The Journey Of Android Platforms.

Now we all know what Android is. For those who are not aware of this awesome innovation here is a small post to let you through the history of this operating system. Unlike windows, Android is also an OS but it is open source(which can be modified and free of cost).Since the release of Cupcake 1.5 in 2009, Google has been codenaming their latest and greatest Android versions in the form of sweet and tasty deserts, all in alphabetical order; after (C)upcake came (D)onut, followed by (E)clair, (F)royo, (H)oneycomb and finally, (I)cecream Sandwich.  Before ICS was even released, android fanatics were speculating on what the next release would be codenamed. Not surprisingly, Jelly Bean was added to that list, and low-and-behold, Jelly Bean was announced at this year’s Google IO, as our next helping of desert.





Jelly Bean was rumored to be an insignificant release, only adding a .1 to our current 4.0 version. The truth in this however, turned out to be quite the contrary. In an article posted on June 28th, ION writer Hans Gogia explained some of the delicious new features that will be gracing our palette; one of the most significant being, Project Butter which will bring a whole new buttery smooth experience to our android devices.


With the back-breaking competition swarming through the mobile scene, Google has their mind set on being number one. In what ways has Google accomplished this with their well known Android OS? What revolutionary ideas have given Apple a run for their money since the launch of the first Android device, HTC Dream? The following breakdown will give you an idea on just how far the Mountain View based company has gone since 2007.


1]Android Beta:


The beta was released on November 05, 2007, followed by the SDK, which gave developers a head start in creating all the awesome apps and tweaks we have today.


2] Android 1.0


If you ask the natives fan-boys about their experience with the Android OS, they will all recall the “G1 days,” these were the days when the true developers really had their chance to shine. The T-mobile G1, or rather the HTC Dream, released on September 23, 2008, was the first commercially available Android phone. It was with this version that Google had their first chance at branding the mobile market.


Android Market
Integrated web browser, with HTML and XHTML support
Basic Camera support
Folder grouping for homescreen
POP3, IMAP4, and SMTP Access
G-Apps integration such as Gmail, Google Contacts, Google Maps, Google Sync, Google Search, and Google Talk
IM, SMS, and MMS support
Media playback without Bluetooth support
Notifications right on your status bar (Apple is still trying to perfect this so as to not annoy users)
Custom Wallpaper
Integrated YouTube player
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support


3] Android 1.1


The small update was released on February 9, 2009 for the G1. It resolved some bugs, changed the APU, and added a few small features, one of which was the ability to save attachments in messages.


4] Cupcake 1.5


On April 30, 2009, Google introduced their new codename system in the form of alphabetical tasty treats. This release was the most significant since Android was released.


Support for 3rd party virtual keyboards.
Widget Support
Video Recording in MPEG-4 and 3GP formats
Auto-pairing for Bluetooth devices
Copy and paste added to web browser
Contact Pictures available in Favorites
Date/Time stamp added in call log and ability to open contact straight from log
Animated screen transitions
Auto Rotate
YouTube and Picasa upload


5] Donut 1.6


Another small update was released on September 15, 2009. This update allowed for support of WVGA phones, and improved the Gallery, camera and camcorder for fuller integration, along with a few other tweaks.


6] Éclair 2.0/2.1


Éclair was amongst one of the bigger updates and was divided into 3 different releases: 2.0, 2.0.1 and 2.1.


Ability to add more than one account to your device
Ability to expand contact information by tapping on the contacts picture
Camera tweaks, including flash support, digital zoom, scene mode, white balance, color effect and, macro focus.
Smart dictionary that learns from your texting habits
Updated browser with HTML5 support, double-tap zoom, and bookmark thumbnails
Other minor changes to API and framework


7] Froyo 2.2.x


With the release of Froyo on May 20, 2010, the Android community changed from a tight nit development-centric group, to an expanding teenage market. The Nexus One was the first phone be released with Android 2.2, and was widely available at a low cost. This version excited users with every new .x, for over a year.


SPEED, MEMORY, and PERFORMANCE
Integration of Chrome’s V8 Java-Script engine
Android Cloud to Device Messaging (C2DM), allowing push notifications
Improved launcher
USB tethering and Wi-Fi hotspot
More Bluetooth support (voice dialing, contact sharing, car and desk docks)
Ability to install applications to SD cards
Adobe Flash support
Bug fixes and other minor UI and security improvements


8] Gingerbread 2.3.x


Another longwinded and major update, released with the Nexus S on December 6, 2010.


Updated UI
Higher screen resolution support (WXGA and higher)
Native support for SIP VoIP
Text Input improvements
Improvements on copy/paste, allowing users to touch and hold to bring up options
NFC support
Enhanced audio effects
New Download Manager
Support for Front and Rear facing camera
Improved power management
Google Wallet support
A bunch of other technical upgrades and bug fixes
Honeycomb 3.x


With the increasing popularity of tablets, Google released their first tablet only android update on February 22, 2011. I am not going to go into those details since there were a lot, but you can find them on the Wiki.


9]Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.x


ICS has been my favorite update so far, and is compatible with any Android 2.3.x device and up. It was released for the Galaxy Nexus on October 19, 2011.


Virtual buttons to replace capacitive or physical buttons
Application Drawer contains new tabs, including tab for widgets
Better support for folder creation
Customizable launcher
Pinch-to-zoom in Calendar
Integrated screenshot capture
Access predetermined apps from the lockscreen
Real-time speech to text dictation
Face unlock
Tabbed web browser support
Data Usage section letting you control how much data you (or your kids) use
Hard pressing home key brings up task manager allowing you to swipe closed any apps in the background
More camera improvements, including panorama mode and the ability to zoom while recording.
Integrated photo editor
Better social media integration
Android Beam, allowing you to exchange bookmarks, contact info, directions, YouTube videos, and other data with nearby friends
Wi-Fi Direct
1080p Video recording
Tons of other UI improvements and bug fixes


10] Jelly Bean 4.1


As Android users, we are always looking to the future and testing the limits of our phones. JB was just announced on June 27th and already developers are working tirelessly to bring the update to our phones before the official release in July. Jelly Bean has already been ported to the international version of HTC One X, CDMA Galaxy Nexus, and the international Galaxy S III.


Project Butter
Google Now
Automatically re-size widgets and reorganize homescreen
Offline voice dictation
Improved camera app
Updates to Google Play (including Google Magazines), Google Maps, YouTube, Google Earth, Google+, and Chrome
User-installable keyboard maps
Expandable notifications
And much, much more!


So what can we expect next from Google? Back in March, The Verge received a tip that we can expect some Key Lime Pie to accompany our Jelly Beans. Will KLP be the next major release? With all the competition in the market can Google afford to give us another minor update? What features might this new update be laced with? I guess we will have to wait and see.

11] Kitkat

Google announced Android 4.4 KitKat (named with the permission of Nestlé and Hershey) on 3 September 2013, with a release date set for October