Android (mobile device platform)

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Please improve this article if you can. (April 2008)
Android
Website code.google.com/android/
Company/
developer		 Open Handset Alliance
List of Mobile
Operating Systems
Symbian OS m n s
Windows Mobile m n
iPhone OS n
Palm OS n
Openmoko Linux l n
Access Linux Platform l n s
Qtopia l m n
Internet Tablet OS l n
BlackBerry OS m
Android l m
LiMo Platform l m n

l = Linux based
m = Managed code support
n = Native code permitted
s = Capability-based security
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Android is a software platform and operating system for mobile devices based on the Linux operating system and developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance.[1] It allows developers to write managed code in a Java-like language that utilizes Google-developed Java libraries,[2] but does not support programs developed in native code.

The unveiling of the Android platform on 5 November 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 34 hardware, software and telecom companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices.[3] When released in 2008, most of the Android platform will be made available under the Apache free-software and open-source license.[4]

Contents

[edit] Features

Current features and specifications[5][6]:

Handset layouts
The platform is adaptable to both larger, VGA, 2D graphics library, 3D graphics library based on OpenGL ES 1.0 specifications, traditional smartphone layouts.
Storage
SQLite for structured data storage
Connectivity
Android supports a wide variety of connectivity technologies including GSM, CDMA, Bluetooth, EDGE, EV-DO, 3G, and Wi-Fi.
Messaging
SMS, MMS, and XMPP are available forms of messaging including threaded text messaging.
Web browser
Main article: WebKit
The web browser available in Android is based on the open-source WebKit application framework.
Java virtual machine
Software written in Java can be compiled into Dalvik bytecodes and executed in the Dalvik virtual machine, which is a specialized VM implementation designed for mobile device use, although not technically a standard Java Virtual Machine.
Media support
Android will support advanced audio/video/still media formats such as MPEG-4, H.264, MP3, and AAC, AMR, JPEG, PNG, GIF.
Additional hardware support
Android is fully capable of utilizing video/still cameras, touchscreens, GPS, compasses, accelerometers, and accelerated 3D graphics.
Development environment
Includes a device emulator, tools for debugging, memory and performance profiling, a plugin for the Eclipse IDE.

A video demonstration of some of the features on a prototype can be found here

[edit] Hardware

In the Mobile World Congress in February 12, 2008, Google unveiled at least three Android operating system prototypes. The prototypes are Linux-based, open-operating systems. At the ARM booth, a prototype displays several basic Google applications, where a 'd-pad' controls zooming of items in the dock with a relatively quick response.

Several manufacturers have expressed interest in implementing Google's Android software platform; Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics will unveil devices based on the platform by the end of 2008 in the United States.[citation needed]

In Google IO conference in May 28, 2008, a demo device from some specific OEM is shown. It was based on a 528MHz Qualcomm processor, and used a Synaptics capacitive touchscreen and the UMTS cellular standard; the demo itself was carried out using a 3.6Mbps HSDPA connection. Android’s memory requirements continue to be reasonable: the prototype had 128MB of RAM and 256MB of flash.

[edit] Software development

Early Android device.
Early Android device.

The feedback on developing applications for the Android platform have been mixed.[7] Some issues being blamed for the frustration include bugs, lack of documentation, inadequate QA infrastructure, and no public issue-tracking system (Google announced an Issue Tracker on January 18th 2008).[8] MergeLab mobile startup founder Adam MacBeth stated, "Functionality is not there, is poorly documented or just doesn't work... It's clearly not ready for prime time."[9] Despite these, Android-targeted applications have started to pop up already the week after the announcement of the platform. The very first publicly available application was the Snake game.[10][11]

[edit] SDK

A preview release of the Android software development kit has been available since 12 November 2007, which includes development and debugging tools, a set of libraries, a device emulator, documentation, sample projects, tutorials, FAQs, and more.[4] Developers are required to download the Android SDK to an x86-based computer running Windows XP or Vista, Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later, or Linux (tested on Ubuntu Linux Dapper Drake). Requirements also include Java Development Kit, Apache Ant, and Python 2.2 or later. Eclipse 3.2 or later is the only officially supported IDE through Android Development Tools Plugin but the programmer is free to use command line tools to create, build and debug Android applications.

[edit] Android Developer Challenges

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You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (May 2008)

Google is currently offering a cumulative of 10 million US dollars in prize money for a competition rewarding developers of the most innovative applications for the Android platform.[12][13]

Google has launched the Android Developer Challenge, which will provide $10 million in awards to Android developers. The award money will be distributed equally between two Android Developer Challenges.

Android Developer Challenge I accepted submissions from January 2 through April 14, 2008. The 50 most promising entries, announced on 12 May 2008,[14][15] received a $25,000 award to fund further development. Those winners are now eligible for ten $275,000 awards and ten $100,000 awards.

Android Developer Challenge II will launch after the first handsets built on the platform become available in the second half of 2008.

