Android is an operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. It is developed by the Open Handset Alliance led by Google.[7][8]
Google purchased the initial developer of the software, Android Inc., in 2005.[9] The unveiling of the Android distribution on November 5, 2007 was announced with the founding of theOpen Handset Alliance, a consortium of 84 hardware, software, and telecommunicationcompanies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices.[10][11][12][13] Google released most of the Android code under the Apache License, a free software license.[14]The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is tasked with the maintenance and further development of Android.[15]
Android consists of a kernel based on the Linux kernel, with middleware, libraries and APIswritten in C and application software running on an application framework which includes Java-compatible libraries based on Apache Harmony. Android uses the Dalvik virtual machinewith just-in-time compilation to run Dalvik dex-code (Dalvik Executable), which is usually translated from Java bytecode.[16]
Android has a large community of developers writing applications ("apps") that extend the functionality of the devices. Developers write primarily in a customized version of Java.[17]There are currently approximately 300,000 apps available for Android, from a total of 500,000 apps over the life of Android.[18][19][20] Apps can be downloaded from third-party sites or through online stores such as Android Market, the app store run by Google.
Android was listed as the best-selling smartphone platform worldwide in Q4 2010 byCanalys[21][22] with over 190 million Android devices in use by October 2011.[23]
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