Android is an open source and Linux-based Operating System for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. Android was developed by the Open Handset Alliance, led by Google, and other companies.
Android offers a unified approach to application development for mobile devices which means developers need only develop for Android, and their applications should be able to run on different devices powered by Android.
Android is a powerful operating system competing with Apple 4GS and supports great features. Few of them are listed below
Beautiful UI
Android OS basic screen provides a beautiful and intuitive user interface.
Connectivity
GSM/EDGE, IDEN, CDMA, EV-DO, UMTS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, LTE, NFC and WiMAX.
Storage
SQLite, a lightweight relational database, is used for data storage purposes.
Media support
H.263, H.264, MPEG-4 SP, AMR, AMR-WB, AAC, HE-AAC, AAC 5.1, MP3, MIDI, OggVorbis, WAV, JPEG, PNG, GIF, and BMP.
Messaging
SMS and MMS
Web browser
Based on the open-source WebKit layout engine, coupled with Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine supporting HTML5 and CSS3.
Multi-touch
Android has native support for multi-touch which was initially made available in handsets such as the HTC Hero.
Multi-tasking
User can jump from one task to another and same time various application can run simultaneously.
GCM
Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) is a service that lets developers send short message data to their users on Android devices, without needing a proprietary sync solution.
Wi-Fi Direct
A technology that lets apps discover and pair directly, over a high-bandwidth peer-to-peer connection.
Android Beam
A popular NFC-based technology that lets users instantly share, just by touching two NFC-enabled phones together.
Android applications are usually developed in the Java language using the Android Software Development Kit.
Once developed, Android applications can be packaged easily and sold out either through a store such as Google Play, SlideME, Opera Mobile Store, Mobango, F-droid and the Amazon Appstore.
Android powers hundreds of millions of mobile devices in more than 190 countries around the world. It's the largest installed base of any mobile platform and growing fast. Every day more than 1 million new Android devices are activated worldwide.
