When was Android Software Developing Program started?

Q.
When was Android Developing Program like Android Studio started?

A.
Android is an operating system - like that of iOS for Apple. The programme which we use to write or develop this Android Applications (App) to run on the Android OS is something like Android Studio.

So, definitely Android App writing programs have to be after the advent of Android as an Operating System - which is dated back to 1990's.

The App writing program like Eclipse was the software to write Android App before Android Studio. Below is a brief chronology of how these App writing software came about.

Extract from Wikipedia on Android Applications:

Applications ("apps"), which extend the functionality of devices, are written using the Android software development kit (SDK) and, often, the Java programming language that has complete access to the Android APIs. Java may be combined with C/C++, together with a choice of non-default runtimes that allow better C++ support;[59][60][61] the Go programming language is also supported since its version 1.4, which can also be used exclusively although with a restricted set of Android APIs.[62] The SDK includes a comprehensive set of development tools,[63] including a debugger, software libraries, a handset emulator based on QEMU, documentation, sample code, and tutorials. Initially, Google's supported integrated development environment (IDE) was Eclipse using the Android Development Tools (ADT) plugin; in December 2014, Google released Android Studio, based on IntelliJ IDEA, as its primary IDE for Android application development. Other development tools are available, including a native development kit (NDK) for applications or extensions in C or C++, Google App Inventor, a visual environment for novice programmers, and various cross platform mobile web applications frameworks. In January 2014, Google unveiled an framework based on Apache Cordovafor porting Chrome HTML 5 web applications to Android, wrapped in a native application shell.[64]

Android has a growing selection of third-party applications, which can be acquired by users by downloading and installing the application's APK (Android application package) file, or by downloading them using an application store program that allows users to install, update, and remove applications from their devices. Google Play Store is the primary application store installed on Android devices that comply with Google's compatibility requirements and license the Google Mobile Services software.[3][65] Google Play Store allows users to browse, download and update applications published by Google and third-party developers; as of July 2013, there are more than one million applications available for Android in Play Store.[66] As of July 2013, 50 billion applications have been installed.[67][68] Some carriers offer direct carrier billing for Google Play application purchases, where the cost of the application is added to the user's monthly bill.[69]

Due to the open nature of Android, a number of third-party application marketplaces also exist for Android, either to provide a substitute for devices that are not allowed to ship with Google Play Store, provide applications that cannot be offered on Google Play Store due to policy violations, or for other reasons. Examples of these third-party stores have included the Amazon Appstore, GetJar, and SlideMe. F-Droid, another alternative marketplace, seeks to only provide applications that are distributed under free and open source licenses.[3][70][71][72]

Ref:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)

History of Android

Q.
Write a brief history of Android.

A.
History of Android

Android, Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California in October 2003 by Andy Rubin (co-founder of Danger),[24] Rich Miner (co-founder of Wildfire Communications, Inc.),[25] Nick Sears (once VP at T-Mobile),[26] and Chris White (headed design and interface development at WebTV[12]) to develop, in Rubin's words, "smarter mobile devices that are more aware of its owner's location and preferences".[12] The early intentions of the company were to develop an advanced operating system for digital cameras. Though, when it was realized that the market for the devices was not large enough, the company diverted its efforts toward producing a smartphone operating system that would rival Symbian and Microsoft Windows Mobile.[27] Despite the past accomplishments of the founders and early employees, Android Inc. operated secretly, revealing only that it was working on software for mobile phones.[12] That same year, Rubin ran out of money. Steve Perlman, a close friend of Rubin, brought him $10,000 in cash in an envelope and refused a stake in the company.[28]

In July 2005, Google acquired Android Inc. for at least $50 million, whose key employees, including Rubin, Miner and White, stayed at the company after the acquisition.[11][12] Not much was known about Android Inc. at the time, but many assumed that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market with this move.[12] At Google, the team led by Rubin developed a mobile device platform powered by the Linux kernel. Google marketed the platform to handset makers andcarriers on the promise of providing a flexible, upgradable system. Google had 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.[29][30][31]

Speculation about Google's intention to enter the mobile communications market continued to build through December 2006.[32] An earlier prototype codenamed "Sooner" had a closer resemblance to a BlackBerry phone, with no touchscreen, and a physical, QWERTY keyboard, but was later re-engineered to support a touchscreen, to compete with other announced devices such as the 2006 LG Prada and 2007 Apple iPhone.[33][34] In September 2007, InformationWeek covered anEvalueserve study reporting that Google had filed several patent applications in the area of mobile telephony.[35][36]

Eric Schmidt, Andy Rubin and Hugo Barra at a 2012 press conference
announcing Google's Nexus 7 tablet

On November 5, 2007, the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of technology companies including Google, device manufacturers such as HTC, Sony and Samsung, wireless carriers such as Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile, and chipset makers such as Qualcomm and Texas Instruments, unveiled itself, with a goal to develop open standards for mobile devices.[13]That day, Android was unveiled as its first product, a mobile device platform built on the Linux kernel.[13][37] The first commercially available smartphone running Android was the HTC Dream, released on October 22, 2008.[38]

Since 2008, Android has seen numerous updates which have incrementally improved the operating system, adding new features and fixing bugs in previous releases. Each major release is named in alphabetical order after a dessert or sugary treat; for example, version 1.5 "Cupcake" was followed by 1.6 "Donut". In 2010, Google launched its Nexus series of devices – a line of smartphones and tablets running the Android operating system, and built by manufacturing partners. HTC collaborated with Google to release the first Nexus smartphone,[39] the Nexus One. Google has since updated the series with newer devices, such as the Nexus 5 phone (made by LG) and the Nexus 7 tablet (made by Asus). Google releases the Nexus phones and tablets to act as their flagship Android devices, demonstrating Android's latest software and hardware features. From 2013 until 2015, Google offered several Google Play Editiondevices over Google Play. While not carrying the Google Nexus branding, these were Google-customized Android phones and tablets that also ran the latest version of Android, free from manufacturer or carrier modifications.

