Android (operating system): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 01:26, 21 July 2025

Revision as of 02:13, 21 July 2025

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{{See also|Android version history}}

===2000s===

'''Android Inc.'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> was founded in [[Palo Alto, California]], in October 2003 by [[Andy Rubin]] and Chris White, with [[Rich Miner]] and Nick Sears<ref>{{cite web |title=Google's Android OS: Past, Present, and Future |url=http://www.phonearena.com/news/Googles-Android-OS-Past-Present-and-Future_id21273 |website=PhoneArena |date=August 18, 2011 |access-date=March 12, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313044444/http://www.phonearena.com/news/Googles-Android-OS-Past-Present-and-Future_id21273 |archive-date=March 13, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Google Buys Android">{{cite web |first=Ben |last=Elgin |title=Google Buys Android for Its Mobile Arsenal |url=http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2005/tc20050817_0949_tc024.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205190729/http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2005/tc20050817_0949_tc024.htm |website=[[Bloomberg Businessweek]] |date=August 17, 2005 |archive-date=February 5, 2011 |access-date=March 12, 2017}}</ref> joining later. Rubin had previously been the creator of the [[T-Mobile Sidekick]] under his previous company [[Danger, Inc.]]<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Ganapati |first=Priya |title=T-Mobile's G1 Android Phone: Neither Open nor Exciting |url=https://www.wired.com/2008/09/g1-android-phon/ |access-date=2025-05-30 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Markoff |first=John |date=2007-11-04 |title=I, Robot: The Man Behind the Google Phone |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/technology/04google.html |access-date=2025-05-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Rubin and White started out to build an Operatingoperating Systemsystem for [[digital camera]]s viz ''FotoFrame''. The company name was changed to ''Android'' as Rubin already owned the [[___domain name]] <code>android.com</code>. After having built a prototype internally known as the "Fadden demo" predominantly by purchasing licensing agreements for most of the software components built around a custom [[JavaScript]] front-end, the company failed to convince investors, and so in April 2004 they pivoted to building an Operatingoperating Systemsystem for Phonesphones at the suggestion of Nick Sears,<ref name=hasse1>{{cite book |title=Androids: The Team that Built Android Operating System |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qyc9EAAAQBAJ |last=Haase |first=Chet |chapter=Android the... Camera OS? |date=August 13, 2021 |isbn=978-1-7373548-2-6 | publisher=Chet Haase}}</ref><ref name="pcworld-camera-os">{{cite web |first=Jay |last=Alabaster |title=Android founder: We aimed to make a camera OS |url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/2034723/android-founder-we-aimed-to-make-a-camera-os.html |website=[[PC World]] |publisher=[[International Data Group]] |date=April 16, 2013 |access-date=May 9, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510103305/http://www.pcworld.com/article/2034723/android-founder-we-aimed-to-make-a-camera-os.html |archive-date=May 10, 2017 }}</ref> as a rival to [[Symbian]] and Microsoft [[Windows Mobile]].<ref>{{cite web |first=Chris |last=Welch |title=Before it took over smartphones, Android was originally destined for cameras |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/4/16/4230468/android-originally-designed-for-cameras-before-smartphones |website=[[The Verge]] |publisher=[[Vox Media]] |date=April 16, 2013 |access-date=May 9, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429062213/http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/16/4230468/android-originally-designed-for-cameras-before-smartphones |archive-date=April 29, 2017 }}</ref> Rubin pitched the Android project as having "tremendous potential in developing smarter mobile devices that are more aware of its owner's ___location and preferences".<ref name="Google Buys Android" /> Due to difficulty attracting investors early on, Android faced potential eviction from its office space. [[Steve Perlman (entrepreneur)|Steve Perlman]], a close friend of Rubin, brought him $10,000 in cash in an envelope, and shortly thereafter wired an undisclosed amount as seed funding. Perlman refused a stake in the company, and has stated "I did it because I believed in the thing, and I wanted to help Andy."<ref>{{cite web |first=Lisa |last=Eadicicco |title=THE RISE OF ANDROID: How a flailing startup became the world's biggest computing platform |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/how-android-was-created-2015-3 |website=[[Business Insider]] |publisher=[[Axel Springer SE]] |date=March 27, 2015 |access-date=May 9, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170520025143/http://www.businessinsider.com/how-android-was-created-2015-3 |archive-date=May 20, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Ashlee |last=Vance |author-link=Ashlee Vance |title=Steve Perlman's Wireless Fix |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-07-27/steve-perlmans-wireless-fix |url-access=subscription |website=[[Bloomberg Businessweek]] |date=July 29, 2011 |access-date=March 12, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319032000/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-07-27/steve-perlmans-wireless-fix |archive-date=March 19, 2017 }}</ref>