[edit] History

[edit] Google acquires Android Inc.

Alternate logo.
Alternate logo.

In July 2005, Google acquired Android Inc., a small startup company based in Palo Alto, CA.[16] Android's co-founders who went to work at Google included Andy Rubin (co-founder of Danger), Rich Miner (co-founder of Wildfire), Nick Sears (once VP at T-Mobile), and Chris White (one of the first engineers at WebTV). At the time, little was known about the functions of Android Inc. other than they made software for mobile phones.[16] This began rumors that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market, although it was unclear at the time what function they might perform in that market.

At Google, the team, led by Rubin, developed a Linux-based mobile device OS which they were marketing to handset makers and carriers on the premise of providing a flexible, upgradeable system.[citation needed] It was reported that Google had already 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.[17][18][19]

In December 2006, speculation that Google would be entering the mobile phone market began to grow once again.[20] Reports from both the BBC and The Wall Street Journal noted that Google wanted "Google search and Google applications on mobile, and it is working hard every day to deliver that." Print and online media outlets soon began reporting rumors that Google was developing a Google-branded handset.[21] More speculation followed reporting that as Google was defining technical specifications, they were showing prototypes to cellphone manufacturers and network operators. As many as 30 prototype phones are reported to be operating "in the wild".[22] Network World reported that Google’s phone was actually an open source software phone operating system, rather than a specific hardware device like the iPhone.[22] Phoronix had reported that Google was looking to team up on the GPhone with OpenMoko,[23] a project to create a smartphone platform using free software, including the Linux kernel.

[edit] Patents, patent applications filed

 To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup because it is in a list format that may be better presented using prose.
You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (May 2008)

In September 2007, InformationWeek covered an Evalueserve study reporting that Google has filed several patent applications in the area of mobile telephony, hinting at the arrival of the gPhone in the (then) near future.[24][25] Some of the notable U.S. patents and patent applications filed by Google in the area of mobile telephony were as follows:[24]

Google applied for a patent for a mobile payment system to complement its plans to launch what was thought to be a Google phone.[19][26] Known as GPay,[27] it covered a system that would let the user send a text message to Google giving the details of a payment to a specified recipient. GPay would then debit the user's bank account, crediting the money to the payee. (This patent may be invalid in light of prior art.[28])

[edit] Open Handset Alliance founded

Main article: Open Handset Alliance
"Today's announcement is more ambitious than any single 'Google Phone' that the press has been speculating about over the past few weeks. Our vision is that the powerful platform we're unveiling will power thousands of different phone models."
-Eric Schmidt, Google Chairman/CEO[29]

On 5 November 2007, the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of several companies which include Google, HTC, Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel and NVIDIA, was unveiled with the goal to develop open standards for mobile devices.[1] Along with the formation of the Open Handset Alliance, the OHA also unveiled their first product, Android, an open source mobile device platform based on the Linux operating system.[1] Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt took a moment in the official press release to dispel all previous rumors and speculation of a stand-alone Google phone existing.

[edit] Criticism

Android also has been criticized by some because it is not all open-source software despite what was announced by Google. Some parts of the SDK are still proprietary and closed source, and some believe it is a conscious decision to control the platform by Google.[30][31][32][33] The Android Software Development Kit License Agreement[34] states that:

3.2 You agree that Google (or Google's licensors) own all legal right, title and interest in and to the SDK, including any intellectual property rights which subsist in the SDK. Use, reproduction and distribution of components of the SDK licensed under an open source software license are governed solely by the terms of that open source software license and not by this License Agreement. Until the SDK is released under an open source license, you may not extract the source code or create a derivative work of the SDK.

Furthermore, at least initially, software installed by end-users must be written in Java, and will not have access to lower level device APIs.[35] This provides end-users with less control over their phone's functionality than other free and open source phone platforms, such as OpenMoko.

