Introduction and Evolution of Android

Android is a mobile operating system developed by Google, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. It is based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open-source software.

1. INTRODUCTION :- ANDROID IS A MOBILE OPERATING SYSTEM DEVELOPED BY GOOGLE, BASED ON A MODIFIED VERSION OF THE LINUX KERNEL AND OTHER OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE AND DESIGNED PRIMARILY FOR TOUCH SCREEN MOBILE DEVICES SUCH AS SMARTPHONES AND TABLETS. IN ADDITION, GOOGLE HAS FURTHER DEVELOPED ANDROID TV FOR TELEVISIONS, ANDROID AUTO FOR CARS, AND WEAR OS FOREST WATCHES, EACH WITH A SPECIALIZED USER INTERFACE. VARIANTS OF ANDROID ARE ALSO USED ON GAME CONSOLES, DIGITAL CAMERAS, PCS AND OTHER ELECTRONICS.

2. ANDROID 1.5: CUPCAKE TECHNICALLY ANDROID 1.5 WASN’T THE FIRST VERSION, BUT VERSIONS BEFORE IT DON’T SEEM TO HAVE RECEIVED ANY CODENAMES. STORIES WERE TOLD THAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE VERSION 1.2, BUT GOOGLE DECIDED TO MAKE IT A MAJOR REVISION AND MADE IT 1.5 INSTEAD. AMONG THE MANY CHANGES WITH CUPCAKE, THIRD-PARTY KEYBOARD AND WIDGETS WERE ENABLED AND PHONE COULD UPLOAD DIRECTLY TO YOUTUBE AND PICASA. THE COMPANY CODENAMED THE VERSION “CUPCAKE”, WHICH IS HOW THE TREND OF DESSERT NAMES BEGAN.

3. ANDROID 2.2: FROYO ANDROID 2.2 MAINLY IMPROVED SPEED BY ADOPTING THE JAVASCRIPT “JUST-IN-TIME” COMPILER ENGINE FROM GOOGLE’S BROWSER, CHROME. IT ALSO IMPROVED BROWSER SUPORT BY ADDING ANIMATED GIF SUPPORT AND FLASH 10.1 PLUG-IN SUPPORT, ALONG WITH USB TETHERING AND WIFI HOTSPOT CAPABILITY(FOR THOSE WITH SUPPORTING HARDWARE).

4. ANDROID 3.0,3.1&3.2: HONEYCOMB HONEYCOMB WAS RELEASED IN FEB. 2011,& WAS RAPIDLY FOLLOWED BY 3.1&3.2 IN JULY AND AUGUST OF 2011.GOOGLE POSTED A LOT OF PREVIEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS ON HONEYCOMB. IT WAS MADE FOR TABLETS,WHICH IMPLIED THAT ANDROID OS 2.X WAS NOT.THAT DIDN’T STOP SAMSUNG AND A SLEW OF SMALLER MANUFACTURERS FROM PUTTING OUT AN ARMY OF ANDROID 2.X TABLETS OF VARIOUS SIZES BEFORE THE END OF 2010 AS THEY TRIED TO RIDE THE WAVE OF THE IPAD SUCCESS IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS SHOPPING SEASON. MOTOROLA XOOM WAS THE FIRST ANDROID 3.X TABLET TO BE RELEASED. IT HAS SINCE BEEN FOLLOWED BY MANY OTHERS.

5. ANDROID 4.4: KITKAT GOOGLE ANNOUNCED THAT ANDROID 4.4 WOULD BE NAMED KITKAT ON SEPTEMBER 3, 2013. KITKAT’S PARENT COMPANY, NESTLE, WAS FULLY ON BOARD WITH THE NAMING OF OPERATING SYSTEM AND LAUNCHED AN ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN DURING KITKAT’S RELEASE. AS PART OF THE CAMPAIGN, SPECIALLY MARKED PACKAGES OF KITKAT WITH ANDY THE GREEN ANDROID ON THE PACKAGE EACH CONTAINED A SWEEPSTAKES CODE THAT COULD WIN A NEW NEXUS 7 ANDROID TABLET OR GOOGLE PLAY STORE CREDIT. KITKAT TOOK THE GOOGLE NOW FEATURE AND TOOK STEP FURTHER WITH “OK GOOGLE” ALLOWS PEOPLE TO ACCESS GOOGLE NOW WITHOUT EVEN TOUCHING THEIR PHONES-JUST VERBALLY SAYING THE PHRASE OPENS UP THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ASSISTANT. KITKAT ALSO INTRODUCED EMOJI TO GOOGLE’S KEYBOARD.

6. ANDROID 6.X : MARSHMALLOW MARSHMALLOW IS ALREADY OUT FOR THE NEXUS DEVICES AND IS BELIEVED TO BE COMING SOON TO ALL FLAGSHIP DEVICES BY MID 2016. MARSHMALLOW INTRODUCED SEVERAL CHANGES THAT CAN HAVE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT. APP PERMISSION MODEL IS NOW OPT-IN (GRANT SPECIFIC PERMISSION AS REQUESTED) RATHER THAN OPT-OUT (ALL IS PERMITTED, THEN USE APP OPS TO RUN OFF INDIVIDUAL PERMISSIONS). DOZE MODE ALLOWS THE DEVICE TO GO INTO HIBERNATION WHEN IDLE, CUTTING POWER CONSUMPTION TO VIRTUALLY NIL. FINGERPRINT SENSOR SUPPORT IS NOW BAKED INTO THE RATHER THAN THE VENDOR SUPPORT, AND USB C IS NOW FULLY SUPPORTED. FINALLY MARSHMALLOW ALLOWS ONE TO FORMAT A micro SD CARD AND ADOPT IT AS IF ITS INTERNAL STORAGE AND SHARE THE SAME INTERNAL SECURITY LEVEL.

7. ANDROID 8: OREO ANDROID 8, NAMED OREO AFTER THE FAMOUS COOKIE, WAS RELEASED IN Q3 OF 2017. ITS MAJOR CHANGE WAS “PROJECT TREBLE”, WHERE IT MADE THE OS MORE MODULAR SO OS UPGRADES CAN BE RELEASED FASTER BY THE MANUFACTURERS. EMOJI SUPPORT WAS UPDATED TO UNICODE 10, WITH IMPROVED NOTIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK MULTIPLE DISPLAY SUPPORT, AND OTHER FEATURES. IT WAS QUICKLY FOLLOWED BY 8.1 IN DECEMBER 2017 WITH AN “OREO GO EDITION” FOR LOW-END DEVICES AS WELL AS IMPROVED API FOR SEVERAL INTERNAL FUNCTIONS.

8. THANK YOU