What is android

What is android ? This is a simple
question but the answer is quite
complicated. If you go deeper on
the word android , You will get lot
of answers for the question What is
Android. To answer in a simple way.
Android is an operating system for
Mobile phones. I will explain more
about this in the later part of this
article.
Lot of advances can be seen these
days in the field of smartphones. As
the number of users is increasing
day by day, facilities are also
increasing. Starting with simple
phones which were made just to
make and receive calls. Now we
have phones which can even access
GPS , GPRS, Wifi, NFC. and lot of
other cool and advanced features
which you cannot even imagine.
So in this Mobile world of this
complication. Android is one of
those operating system platforms
which made it easy for
manufacturers to design top class
phones.
What is Android – More Details
You might have seen windows ,
linux and mac operating systems
which are made for computers.
Windows is the most popular
operating system on computers. So
if you know about it then it is easy
for you to get an answer for what is
android.
Android is also an operating system
developed by Google . Basically it
was started by some other company
which was taken by Google. Google
improved the operating system and
made it a open source platform. It
was widely adapted over the world.
As it is open source it is so popular
amongst the smartphones.  Android
OS can also be used on tablet PCs.
Android is based on linux and offers
you a great deal of customization in
widgets and over millions of apps.
Most of them are free of cost and
can be installed on your phone just
by clicking on install tab of the
respective app in the Google Play
Store app. Which comes along with
the android Phone.
Logo of Android:
You can see the logo of Android
from the image below:

Which Phone Manufacturer use
Android?
Android is a open source platform
which can be used by any phone
manufacturers on the world. Unlike
other operating systems for mobile
phones like iOS ( Operating system
by apple for iPhone, iPad and other
iDevices.). Symbain is owned by
Nokia and it comes only on Nokia
Handsets. Android can be used by
any manufacturer. So that if the
latest research is to be believed
over half of the smart phones in usa
run on android.
Android is one the hottest mobile
operating systems available today.
Samsung is the Largest
Manufacturer of android phones and
tablets. LG, HTC, Sony, are other
top manufacturers of android
phones and tablets. Some local
manufacturers like Micromax,
Karbon, Hawai, also use android
Phones on their portable devices.
What is Android Version?
Android is released in series of
Versions. Starting from 1.0 version
( where 2.0, 3.0, …… are latest
releases). Google name these
versions with some food items like
ice cream, jelly bean, sandwich etc.
which is one of the specialty of
android versions.
Here are some of the Versions
released by android.
1.0 – Android beta.
1.5 – Android
Cupcake.
1.6 – Android Donut.
2.0/2.1 – Eclair.
2.2.x – Froyo.
2.3.x – Gingerbread.
3.x – Honeycomb (used
mainly for tablets.)
4.0.x – Ice Cream
Sandwich (both for
phones and tablets.)
4.1/4.2 – Jelly Bean (both for
phones and tablets.)