The Mobile Phone Operating System - part 2

One Mobile Ring began a feature last week about the mobile phone operating system with where it's come from, how it's evolved to what it is today, which includes all the various platforms found on different handsets.

Once upon a time the mobile OS was just there to facilitate dialling someone, messaging someone and holding the contact details, of those someones needing to be messaged or called. Now, the OS has evolved into something else, with functionality that could very well rival the desktop PC - if not at least be comparable with the way it operates.

The operating system plays a vital part in delivering all this goodness to the end user, along with what they want to achieve with the mobile. This is in addition to what they can now do with the phone, with the plethora of applications available today. All of which is a far cry from just dialling, messaging or using an address book on a mobile.

Last week we started with the Symbian operating system, with its ties to Nokia and its history dating back to the late 1980s with Psion handled devices. We also covered the many versions and iterations the platform has been through, along with the success other phone manufacturers such as Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Samsung's have had with the OS.

This week we turn our attention to one of the youngest phone operating systems around, which only celebrates its two year anniversary on a mobile phone in October this year.

The Android OS is synonymous with Google, ever since the Internet search engine giant acquired the company behind it back in 2005. The OS is now used by many different mobile manufactures, although its link to HTC is more significant since they have produced more than 12 different handsets worldwide running the platform. HTC also has the claim to have produced the very first Android mobile phone to go on sale in late 2008, with the T-Mobile G1.

The people initially behind Android were also responsible for the T-Mobile Sidekick device, where it's no coincidence that when T-Mobile wanted another sidekick device and they approached Google and HTC who developed the T-Mobile G1 running Android OS.

Android can have its roots traced back to 2003, where the people behind Android were reportedly developing software for mobiles and not hardware. Google acquired the company behind Android in 2005, rumours then begun of a Google phone being on the horizon with their services brought into play as a significant part in a mobile phone.

The team behind Android, now as a part of Google, was known to be working on a platform with Linux at its core - which is still true today. Linux has been the basis of Android with each and every release, with new Kernels in most versions. There was a view from the start to make an operating system with an open set of standards, which wasn't closed off and could have applications easily developed for the platform.

In 2007, the Open Handset Alliance was founded and led by Google, with over 34 different companies becoming members with that figure now reaching 78. OHA is made up with bodies such as HTC, Dell, Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm - in a business alliance with a view to develop open standards for mobile devices.

The first public outing of Android was on a prototype Texas Instruments handset, at a mobile phone industry conference in 2008. Later on in the same year the T-Mobile branded HTC device came out in the USA, with the Touch G1 being the replacement to the bestselling sidekick.

The Android operating system has been open source since it first begun to appear on mobile phones, with the software development kit being offered for developing applications that can be found on the Android Market App store.

There have been a number of Android variants over the past few years with a touch screen being a firm fixture of the OS and its hardware. Android ‘Froyo' 2.2 is the most recent version of the platform, and is currently being rolled out on handsets that can support it. Android has undergone 4 revisions to date, with another two already planned and that are currently in the works.

The Google OS Android ‘Cupcake' 1.5 was run from the Linux Kernel 2.6.27, and was launched in April 2009. This notably brought in a better virtual keyboard, customisable home screen with widgets, along with the ability to record and watch video. HTC launched their second Android handset around this time running Android 1.5, the HTC Magic.

Android ‘Donut' 1.6 was run from the updated Linux Kernel 2.6.29, and was launched in September of 2009. A better Android Market experience accompanied this new OS, where applications were easier to find and download. Users also noted that taking pictures were faster inside 1.6, with quicker switching between photo and camera modes. The lower end HTC Tattoo and Acer's Liquid A1 shipped a short time after this update arrived, with them both running Android ‘Donut'.

The first handset to arrive in the UK with the next version of Android was the Motorola Milestone, in late 2009. Android ‘Éclair' 2.0 was run from same Linux Kernel 2.6.29 as version 1.6, and was launched in October of 2009. The new version was a significant update, as the numbering alone displays. 2.0 brought in Microsoft Exchange support for the first time in Android, along with a new user interface and support for flash in cameras.

Google's Android ‘Froyo' 2.2 runs from the updated Linux Kernel 2.6.32, and was launched in May this year. This is the most current platform and is being made available to recent phones that shipped with an older OS, which is a trait of the Android platform. This brought a number of changes that were notable, just as in the last update where Google now appears to be releasing major changes and not just slight revisions. Improved support for Microsoft Exchange server is now a part of the platform, along with Adobe Flash 10.1 for viewing native flash content on webpages. There is also the ability to turn the phone into a WIFI ‘MIFI' hotspot for 5 devices, which isn't on any other platform worldwide.

Froyo is now being rolled out to HTC Desires, along with HTC Wildfire handsets on various networks - with Vodafone being the most recent carrier to deliver Android 2.2.

Other devices have been using Android, besides just mobile phones. Tablet style devices are also known to run the platform, with companies such as Archos retailing devices running the OS. More recently, Dell has produced a tablet computer with cellular access for both data, voice and video calling which is sold exclusively by O2. Samsung has just announced their iPad 7-inch screen rival, the Galaxy Tab. This will be on sale in October with Vodafone, with similar abilities to the Dell Streak.

The next reported version of Android is ‘Gingerbread' 3.0, due out later in the year. This will be based around the Linux Kernel 2.6.33. New features for this version have been noted as access to an Android Market music store, media streaming from the computer and a larger screen support of 1366×768 - ideal for tablet computers. The version after ‘Gingerbread' is only known as ‘Honeycomb' at this time, with no further details available at present.

The App Store on Android isn't as vast as the iPhone's, which has a reported 250,000 items to be downloaded. Google has confirmed to One Mobile Ring there are over 70,000 apps available on the Android Market, with 50,000 more announced at their developer's conference in May. There are now over 60 compatible Android powered devices, with 21 OEMs and 59 carries in 49 countries supporting the platform, according to Google.

In a very short space of time Android has achieved great success, whilst embracing the trend for a touch screen mobile phone and access to a good repository of applications. A recent report by Gartner places the Google OS at third place in the market share of the sheer number of smartphones sold in Q2 of this year, behind Symbian and RIM.

Originally published at OneMobileRing.com