Android software
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1 Introduction

What is Android? Android is a software platform and operating system for mobile devices, based on the Linux kernel, developed by Google and later the Open Handset Alliance. It allows developers to write managed code in the Java language, controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries. Applications written in C and other languages can be compiled to ARM native code and run, but this development path is not officially supported by Google.


What is The Open Handset Alliance?

Open Handset Alliance, is a consortium of several companies which include Google, HTC, Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel and NVIDIA, ... These companies which aim to develop technologies that will significantly lower the cost of developing and distributing mobile devices and services. The Android platform is the first step in this direction -- a fully integrated mobile "software stack" that consists of an operating system, middleware, user-friendly interface and applications.


License

Android is under version 2 of the Apache Software License (ASL). The Apache license allows manufacturers and mobile operators to innovate using the platform without the requirement to contribute those innovations back to the open source community


Platform

2.1 Hardware

First and foremost, Android is a software stack for mobile devices. This means that high on the list of priorities is the preservation of battery power and the efficient management of limited memory resources. There are five distinct layers to the Android system stack: