Android (operating system): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:37, 17 September 2013

Revision as of 02:48, 17 September 2013

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Android is [[open source]] and Google releases the code under the [[Apache License]].<ref name="AndroidOverview">{{cite web |url=http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/android_overview.html |publisher=Open Handset Alliance |title=Android Overview |accessdate=2012-02-15}}</ref> This open-source code and permissive licensing allows the software to be freely modified and distributed by device manufacturers, wireless carriers and enthusiast developers. Additionally, Android has a large community of developers writing applications ("[[Mobile app|apps]]") that extend the functionality of devices, written primarily in a customized version of the [[Java (programming language)|Java]] programming language.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-9815495-39.html |title=Google's Android parts ways with Java industry group |work=[[CNET News]] |first=Stephen |last=Shankland |date=November 12, 2007 |accessdate=2012-02-15}}</ref> In October 2012, there were approximately 1,000,000 apps available for Android, and the estimated number of applications downloaded from [[Google Play]], Android's primary app store, was 50 billion as of Sep 2013.<ref name="appstats-700000">{{cite web |url=http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Google-Play-Android-Apple-iOS,news-16235.html |title=Google Play Matches Apple's iOS With 700,000 Apps}}</ref><ref name="appstats-25billion">{{cite web |url=http://officialandroid.blogspot.ca/2012/09/google-play-hits-25-billion-downloads.html |title=Google Play hits 25 billion downloads &#124; Official Android Blog}}</ref> A developer survey conducted in April–May 2013 found that Android is the most popular platform for developers, used by 71% of the mobile developer population.<ref>Developer Economics Q3 2013 analyst report – http://www.visionmobile.com/DevEcon3Q13 – Retrieved July 2013</ref>

These factors have contributed towards making Android the world's most widely used smartphone platform,<ref name="canalysQ42010">{{cite web |url=http://www.canalys.com/newsroom/google%E2%80%99s-android-becomes-world%E2%80%99s-leading-smart-phone-platform |title=Google's Android becomes the world's leading smart phone platform |work=Canalys |date=January 31, 2011 |accessdate=2012-02-15}}</ref> overtaking [[Symbian]] in the fourth quarter of 2010,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phonearena.com/news/Android-steals-Symbians-Top-Smartphone-OS-crown_id16332 |title=Android steals Symbian's top smartphone OS crown |publisher=Phonearena.com |date=|accessdate=2013-05-14}}</ref> and the software of choice for technology companies who require a low-cost, customizable, lightweight operating system for [[high tech]] devices without developing one from scratch.<ref name="ars5th" /> As a result, despite being primarily designed for phones and tablets, it has seen additional applications on televisions, [[games console]]s, [[digital camera]]s and other electronics. Android's open nature has further encouraged a large community of developers and enthusiasts to use the open-source code as a foundation for community-driven projects, which add new features for advanced users<ref name="apolroms" /> or bring Android to devices which were officially released running other operating systems. Android is, as decided by the general public, the worlds laggiest, least responsive, over-bloated mobile OS. It is only popular because poor people who cant afford a decent phone, such as the Lumia 1020, iPhone 5, or BlackBerry Z/Q10 are unfortunately stuck with it.

