Come to Know the Android OS a Little Better

The Android OS, as you know it today, didn’t start out as this outrageously popular from its conception. It had its fair share of ups and downs; however, just less than six years after, it has become the dominant operating system, accounting to more than 80 percent share in the global mobile platform market. Thanks to the benevolent support of Google, it had reached this far and wide, being available to various handsets from different smartphone manufacturers across the globe.

September 3, 2013 was marked as the day Android has reached its 1^st billionth activated device with the said OS. This is but a proof that more and more people are getting into the Android culture. So, why don’t we get to know the green fellow we all love a little better? Take a look at this infographic brought to you by SocialCubix, and take a dip into the Android story.

ANDROID 1.0

1^st Android Device: The HTC Dream (G1) / 23^rd September 2008

Integration with Google services

Web browser to show, zoom and pan full HTML and XHTML web pages, multiple pages show as windows

Android market app downloads and updates

Multi-tasking, instant messaging, WiFi and Bluetooth

ANDROID 1.5 Cupcake

Based on Linux Kernel 2.6.27 / 30^th April 2009

Faster Camera start-up and image capture

Much faster acquisition of GPS location (powered by SUPL AGPS)

On-screen soft keyboard

Directly upload videos to YouTube and Picassa

ANDROID 1.6 Donut

Based on Linux Kernel 2.6.29 / 15^th September 2009

Quick Search Box and Voice Search

Integrated Camera, Camcorder, Gallery and toggle between still and video capture modes

Battery usage indicator

CDMA Support

Multi-lingual text-to-speech function

ANDROID 2.0 Eclair

Based on Linux Kernel 2.6.29 / 26^th October 2009

Multiple accounts for email and contact synchronization

Microsoft Exchange Support for syncing of e-mail

Bluetooth 2.1 support

New Browser User Interface and support for HTML5

New Calendar Features

ANDROID 2.2 Froyo

Based on Linux Kernel 2.6.32 / 20^th May 2010

New tips widget for Homescreen & Improved Exchange support

Hotspot Support

Multiple Keyboard Languages

Adobe Flash 10.1

ANDROID 2.3 Gingerbread

6^th December 2010

UI refinements for simplicity and speed

New Keyboard for faster text input

One-touch word selection and copy/paste

Near Field Communication (NFC)

Internet Calling

ANDROID 3.0 Honeycomb

3.1 SDK / 10^th May 2011

Specifically optimized for tablets and devices with larger screen sizes

Refined multi-tasking, rich notifications, homescreen customization, widgets

Bluetooth tethering

Built-in Support for Media/Picture Transfer Protocol

ANDROID 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

Faster, smoother, more responsive

Refined, refreshed UI

New ways to engage users

External display support

Enhancements for International Languages

New built-in developer options

ANDROID 4.3 Jelly Bean

3.2 SDK / 18^th July 2011

Simple, beautiful and beyond smart

OpenGL ES 3.0 for high-performance graphics

Enhanced Bluetooth connectivity

Support for restricted profiles

Optimized location and sensor capabilities

Support for International Users

New media capabilities and ways to analyze performance

ANDROID 4.4 KitKat

Printing framework

NFC Host Card Emulation for emulating smart cards

Web-Views based on Chromium (feature parity with Chrome for Android 30)

New framework for UI transitions

Storage access framework for retrieving content and documents from other sources

Sensor Batching, Step Detector and Counter APIs

Native infrared blaster API