In 2005, Rubin tried to negotiate deals with [[Samsung]]<ref name="MPC">{{Cite book|last1=McAfee|first1=Andrew|last2=Brynjolfsson|first2=Erik |publisher=W.W. Norton |title=Machine, Platform, Crowd : Harnessing Our Digital Future |date=2017|isbn=978-0-393-25429-7|___location=New York|oclc=987909505 |page=166}}</ref> and [[HTC]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Haase|first=Chet|date=August 13, 2021|title=Excerpt: How Google bought Android—according to folks in the room|url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2021/08/excerpt-the-history-of-android-as-written-by-a-longtime-android-developer/|access-date=August 13, 2021|website=[[Ars Technica]]|language=en-us |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813112821/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2021/08/excerpt-the-history-of-android-as-written-by-a-longtime-android-developer/ |archive-date=August 13, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> Shortly afterwards, [[Google]] acquired the company in July of that year for at least $50&nbsp;million;<ref name="Google Buys Android" /><ref name="Murky road despite dominance">{{cite web |first=Farhad |last=Manjoo |title=A Murky Road Ahead for Android, Despite Market Dominance |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/technology/personaltech/a-murky-road-ahead-for-android-despite-market-dominance.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 27, 2015 |access-date=March 12, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706094446/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/technology/personaltech/a-murky-road-ahead-for-android-despite-market-dominance.html |archive-date=July 6, 2017 }}</ref> this was Google's "best deal ever" according to Google's then-vice president of corporate development, [[David Lawee]], in 2010.<ref name="MPC"/> Android's key employees, including Rubin, Miner, Sears, and White, joined Google as part of the acquisition.<ref name="Google Buys Android" /> Not much was known about the secretive Android Inc. at the time, with the company having provided few details other than that it was making software for mobile phones.<ref name="Google Buys Android" /> At Google, the team led by Rubin developed a mobile device platform powered by the [[Linux kernel]]. Google marketed the platform to [[Original equipment manufacturer|handset makers]] and [[Mobile network operator|carriers]] on the promise of providing a flexible, upgradeable system.<ref>{{cite web |first=Ryan |last=Block |title=Google is working on a mobile OS, and it's due out shortly |url=https://www.engadget.com/2007/08/28/google-is-working-on-a-mobile-os-and-its-due-out-shortly/ |website=[[Engadget]] |publisher=[[AOL]] |date=August 28, 2007 |access-date=March 11, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312063351/https://www.engadget.com/2007/08/28/google-is-working-on-a-mobile-os-and-its-due-out-shortly/ |archive-date=March 12, 2017 }}</ref> Google had "lined up a series of hardware components and software partners and signaled to carriers that it was open to various degrees of cooperation".{{attribution needed|date=April 2018}}<ref>{{cite web |first1=Amol |last1=Sharma |first2=Kevin J. |last2=Delaney |title=Google Pushes Tailored Phones To Win Lucrative Ad Market |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118602176520985718 |website=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=August 2, 2007 |access-date=July 24, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729160919/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118602176520985718 |archive-date=July 29, 2017 }}</ref>