Another issue is related to Android's disregard of established Java standards, i.e. Java SE and ME. This prevents compatibility between Java applications written for those platforms and those for the Android platform. Android only reuses the Java language syntax but does not provide the full class libraries and APIs bundled with Java SE or ME.[36]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Industry Leaders Announce Open Platform for Mobile Devices (HTML) (English). Open Handset Alliance (2007-11-05). Retrieved on 2007-11-05.
  2. ^ Google's Android parts ways with Java industry group.
  3. ^ Open Handset Alliance (HTML) (English). Open Handset Alliance. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  4. ^ a b Open Handset Alliance Releases Android SDK (HTML) (English). Open Handset Alliance (2007-11-12). Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
  5. ^ What is Android? (HTML) (English). Google (2007-11-12). Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
  6. ^ Topolsky, Joshua (2007-11-12). Google's Android OS early look SDK now available (HTML) (English). Engadget. Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
  7. ^ Paul, Ryan (2007-12-19). Developing apps for Google Android: it's a mixed bag (HTML) (English). ars technica. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
  8. ^ You can't rush perfection, but now you can file bugs against it.
  9. ^ Morrison, Scott (2007-12-19). Glitches Bug Google's Android Software (HTML) (English). The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
  10. ^ Snake (English). Retrieved on 2008-01-26.
  11. ^ First Android Application - Snake (HTML) (English). Mobiles2day (2007-11-14). Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
  12. ^ Android Developer Challenge (HTML) (English). code.google.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-11.
  13. ^ The Google Phone? Not Quite (HTML) (English). pcfastlane.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-11.
  14. ^ Android Developers Blog: The Top 50 Applications
  15. ^ Android Developer Challenge announces first-round winners
  16. ^ a b Elgin, Ben (2005-08-17). Google Buys Android for Its Mobile Arsenal (HTML) (English). Business Week. Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
  17. ^ Block, Ryan (2007-08-28). Google is working on a mobile OS, and it's due out shortly (HTML) (English). Engadget. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  18. ^ Sharma, Amol; Kevin J. Delaney (2007-08-02). Google Pushes Tailored Phones To Win Lucrative Ad Market (HTML) (English). The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  19. ^ a b Google admits to mobile phone plan (HTML) (English). directtraffic.org. Google News (2007-03-20). Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  20. ^ McKay, Martha (December 2006). "Can iPhone become your phone?; Linksys introduces versatile line for cordless service.". The Record: L9. 
  21. ^ Ackerman, Elise (2007-08-30). Blogosphere Aflutter With Linux-Based phone Rumors (HTML) (English). Linux Insider. Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
  22. ^ a b Cox, John (2007-10-08). Why Google’s phone won’t kill Apple’s iPhone (HTML) (English). Network World 2. New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  23. ^ Larabel, Michael (2007-08-06). Google Using OpenMoko For Phone? (HTML) (English). Phoronix. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  24. ^ a b Claburn, Thomas (2007-09-19). Google's Secret Patent Portfolio Predicts gPhone (HTML) (English). Information Week. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  25. ^ Pearce, James Quintana (2007-09-20). Google’s Strong Mobile-Related Patent Portfolio (HTML) (English). mocoNews.net. Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
  26. ^ GPhone rumours escalate with new patent (HTML) (English). Mobile Marketing News (2007-04-09). Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  27. ^ Mobile patent application fuels Google Phone speculation (HTML) (English). directtraffic.org. Google News (2007-06-09). Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  28. ^ Open source mobile payment software (HTML) (English). sourceforge.net. Sourceforge (2007-01-01). Retrieved on 2007-12-31.
  29. ^ Schmidt, Eric (2007-11-05). Industry Leaders Announce Open Platform for Mobile Devices (HTML) (English). Open Handset Alliance. Retrieved on 2007-11-05. “Today's announcement is more ambitious than any single 'Google Phone' that the press has been speculating about over the past few weeks. Our vision is that the powerful platform we're unveiling will power thousands of different phone models.”
  30. ^ When will we see more code released under open source licenses?. Google (2008-01-29). Retrieved on 2008-02-03. “Over time, more of the code that makes up Android will be released, but at this point, we have been concentrating on shipping an SDK that helps application developers get started. In short: Stay tuned.”
  31. ^ Slobojan, Ryan (2007-11-19). Dalvik, Android's virtual machine, generates significant debate. infoq.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
  32. ^ Topic, Dalibor (2007-11-14). What Does Android Mean for Sun’s OpenJDK. Retrieved on 2008-02-03. “Android is proprietary, despite being marketed as open source. Android has a compatibility pledge, signed and kept behind closed doors. Android has no governance model, nor any indication there will be one. Android has no spec, and the license prohibits alternative implementations, as that’s not a use licensed by Google in the SDK license. Android is completely controlled by Google, and Google reserves the right to kill off competitors applications if they hurt Google financially, etc. It’s only as open as it is in Google’s financial interest to allow openness, by design.”
  33. ^ Topic, Dalibor (2007-11-12). QOTD: Google's license for the Android SDK. Retrieved on 2008-02-03. “There is a bunch of other rather objectionable stuff, but dear me, this is pretty bad as far as license agreements for pseudo-open-source software go”
  34. ^ Android Software Development Kit License Agreement. Google (2007-11-12). Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
  35. ^ Google Android - a sneak preview. TheRegister (2008-02-02). Retrieved on 2008-02-03. “You may write in Java, but the byte code is Dalvik...So all initial Android development is in Dalvik, thus disappointed many of the developers who were looking for a system which was better at hitting the metal of a phone than Symbian...There may be a future path to allow C development, but initially this will be in the form of private libraries which are only available to your Dalvik application. Google has experimented with this to port Quake to Android. Dalvik is, of course, Open Source (under an Apache 2.0 license). But in practice, the restriction of all development being within Dalvik draws the line on what is open and what is closed in a very interesting way...But Android is not (yet) open beyond Dalvik.”
  36. ^ Dalvik: how Google routed around Sun’s IP-based licensing restrictions on Java ME. Stefano Mazzocchi.

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