Evolution Of Android & Its Impact On Mobile Application Development

By Author: Pradeep Hunka
Total Articles: 12
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Android is a Linux based operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. It is programmed in C and C++ with UI in Java. Google acquired the initial developer of Android Inc. in 2005 and released Android as an Open source under the Apache License.
Android made its debut with 1.0 on the HTC Dream mobile on 22nd October 2008. Since it’s launch android has taken the world of mobile application development by storm. It has give iphone SDK and iphone applications a run for its money. It has grown a lot after that. In the first version Android brought the feature of pull-down notification which the world talks about. The media player in the first version of Android completely failed. An outstanding feature in the Google Android was Google Sync- calendar, maps, documents, e-mails, chats.
Version 1.1 was mostly bug fixes of the previous version. It brought about local map apps with local search business listings, complete reviews and other relevant data. A lot of updations were seen in the version 1.5 which is also called the cupcake. It is also from this version that android started using ...
... dessert names for its versions. The android media playback improved immensely and copy and paste made its first appearance in the browser. The android phone was able to pull Google account pictures into the contact list. The next version of android was version 1.6, also called as doughnut. This version introduced the free turn navigation map which is now the USP of Android phones.
The versions 2.0 and 2.1 both lived under the name éclair which is a bit strange, given the names of dessert names for other versions. Éclair had a much improved keyboard and auto- correct. It also brought in the much needed improvements of the camera. HTML5 was added to the browser.
Version 2.2 Froyo (Frozen Yoghurt) brought with it the most improvements up to that point. It brought in Adobe flash support and the addition of USB and wireless tethering. Wireless tethering allowed Froyo users to turn their phones into a wireless hotspot.
The next version of android 2.3 was Gingerbread. GingerBread brought with it the native support of internet calling over sim. It brought in some equalization features for music and. It also included voice based actions for calling, texting, navigation etc.
2.3 version of Android was called Gingerbread. It brought with it the native support of internet calling over sim. Some equalization options for listening to the music and options for front facing cameras which has since proliferated have also been brought in.It also added NFC(Near field communication). It hints at the fact that Google wants your phone to be also your wallet.

3.0 Version of android was the next version introduced by Android. It is called the Honeycomb. Honeycomb was the tablet-oriented version of android. It included remarkable features in the phones like multi-core processors, hardware acceleration for graphics, new user interface and high encryption techniques.

3.1 Honeycomb was released in May 2011, brought in the USB host mode for transferring information directly from cameras. It brought in Google movies and Books apps.
3.2 Honeycomb, was released in July 2011. 3.2 Honeycomb added optimization for a broader range of screen sizes, new "zoom-to-fill" screen compatibility mode, loading media files directly from SD card, and an extended screen support API.

The version of android 4.0 was named as the Ice Cream Sandwich. Ice Cream Sandwich brought Honeycomb features to smartphones. It brought in facial recognition unlock, consolidation of social networking contacts, photography enhancements, offline email searching, app folders, and information sharing using NFC.

Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich is the latest Android version that is available to phones. The source code of Android 4.0.1 was released on November 14, 2011.

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Hunka Technologies is on one of the leading mobile applications development company based in India. Hunka specializes in Apple iphone application development, android application development, windows mobile application development and HTML 5. Hunka also has a specialized team for iphone game development, ipod & ipad game development and android game development. For more information please check our website: http://hunkatech.com