From 2010 to 2013, Hugo Barra served as product spokesperson, representing Android at press conferences and Google I/O, Google’s annual developer-focused conference. Barra's product involvement included the entire Android ecosystem of software and hardware, including Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean and KitKat operating system launches, the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 smartphones, the Nexus 7[40] and Nexus 10 tablets,[41] and other related products such as Google Now[42] and Google Voice Search, Google’s speech recognition product comparable to Apple’s Siri.[42] In 2013, Barra left the Android team for Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi.[43] The same year, Larry Page announced in a blog post that Andy Rubin had moved from the Android division to take on new projects at Google.[44]He was replaced by Sundar Pichai who became the new head of Android and Chrome OS,[45] and, later, by Hiroshi Lockheimer when Pichai became CEO of Google.[46]

In 2014, Google launched Android One, a line of smartphones mainly targeting customers in the developing world. In May 2015, Google announced Project Brillo as a cut-down version of Android that uses its lower levels (excluding the user interface), intended for the "Internet of Things" (IoT) embedded systems.[47]

Ref:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)

What is Android?

Q.
What is Android Operating System?

A.
Android is a mobile operating system (OS) currently developed by Google, based on the Linux kernel and designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android's user interfaceis mainly based on direct manipulation, using touch gestures that loosely correspond to real-world actions, such as swiping, tapping and pinching, to manipulate on-screen objects, along with a virtual keyboard (or a physical one, on older Android devices) for text input. In addition to touchscreen devices, Google has further developed Android TV for televisions, Android Auto for cars, and Android Wear for wrist watches, each with a specialized user interface. Variants of Android are also used on notebooks, game consoles, digital cameras, and other electronics. As of 2015, Android has the largest installed base of all operating systems.[11]

Initially developed by Android, Inc., which Google bought in 2005,[12] Android was unveiled in 2007, along with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance – a consortium of hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices.[13] As of July 2013, the Google Play store has had over one million Android applications ("apps") published, and over 50 billion applications downloaded.[14] An April–May 2013 survey of mobile application developers found that 71% of developers create applications for Android,[15] and a 2015 survey found that 40% of full-time professional developers see Android as their priority target platform, which is comparable to Apple's iOS on 37% with both platforms far above others.[16] At Google I/O 2014, the company revealed that there were over one billion active monthly Android users, up from 538 million in June 2013.[17]

Ref:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)

Andy Rubin - Creator of Android

Q.
Who started Android? It was Andy Rubin. Who is he?

A.
Andy Rubin co-founded Android in 2003, and sold it to Google in 2005 (1). He was into Android before anybody was able to provide a common platform for all the mobile phones. So, the industry he was in - mobile computing!

In 1992 he worked at General Magic, the fabled Apple spinoff, where he led development of the Motorola Envoy, one of the earliest wireless PDAs. In December 1999 he launched Danger, creator of the Hiptop, a proto-smartphone (2)
From search in Wikipedia, Andy Rubin is in fact, Andrew E Rubin, born in 1963.

Andrew E. "Andy" Rubin (born 1963) is an American computer programmer, engineer, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist. He is the founder and CEO of tech startup incubator Playground Global and a partner at venture capital firm Redpoint Ventures.[1] He is the co-founder and former CEO of both Danger Inc. and Android Inc.
Having sold Android to Google, he remained in the running of the Android company for a while.

Rubin became the company's Senior Vice President of Mobile and Digital Content until March 2013,[3] where he oversaw development of Android, an open-source operating system for smartphones.[4][5][6] Rubin has seventeen patents for his inventions (3).

Now (as of this writing) he is with hardware startup venture capitalist. He is no more with Google (left in 2014) or Robotics - Boston Dynamics. He is now the CEO of and Founder of Playground Global and Partner at Redpoint Ventures.

And, in fact, Android Studio came about in 2013 and soon acquired by Google to emerge as the Developer Programme for Android. From Wikipedia:

Android Studio was in early access preview stage starting from version 0.1 in May 2013, then entered beta stage starting from version 0.8 which was released in June 2014.[5] The first stable build was released in December 2014, starting from version 1.0.[6] (4) Stable Version 2.0 was released in Nov 23rd, 2015.

So, it is now that Android development is stable and just about the right time to master the software developer program - Android Studio, and scale the world of mobile computing!

Ref:
1. http://www.wired.com/2016/02/android-inventor-andy-rubin-playground-artificial-intelligence/
2. as above
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Rubin
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_Studio

Background - All about Android

Q.
In very simple way, what are the key things about Android?

A.
This is a simple but yet a wide question. The Android platform is probably newer than iOS and definitely much younger than Windows, but it is also not that young. This page is to compile the background and history of Android platform as I start learning about it. Here are my questions...

1. Who started Android? It was Andy Rubin.

2. What is Android Operating System?

3. History of Android.

4. When was Android API - like that of Android Studio developed?

5. What is the market share of Android Devices in the World?

6. What is 'Project' and how it is different from 'Module'?

7. What are its limitations?

8. What are the reasons people choose to develop applications in Android?


Thomas Sim
11.02.2016
Papillon
MJC Kuching