Android - Whatz that?

When many people come across this term "Android" - Quite a few people associate it with human like robot/outer space character (wiki link : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android). Few people in the Computer Software know about it. There are lots of people ignorant of this term as well - This blog is my attempt to help them understand what is Android - in the field of technology.

To tell in a single line - "Android is an Operating System by Open Handset Alliance". It was initially meant for Mobile Phones but now has found acceptance across a wide range of devices.

For a non-techie: the whole line does not make any sense. So let me elaborate it with respect to something very generic. Let me take the example of a house and model it around the mobile phone.

When you look at owning or renting a house - there are many things one look at: The exterior design(external look), interior design(rooms, kitchen, en-suite etc) and the fittings/furnishings(TV point, telephone point, electrical points, taps, showers etc). A mobile phone is very similar - One looks at the stylish look of the phone (exterior design), features of the phone (GPS(location related), FM Receiver, 3G, Camera etc - interior design) and the actual fittings/furnishings (Maps s/w, FM Radio App, Browser, games, utility applications etc).

Broadly speaking - You can say the exterior design and interior design is purely hardware. The Fittings/Furnishings maybe considered as software layer.

In a kitchen, you would have a shelf rack's to store your plates, spoons etc. In similar breadth an Operating System may be considered as the shelf rack to hold all your applications. Applications are games, utility applications, music applications etc. The better the Shelf space and kind of racks, the more variety you can have. The Operating System provides this racks in the form of API's to developers so that they can develop cool applications for your mobile phone.

So "Android" is the operating system. Open Handset Alliance(OHA) as on the official website(http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/) is defined as "Open Handset Alliance™ - a group of 65 technology and mobile companies who have come together to accelerate innovation in mobile and offer consumers a richer, less expensive, and better mobile experience."

Currently in market there are many many mobile phones launched with Android - Motorola's - (CLIQ/DEXT, DROID/MILESTONE) HTC's - (G1, Sense) Google's - (Nexus One), Samsung's - Galaxy etc. The list is not exhaustive but to name a few.

Hope this was informative enough. Let me know your comments and criticism :)