[Android General] AmanMehta007:
Usage share of Android versions

Usage share of the different versions as of March 4, 2013.[151] Over half of Android devices in 2013 2Q still run a pre 4.x OS version -mostly 2.3 Gingerbread that was released on December 6, 2010, due to many lower-end devices still being released with it.

Application piracy

There has been some concern about the ease with which paid Android apps can be pirated. In a May 2012 interview with Eurogamer, the developers of Football Manager stated that the ratio of pirated players vs legitimate players was 9:1 for their game Football Manager Handheld. However, not every developer agreed that piracy rates were an issue; for example, in July 2012 the developers of the game Wind-up Knight said that piracy levels of their game were only 12%, and most of the piracy came from China, where people cannot purchase apps from Google Play.

In 2010, Google released a tool for validating authorised purchases for use within apps, but developers complained that this was insufficient and trivial to crack. Google responded that the tool, especially its initial release, was intended as a sample framework for developers to modify and build upon depending on their needs, not as a finished security solution. In 2012 Google released a feature in Android 4.1 that encrypted paid applications so that they would only work on the device on which they were purchased, but this feature has been temporarily deactivated due to technical issues.

Copyrights and patents

Further information: Oracle v. Google, Smartphone wars, and Patent troll

Both Android and Android phone manufacturers have been involved in numerous patent lawsuits. On August 12, 2010, Oracle sued Google over claimed infringement of copyrights and patents related to the Java programming language. Oracle originally sought damages up to $6.1 billion, but this valuation was rejected by a United States federal judge who asked Oracle to revise the estimate. In response, Google submitted multiple lines of defense, counterclaiming that Android did not infringe on Oracle's patents or copyright, that Oracle's patents were invalid, and several other defenses. They said that Android is based on Apache Harmony, a clean room implementation of the Java class libraries, and an independently developed virtual machine called Dalvik. In May 2012 the jury in this case found that Google did not infringe on Oracle's patents, and the trial judge ruled that the structure of the Java APIs used by Google was not copyrightable.

In addition to lawsuits against Google directly, various proxy wars have been waged against Android indirectly by targeting manufacturers of Android devices, with the effect of discouraging manufacturers from adopting the platform by increasing the costs of bringing an Android device to market. Both Apple and Microsoft have sued several manufacturers for patent infringement, with Apple's ongoing legal action against Samsung being a particularly high-profile case. In October 2011 Microsoft said they had signed patent license agreements with ten Android device manufacturers, whose products account for 55% of the worldwide revenue for Android devices. These include Samsung and HTC. Samsung's patent settlement with Microsoft includes an agreement that Samsung will allocate more resources to developing and marketing phones running Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system.

Google has publicly expressed its frustration for the current patent landscape in the United States, accusing Apple, Oracle and Microsoft of trying to take down Android through patent litigation, rather than innovating and competing with better products and services. In 2011–12, Google purchased Motorola Mobility for US$12.5 billion, which was viewed in part as a defensive measure to protect Android, since Motorola Mobility held more than 17,000 patents. In December 2011 Google bought over a thousand patents from IBM.

Beyond smartphones and tablets

The Sony SmartWatch: an example of how Android is used on electronics other than smartphones and tablets

The open and customizable nature of Android allows it to be used on other electronics, including laptops and netbooks, smartbooks[169] smart TVs (Google TV) and cameras (Nikon Coolpix S800c and Galaxy Camera). In addition, the Android operating system has seen applications on smart glasses (Project Glass), wristwatches, headphones, car CD and DVD players, mirrors, portable media players and landlines and Voice over IP phones. Ouya, an upcoming videogames console running Android, became one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns, crowdfunding US$8.5m for its development, and was later followed by other Android-based video games consoles such as Project Shield from NVIDIA.

