There is nothing worse than been clueless of something you hear (and use) everyday. A lot of people use Android smartphones , but very few of them have indepth knowlege of Android operating system and the basic terminologies. This article is going to enlighten you the history of Android and common terms should know.



What is Android?

Android is a linux based open-source operating system used on smartphones , tablets and laptops. Android is owned by Google and written in C (core), C++, Java (UI) language. Android is highly flexible and has been used on smartwatches and Television.

History Of Android



In October 2003 , Nick Sears , Chris White , Rich Miner and Andy Rubin teamed up to start a company called Android inc. The initial plan was to develop an advanced operating system for digital cameras but everything changed when Rubin and his team discovered the smarphone market was really small. Back then , symbian phones were hot cakes. The team then decided to create an operating system that will rival symbian. That was how android ended up as an operating system for smartphones and gadgets.

The turning point came in August 2005 when Google purchased Android inc for a fee rumored to be around $50million. With Google at the helm of affairs , android became more popular than it used to be. Google's intention was to license Android as an open source operating system , even though there were strong rumors that the tech giant was planning to start making phones.

On November 5 2007 , Google , in partnership with other tech giants , launched <b>"Open Handset Alliance"</b> with the aim of making mobile operating systems more open. It was on that day that Android was officially unveiled as an operating system for mobile phones. Android was made open to all and sundry.

The First Commercially Available Android Smartphone

Launched in october 2008 , HTC Dream is the first commercially available smartphone to run Android OS.



As you would expect , HTC Dream was a smartphone with low specs. It had a 3.2 inches (8.1 cm) capacitive touchscreen LCD at a resolution of 320×480; the screen can be slid along a curved hinge to expose a five-row QWERTY keyboard—as the first releases of Android did not include a virtual keyboard, the keyboard was originally the only method of text input on the device. It used a 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7201A system on a chip with 192 MB of RAM, and comes with 256 MB of internal storage

HTC Dream ran on Android 1.0 , The first commercial android version. The operating system heavily integrates with, and provides apps for various Google services, such as Gmail (with push email support), Maps, Search, Talk, and YouTube, while the contacts and calendar apps can sync with the online Google Contacts and Google Calendar services respectively. The device also ships with an email app supporting other POP3 and IMAP-based mail services, an instant messaging app with support for multiple services, and a WebKit-based web browser. A notification system displays icons for certain events (such as e-mails and text messages) on the left side of the status bar across the top of the screen; dragging down from the top of the screen exposes a tray with more detailed information for each notification. The Android Market can be used to download additional apps for the device.

HTC Dream was discontinued on 27 July 2010.

Android's Birthday

Every year , November 5 is widely celebrated as "The birthday of Android". This is because it was on that day the first Android version was released (in beta) , although it was not commercially available to all.

Android Terminologies

Here are some basic android terminologies you should have at the back of your mind.

ADM- Android Debug Bridge.

A tool used to connect and sends commands to your Android phone from a desktop or laptop computer.

AMOLED- Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode.

Basically, a very colorful, bright, display found in some smartphones.

BOOTLOADER

An internal mode on a phone that helps in the flashing of ROMs and other behind-the scenes actions.

CLOCKWORK

Developer of the ClockworkMod custom recovery mode for Android.

Cyanogen Mod

CyanogenMod (pronounced sigh-AN-oh-jen-mod), is a customized, aftermarket firmware distribution for several Android devices. Based on the Android Open Source Project, CyanogenMod is designed to increase performance and reliability over Android-based ROMs released by vendors and carriers such as Google, T-Mobile, HTC, etc.

DALVIK CACHE

Writable cache- that contains the optimized bytecode of all apk files (apps) on your Android device. Having the information in it’s own cache makes applications load faster and perform better.

FASTBOOT

Another mode akin to the bootloader, from which you can manually flash low-level components onto a phone.

FC

Short for “force close,” meaning an app that has crashed.

GOOGLE PLAY

Google’s one-stop online shop for movies, music, apps, games and books. At the time of its launch on March 6, 2012, it basically was a rebranded Android Market.

HACK

Modifying the Android system to add customization, features, or bypass carrier and manufacturer restrictions.

HARD RESET

The act of resetting your phone to its “factory” state. Erases all user data, logins and passwords. May or may not erase what’s on the internal storage or microSD card, too.

IMEI

Stands for International Mobile Equipment Identity. Basically a unique identification number assigned to every phone.

IPS

Stands for “in-plane switching.” Gives better viewing angles and better color reproduction. First gained popularity in Apple displays, then made its way to mobile devices.

JIT - The Just-in-Time Compiler.

Released with Android 2.2, it’s a method of greatly speeding up apps in Android on the software side.

KERNEL/b]

The basic Linux building block of Android. It’s what lets your phone do its thing.

[b]LAUNCHER

Collectively, the part of the Android user interface on home screens that lets you launch apps, make phone calls, etc. Is built in to Android, or can be purchased in the Android Market.

NFC - Near-field Communication

Short-range communication between your phone and something else — another phone, a cash register, etc. Used by some credit cards as a method of quick payment.

OEM - Stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer.

Usually a company that produces a component or entire device for another company. (Example: HTC was the OEM for the Google Nexus One.)

OPEN SOURCE

Software which is liberally licensed to grant the right of users to study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code.

OTA– Stands for Over the Air

The act of moving data to your phone — downloading, really — without having to plug it in. Most Android system updates are OTA, as are application downloads.

RESET– The rebooting of the phone

A soft reset is turning your phone OFF and ON, or pulling the battery. A hard reset also is referred to as a factory reset, and wipes your personal information from the device.

ROM– Literally, “Read Only Memory.”

In Android, it’s what you load for a major software update. “Custom ROMs” are just that — developed outside control of a manufacturer or carrier.

RECOVERY MODE

A small separate operating mode you can boot your device into, used for device administration. Two popular custom recovery modes are Amon Ra and Clockwork.

ROOT

A method of unlocking the Android operating system to allow deeper programs deeper access than is allowed out of the box.

ROOT (SD CARD)

The base folder (or top level) of the card. Often referred to as /sdcard in a file structure.

SIDELOAD

The act of installing an app outside of the Android Market.

SOFT RESET

The act of rebooting your phone, whether intentionally or otherwise. Same effect as when you remove and
replace the battery

TETHERING

The act of using your smartphone’s data to provide Internet access to another device, such as a laptop. Can be done wirelessly, or via a USB cable.

USB

Stands for Universal Serial Bus. Is a method of connecting devices to a computer. Most smartphones now use microUSB cables to charge and sync.

VANILLA

A term used to describe stock Android.

WIDGET

A slice or certain view of an application that can be placed on one of your homescreens, for quick and easy access.

WIPE

To completely erase a device.

Source : http://androidportalng.com/android-operating-system

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Thank You

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Niceone

deadZONE:


Ones there copy and paste
the next thing u would see
is Cc lalaticlala

Amoled... Yeaup

Nice,learning never stops

Awww Android is so cute am in lov.....

Thanxx Bruv!

And Yet Some People Don't Even Care.
Nice Post Op. Reminded Me Of Some Stuffs

oganology33:
Thanxx Bruv!

You're welcome

/

Bless you for this educative write up

Ayoakinkahunsi:
Bless you for this educative write up

Bless you too

Cool, Android all the way

Smartixy:
Cool, Android all the way

Yea

Really interesting. So, android was initially made for digital cameras? Really interesting

danielgod:
Really interesting. So, android was initially made for digital cameras? Really interesting

Yes it was.

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