[HTC One X] promethieus:
Android is an open-source software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications. Google Inc. purchased the initial developer of the software, Android Inc., in 2005. Android's mobile operating system is based upon a modified version of the Linux kernel. Google and other members of the Open Handset Alliance collaborated on Android's development and release. The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is tasked with the maintenance and further development of Android.

Canalys reported that in Q4 2010 the Android operating system was the world's best-selling smartphone platform, dethroning Nokia's Symbian from the 10-year top position. According to Gartner, Symbian is still slightly ahead on sales if some legacy non-Nokia Symbian smartphones are included in the Q4 2010 figures.

Android has a large community of developers writing application programs that extend the functionality of the devices. There are currently over 150,000 apps available for Android. Android Market is the online app store run by Google, though apps can also be downloaded from third-party sites. Developers write primarily in the Java language, controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries.

The unveiling of the Android distribution on 5 November 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 79 hardware, software, and telecom companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. Google released most of the Android code under the Apache License, a free software and open source license.

The Android open-source 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, OpenCore 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++.

History Android, Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California, United States in October, 2003 by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, et al. to develop, in Rubin's words "...smarter mobile devices that are more aware of its owner's location and preferences." Other early key employees include Andy McFadden, who worked with Rubin at WebTV, and Chris White, who led the design and interface of WebTV, before helping to found Android.

Rubin, a co-founder of Danger Inc., Miner, a co-founder of Wildfire Communications, Inc. and former vice-president of Technology and innovation at Orange, and the other early employees brought considerable wireless industry experience to the company. Despite the obvious past accomplishments of the founders and early employees, Android Inc. operated secretively, admitting only that it was working on software for mobile phones.

Google acquired Android Inc. in August, 2005, making Android Inc. a wholly-owned subsidiary of Google Inc. Key employees of Android Inc., including Andy Rubin, Rich Miner and Chris White, stayed at the company after the acquisition.

At the time of the acquisition, because little was known about the work of Android Inc., some guessed 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. Google marketed the platform to handset makers and carriers on the premise of providing a flexible, upgradable system. Google had 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.

Speculation about Google's intention to enter the mobile communications market continued to build through December 2006. 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. Some speculated 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.

On the November 5, 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 unveiled itself. The goal of the Open Handset Alliance is to develop open standards for mobile devices. On the same day, the Open Handset Alliance also unveiled their first product, Android, a mobile device platform built on the Linux kernel version 2.6. On December 9, 2008, 14 new members joined, including PacketVideo, ARM Holdings, Atheros Communications, Asustek Computer Inc, Garmin Ltd, Softbank, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba Corp, and Vodafone Group Plc.

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