In 2011, Google demonstrated "Android@Home", a new home automaton technology which uses Android to control a range of household devices including light switches, power sockets and thermostats. Prototype light bulbs were announced that could be controlled from an Android phone or tablet, but Android head Andy Rubin was cautious to note that "turning a lightbulb on and off is nothing new," pointing to numerous failed home automation services. Google, he said, was thinking more ambitiously and the intention was to use their position as a cloud services provider to bring Google products into customers' homes.

Android Ecosystem

The very obvious stakeholders are the consumers that own Android devices, right! But there are others as well:

Google, because it develops Android.

OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), who manufacture the hardware, and also the custom application components.

Application Development Companies: They are the biggest contributors to the ecosystem. They employ Android developers, and also outsource the product development to services companies.

Freelance Android developers, because they have the skill-set to contribute to the ecosystem. They create their apps, and publish them on Google playstore. Freelancers can also make money by developing applications for product companies.

Now, you know who all form a part of the ecosystem. This is where you would belong too on learning Android development.

Global partnerships and large installed base

Building on the contributions of the open-source Linux community and more than 300 hardware, software, and carrier partners, Android has rapidly become the fastest-growing mobile OS.

Every day more than 1 million new Android devices are activated worldwide.

Android’s openness has made it a favorite for consumers and developers alike, driving strong growth in app consumption. Android users download more than 1.5 billion apps and games from Google Play each month.

With its partners, Android is continuously pushing the boundaries of hardware and software forward to bring new capabilities to users and developers. For developers, Android innovation lets you build powerful, differentiated applications that use the latest mobile technologies.

Powerful development framework

Easily optimize a single binary for phones, tablets, and other devices.

Android gives you everything you need to build best-in-class app experiences. It gives you a single application model that lets you deploy your apps broadly to hundreds of millions of users across a wide range of devices—from phones to tablets and beyond.

Android also gives you tools for creating apps that look great and take advantage of the hardware capabilities available on each device. It automatically adapts your UI to look its best on each device, while giving you as much control as you want over your UI on different device types.

For example, you can create a single app binary that's optimized for both phone and tablet form factors. You declare your UI in lightweight sets of XML resources, one set for parts of the UI that are common to all form factors and other sets for optimzations specific to phones or tablets. At runtime, Android applies the correct resource sets based on its screen size, density, locale, and so on.

History of Android™

Google purchased Android Inc., a 22-month-old Palo Alto, California, startup in July 2005. Android Inc. was co-founded by Andy Rubin, maker of mobile device Danger Inc.™ The purchase was key in Google's move into the wireless technology market. In 2008, Google introduced the HTC Dream™ as the first marketed phone to use Android™ technology. Since that time, this platform use has expanded to other smart phones, tablet computers, E-readers, netbooks, and other devices.

Programming for Android™

Android™ technology is based on Java® software applications. This technology requires the use of a special software development kit (SDK) to create applications for an Android™ device. The SDK is freely available for download from the Internet. For this reason, and because it will work on multiple operating systems, many software developers prefer Android™ technology over that used in other smart phones.

Smart phones have evolved into devices that use touch screens for navigation. Android™ technology provides specific application programming interface (API) modules to developers that take advantage of this. The touch screen enables the user to select and scroll through information with the stroke of a finger.

How Android™ Is Different

One of the key differences between Android™ technology and other smart phone systems is that it is open for modification. This gives vendors the opportunity to change and enhance their products based on their own preferences. This has created many versions of Android™ phones, which can vary by vendor, as well as a range of other devices that use this platform. In 2011, Google introduced a new arena for Android™ when it announced plans to launch Android@Home, a network that could allow users to automate and control home appliances.

Android version history

The version history of the Android mobile operating system began with the release of the Android beta in November 2007. The first commercial version, Android 1.0, was released in September 2008. Android is under ongoing development by Google and the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), and has seen a number of updates to its base operating system since its original release. These updates typically fix bugs and add new features.

Since April 2009, Android versions have been developed under a codename and released in alphabetical order: Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Jelly Bean. As of 2013, over 500 million active devices use the Android OS worldwide. The most recent major Android update was Jelly Bean 4.2, which was released on commercial devices in November 2012.