Android is a 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 on 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. Android was listed as the best-selling smartphone platform world-wide in Q4 2010 by Canalys.
Android has a large community of developers writing applications ("apps") that extend the functionality of the devices. There are currently more than 250,000 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 programming 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 80 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.
By the end of 2011, a number of smartphone vendors will have placed some very big bets on their latest smartphones. If you subscribe to current rumors, Apple almost certainly plans to debut its iPhone 5 sometime in either September or October. Research In Motion just released a new slate of BlackBerry devices it will push aggressively to businesses and consumers. And Microsoft—hand in hand with Nokia and some other hardware manufacturers—will begin to make a second large drive for its Windows Phone platform.
A wide variety of manufacturers—including HTC and Samsung—will also continue to produce a few handsets loaded with Google Android.
Nobody can predict the future with certainty, and it would be a fool’s game to try and predict the various vendors’ precise market share a year from now. That being said, there’s enough data floating around to make some (relatively) educated guesses about the state of the market come 2012.
For the most part, analysts seem to think Apple will continue its robust sales run. “Apple has yet to top Nokia’s single-quarter volume record of 28.1 million units,” Ramon Llamas, an analyst with research firm IDC, wrote in an Aug. 4 note. “But given Apple’s momentum in the smartphone market, it may not be a question of whether Apple will beat that milestone, but when.”
Dual-core Android smart phones are all the rage at Mobile World Congress this year, but technology is moving on apace. Qualcomm just unveiled its next-generation Snapdragon chipset, which you can expect to see in devices sometime in 2012. How powerful is it? Quad-core.
Even the word sounds slightly rude. The APQ8064 uses a new micro-architecture code called Krait, which has been built for mobile devices. Qualcomm is promising speeds of up to 2.5GHz per core, while also cutting down on power consumption and heat generation.
Or, as the company puts it, "Twelve times the available performance as well as 75 per cent lower power than the first generation of Snapdragon processors." The results: smart phones with Duracell Bunny-style endurance and slimline looks. Count us excited about the HTC Desire 3 already...
Qualcomm also reckons the APQ8064 will power devices with bigger, higher-resolution screens, more complex operating systems, multi-channel audio, HD gaming and stereoscopic 3D photo and video shooting and playback. Oh, and by the way, it supports up to 20-megapixel cameras. Manufacturers get their hands on the chipset early next year.
Another reason to get excited about next-next generation Android devices is also being shown off on Qualcomm's MWC stand this year. A company called Oovoo is showing HD video chat for tablets, using the Snapdragon Mobile Development Platform (MDP). It'll also work on smart phones, but has been optimised for larger-screened devices.
Oovoo claims its tech can provide four times the video resolution of its current rivals, while cutting power consumption by half. In short, Apple's FaceTime is going to get some serious competition on Android devices, although if we're honest, we'd still like to see Android and iOS devices video-calling each other in HD, which is why apps like Skype may remain hugely popular.
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Android smartphones are killing it, but you ain’t seeing nothing yet. According to research firm iSuppli, Android will be on more devices in 2012 than Apple’s iOS software. iSuppli’s forecast is based on these assumptions:
Android will be used in 75 million smart phones by 2012, up from 5 million in 2009. Meanwhile, iOS usage will amount to 62 million in 2012, up from 25 million in 2009.
Android’s share of the global smartphone operating system market will be an estimated 19.4 percent in 2012, up over 2.7 percent in 2009
Apple’s share of the global smartphone operating system market for iOS for iPhones will grow to an estimated 15.9 percent in 2012, up over 13.8 percent in 2009
Android’s share of global smartphone OS usage will rise to 22.9 percent, but iOS for iPhones will drop to 15.3 percent
iSuppli’s prediction came after Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt revealed that a whooping 200,000 Android handsets are being activated each day. The astonishing figure is a 25 percent increase over 160,000 activations back in July, which is up from 100,000 activations in June. Google’s rate of daily activations, if sustainable, translates into 73 million Android handsets a year.
For comparison, Apple reported the average daily iPhone sales of 90,000 units a day during its last quarter, which scales to about 33 million units annually. Nevertheless, Apple still has a huge lead. The company sold its hundred millionth iOS device last month, which includes iPhones, iPods, and iPads. While Apple makes a bunch of money by selling the phone and services that go with it, free of charge Android benefits Google indirectly, through mobile advertising sales.
Sure, we've already seen a few unannounced Motorola Android phones like the Targa and DROID 3 leak recently, but you wouldn't mind if we added a couple more rumored devices to the pile, right? Right. According to a source speaking with Droid-Life, Moto is currently hard at work at two devices which admittedly may not be revealed until Q1 2012, but when you find out the specs that these handsets are reportedly packing, you'll agree that the wait may be worth it. First up, the full-touch Motorola Bullet (likely a codename):
4.3-inch 960x540 display
Tegra 3 quad-core processor
Either 1GB or 1.5GB RAM
12-megapixel camera with revamped image sensor
16GB of built-in storage
NFC
Following the Bullet, we've got the Jet (another codename):
4-inch 960x540 display
Tegra 3 quad-core CPU
Either 1GB or 1.5GB RAM
The same 12-megapixel camera as the Bullet
16GB built-in storage
NFC
Chiclet-style physical QWERTY keyboard
As with most rumors, you should probably digest this info with a few grains of salt, as it hasn't even been confirmed by multiple sources yet. Still, some of the details do add up. For example, when NVIDIA detailed its upcoming spat of processors earlier this year, the firm mentioned that the Tegra 3, aka Kal-El, could begin appearing in smartphones by the end of 2011. A lot could change between now and Q1 2012, though, and we don't even know which carriers these devices could be headed for yet. When more info does come out, though, you can be sure that we'll let you know.