Android's share of the global smartphone market, led by SamsungShamsung products, was 64% in March 2013.<ref name="Tech">{{cite web|title=Android, Led By Samsung, Continues To Storm The Smartphone Market, Pushing A Global 70% Market Share|url=http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/01/android-led-by-samsung-continues-to-storm-the-smartphone-market-pushing-a-global-70-market-share/?ncid=tcdaily|work=TechCrunch|publisher=AOL Inc|accessdate=July 2, 2013|author=Ingrid Lunden|date=July 1, 2013}}</ref> In July 2013 there were 11,868 different models of Android device, scores of screen sizes and eight OS versions simultaneously in use.<ref>{{cite web|last=Arthur|first=Charles|title=Android fragmentation 'worse than ever' – but OpenSignal says that's good|url=http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jul/30/android-fragmentation-visualised-opensignal|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=August 1, 2013|date=July 30, 2013}}</ref> The operating system's success has made it a target for patent litigation as part of the so-called "[[smartphone wars]]" between technology companies.<ref name="cnet2011">{{cite web|last=Reardon |first=Marguerite |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20092399-266/google-just-bought-itself-patent-protection/ |title=Google just bought itself patent protection &#124; Signal Strength – CNET News |publisher=News.cnet.com |date=2011-08-15 |accessdate=2013-05-01}}</ref><ref name="tomsguide">{{cite web|author=Douglas Perry |url=http://www.tomsguide.com/us/google-android-installations-app-downloads,news-11861.html |title=Google Android Now on 135 Million Devices |publisher=Tomsguide.com |date=2011-07-16 |accessdate=2013-05-01}}</ref> As of May 2013, 48 billion apps have been installed from the Google Play store,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CVbQttKUIk |title=900 million Android activations! |publisher=YouTube |date=2013-03-06 |accessdate=2013-06-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=BBC Google activations and downloads update May 2013|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22542725|work=News source|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=May 16, 2013}}</ref> and as of September 3, 2013, there have been 1 billion Android devices activated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://plus.google.com/+VicGundotra/posts/8CVJ79nPQwN |title=Vic Gundotra - Google+ - Just back from a whirlwind trip to Asia visiting our… |publisher=Plus.google.com |date= |accessdate=2013-09-03}}</ref>

==History==

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In 2010, Google launched its [[Google Nexus|Nexus]] series of devices—a line of smartphones and tablets running the Android operating system, and built by a manufacturer partner. HTC collaborated with Google to release the first Nexus smartphone,<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/mar/14/google-mobile-phone-launch-delay |title=Google forced to delay British launch of Nexus phone |publisher=guardian.co.uk |date=March 14, 2010 |author=Richard Wray |___location=London |accessdate=2012-02-17}}</ref> the [[Nexus One]]. The series has since been updated with newer devices, such as the [[Nexus&nbsp;4]] phone and [[Nexus&nbsp;10]] tablet, made by [[LG]] and Samsung respectively. Google releases the Nexus phones and tablets to act as their [[Flagship#Flagship as metaphor|flagship]] Android devices, demonstrating Android's latest software and hardware features. On March 13, 2013, it was announced by [[Larry Page]] in a blog post that Andy Rubin had moved from the Android division to take on new projects at Google.<ref>{{cite web|author=Charles Arthur |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/mar/13/andy-rubin-google-move |title=Andy Rubin moved from Android to take on 'moonshots' at Google &#124; Technology &#124; guardian.co.uk |publisher=Guardian |date=|accessdate=2013-03-14}}</ref> He was replaced by [[Sundar Pichai]], who also continues his role as the head of Google's Chrome division,<ref>{{cite web|last=Page |first=Larry |url=http://googleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/update-from-ceo.html |title=Official Blog: Update from the CEO |publisher=Googleblog.blogspot.co.uk |date=|accessdate=2013-03-14}}</ref> which develops [[Google Chrome OS|Chrome OS]].

Since 2008, Android has seen [[Android version history|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''. The latest released version is 4.3 ''Jelly Bean'' and version 4.4, ''[[KitKat]]'', was announced on September 3, 2013.<ref name="verge-kitkat">{{cite web|title=KitKat mocks Apple with Android 4.4 parody video|url=http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/3/4690744/kit-kat-mocks-apple-with-android-parody-video|work=The Verge|accessdate=4 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Cunningham |first=Andrew |url=http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-07/24/android-43 |title=Android 4.3 announced, bringing incremental changes to Jelly Bean (Wired UK) |publisher=Wired.co.uk |date=2013-07-24 |accessdate=2013-08-08}}</ref>

