Android overview

Android is a software platform for mobile devices based on the Linux operating system and developed (initially developed by Android Inc) by Google and the Open Handset Alliance.Android was purchased by Google in 2005. Google and other members of the Open Handset Alliance collaborated to develop and release Android to the world.The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is tasked with the maintenance and further development of Android. Unit sales for Android OS smartphones ranked first among all smartphone OS handsets sold in the U.S. in the second and third quarters of 2010, with a third quarter market share of 43.6%.At Google, the team, 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. 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.
In November 2007 Google announced the introduction of the Android platform, along with the Open Handset Alliance, a group of hardware, software, and telecommunications companies that had agreed to participate in the development and distribution of the Android platform.It allows developers to write managed code in Java.