ID” represents the hardware platform for industrial design focuses on the operating system, “the platform of the operating system software is based, and” E “stands for the ...
Three giants – Miami » Digital business times: LianFa technology ...: In July, LianFa secco announced formally joined by Google to promote Android operating system and mobile launched an “open”, will make LianFa league branch “exclusive Android smartphone solutions”. Google engineering vice President, ...
Piper Jaffray: Google Will Overtake Apple in Smartphone Market ...: Apple. Apple makes 18 times the profit of all Android handset makers put together. In long-term competition between Apple and Android, it's Apple that has the advantage in every way. > market share. Operating system market share is an ...
The Google Android 7″ Touch Screen WIFI MID Tablet Netbook UMPC ...: By adopting the hottest operating system-Google Android, you can experience the excellent OS totally free now. Since Android is an open source operation system, this means the community will always be updating and programming for this ...
Digital Life - IDC: Android To Grab Number-Two Spot In 2014: operating system, a new study by the Research firm IDC sees Android shooting past Research in Motion's BlackBerry to seize second place in the global smartphone market by 2014. IDC sees Android's share growing by more than 50 percent ...
T-Mobile G2 Available in September | Android Codex: It is powered by Google's Android 2.2 operating system, and it offers seven customizable home screen panels, among which we can count a dedicated panel with one-click access to various Google apps and services, including the Android ...
Samsung may use Google Android software: Samsung is no stranger to the Android OS. The company already uses the operating system in several smartphone models. Variations of the Galaxy S smartphone started shipping this summer and the Galaxy S “Fascinate” version for Verizon ...
Android on my phone changes everything | :: Brett Rush ::: Thanks to a good friend of mine, my HTC HD2 that came with Windows Mobile now has the Android operating system on it. The benefit here is now I can update my.