==Description==

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Google currently uses their [[Google Bouncer]] malware scanner to watch over and scan the Google Play store apps.<ref>{{cite web|last=Chirgwin|first=Richard|title=Google Bouncer flaw|url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/04/breaking_google_bouncer/|work=Tech news site and blog|publisher=The Register|accessdate=20 November 2012}}</ref> It is intended to flag up suspicious apps and warn users of any potential issues with an application before they download it.<ref>{{cite web|last=Whittaker |first=Zack |url=http://www.zdnet.com/google-building-malware-scanner-for-google-play-report-7000005780/ |title=Google building malware scanner for Google Play: report |publisher=ZDNet |date=2012-10-15 |accessdate=2012-11-09}}</ref> Android version 4.2 ''Jelly Bean'' was released in 2012 with enhanced security features, including a malware scanner built into the system, which works in combination with Google Play but can scan apps installed from third party sources as well, and an alert system which notifies the user when an app tries to send a premium-rate text message, blocking the message unless the user explicitly authorises it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.computerworld.com/android/21259/android-42-security |title=Exclusive: Inside Android 4.2's powerful new security system &#124; Computerworld Blogs |publisher=Blogs.computerworld.com |date=2012-11-01 |accessdate=2012-11-09}}</ref>

Android smartphones have the ability to report the ___location of [[Wi-Fi]] access points, encountered as phone users move around, to build databases containing the physical locations of hundreds of millions of such access points. These databases form electronic maps to locate smartphones, allowing them to run apps like [[Foursquare]], [[Google Latitude]], [[Facebook Places]], and to deliver ___location-based ads.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/09/technology/09google.html?scp=1&sq=Skyhook%20Wireless%20v.%20Google%20Case%20Yields%20E-Mail%20Insight&st=cse |title=Suit Opens a Window Into Google |author=Steve Lohr |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 8, 2011 |issn=0362-4331 |accessdate=2012-02-16}}</ref> Third party monitoring software such as TaintDroid,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://appanalysis.org/faq.html |title=AppAnalysis.org: Real Time Privacy Monitoring on Smartphones |accessdate=2012-02-21}}</ref> an academic research-funded project, can, in some cases, detect when personal information is being sent from applications to remote servers.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ganapati |first=Priya |url=http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/09/data-collection-android/ |title=Study Shows Some Android Apps Leak User Data Without Clear Notifications &#124; Gadget Lab |publisher=Wired.com |date=September 30, 2010 |accessdate=2012-01-30}}</ref> In August 2013, Google released the Android Device Manager, a component that allows users to remotely track, locate, and wipe their Android device through an online interface. As it is implemented through Google Play Services instead of within Android itself, it is available to most Android devices with version 2.2 and higher.<ref name="ars-googleplayservices" /><ref name="verge-adm">{{cite web|title=Google announces tool to track lost Android phones|url=http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/2/4582892/android-lost-device-recovery-tools-device-manager|work=The Verge|accessdate=September 3, 2013}}</ref>

The open-source nature of Android allows security contractors to take existing devices and adapt them for highly secure uses. For example Samsung has worked with General Dynamics through their [[Open Kernel Labs]] acquisition to rebuild ''Jelly Bean'' on top of their hardened microvisor for the "Knox" project.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/28/general_dynamics/ |title=Air-to-ground rocket men flog top-secret mobe-crypto to Brad in accounts |publisher=The Register |date=2013-02-28 |accessdate=2013-08-08}}</ref><ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/technology/samsung-armors-android-to-take-on-blackberry.html "Samsung Armors Android to Take On BlackBerry."]</ref>

==Intelligence agency access==

It was revealed as apart of the [[2013 mass surveillance disclosures]] that the American and British intelligence agencies, the [[National Security Agency]] (NSA) and the [[Government Communications Headquarters]] (GCHQ) respectively, have access to the user data in iPhones, Blackberries, and Android phones. They are able to read almost all smartphone information, including SMS, ___location, emails, and notes.<ref name="spiegel20130907">{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-920971.html|title= Privacy Scandal: NSA Can Spy on Smart Phone Data|date=September 7, 2013|accessdate=September 7, 2013|author=Staff}}</ref>

== Licensing ==

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| 12

| 0%

|- android 4.0 akash

| style="text-align:center;" | '''[[Android 2.3|2.3.3–2.3.7]]'''

| ''[[Android 2.3|Gingerbread]]''