What is Google Android?

Google Android Developer | Google Android Development | Google Android Application Developer

Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications. Android’s mobile operating system is based on the Linux kernel. The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is tasked with the maintenance and further development of Android. The Android operating system is currently the world’s best-selling Smartphone platform.

Android has a large community of developers writing applications that extend the functionality of the devices. There are currently over 200,000 apps available for Android. Android Market is the online app store run by Google, though apps can also be downloaded from third-party sites.

Features of Google Android:

  • Application framework enabling reuse and replacement of components
  • Dalvik virtual machine optimized for mobile devices
  • Integrated browser based on the open source WebKit engine
  • Optimized graphics powered by a custom 2D graphics library; 3D graphics based on the OpenGL ES 1.0 specification (hardware acceleration optional)
  • SQLite for structured data storage
  • Media support for common audio, video, and still image formats (MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG, GIF)
  • GSM Telephony (hardware dependent)
  • Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, and WiFi (hardware dependent)
  • Camera, GPS, compass, and accelerometer (hardware dependent)
  • Rich development environment including a device emulator, tools for debugging, memory and performance profiling, and a plugin for the Eclipse IDE

Google Android is the platform, which provides extra flexibility to our developers through its open source development environment and its market being an open application distribution channel ensures further flexibility and assurance to a better and quicker application development.