Android is five years old today

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Android is five years old today

 

Remember the Googlephone? It was a mythical device that was obsessively rumored in the months after Apple launched the iPhone. Exactly five years ago today, Google unveiled the project that had been the source of all the rumors: its Android mobile operating system, along with the first Android smartphone, the T-Mobile G1. (It was also the day that Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page rollerbladed to the New York launch event from Grand Central Station.)

 

Des Smith, a member of the original Android team, remembers the launch well. "We had been working for months and months with a small team in Building 44 in Mountain View, CA," he wrote in a commemorative post on Google+. "I was so excited I couldn't sleep." The original Android team included Hiroshi Lockheimer, Keva Nelson, David Conway, Grace Kloba, Peisun Wu, Erick Tseng, German Bauer, and of course former Android chief Andy Rubin.

 

No one was quite sure what to expect from Google that day. Most were betting that Google would release a phone, but few expected Google to reveal a mobile operating system that anyone could use. "It felt a bit like a new era for the mobile industry," The Verge's Paul Miller wrote at the time at Engadget.

 

The G1 has faded from memory, but Android has had a lasting impact. The open source operating system has launched more than a billion devices, including cameras, televisions, smartwatches, and game consoles. It's been a boon to the open source developer community in addition to making mobile giant Samsung rich off its popular Android-powered devices. Now, Android is the largest smartphone operating system in the world. "And this is just the beginning," Smith wrote.

 

Source: The Verge

[_dandy_]

:-/

 

Not sure how I feel about this.

 

Windows sucked more five years after it came out than Android does right now, but at least Android had the benefit of learning from the mistakes made on computers, phones and tablets.  *And* it's built on top of Linux, which gives it a longer history still.

 

So yeah, it's made great strides in terms of popularity when it comes to phones/tablets, essentially taking the market, but it certainly doesn't feel like a product that's had 5 years worth of polish IMO.

 

If I sound like a hater, it's only because I want it to be so much better.

[Orange Battery]

Imagine a world whre there is only one mobile OS.

 

A lot of us saw it with Windows and we saw some bad times where IE development stopped and developers became lazy.

 

Any company is going to become lazy when faced with no competion.  Fan boys are so stupid, they stop everything they love.

 

Competition breeds inovation and if we ever forget that then shame on us.

[firey]

:-/

 

Not sure how I feel about this.

 

Windows sucked more five years after it came out than Android does right now, but at least Android had the benefit of learning from the mistakes made on computers, phones and tablets.  *And* it's built on top of Linux, which gives it a longer history still.

 

So yeah, it's made great strides in terms of popularity when it comes to phones/tablets, essentially taking the market, but it certainly doesn't feel like a product that's had 5 years worth of polish IMO.

 

If I sound like a hater, it's only because I want it to be so much better.

To each their own.. in my opinion Android is the best mobile OS out there.  Not sure what else is needed :/

[Salty Wagyu]

Without Android, we'd all be stuck with iphones, imagine that! :unsure:

[xendrome]

Release or Unveil? Because it was unveiled in 2007

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

I've used Android from 2.1 on a HTC Desire, its certainly improved a lot since then. I used to think stock Android looked like like Windows 95, then HTC Sense added all the nice UI elements Windows 7 had. However Since 4.0 I wouldn't want to use anything else except stock Android though.

 

Here's to see what the next 5 years bring (Y)

[Knife Party]

i'm a proud user. congrats Android team

[LUTZIFER]

Congrats Google. Best phone OS.

[Growled Member]

Happy Birthday Android. Best mobile OS (to me) out there right now. Hard to believe in 5 years it went from nothing to world domination.

[Raa]

:fun:  Party on, Google!

[astropheed Veteran]

It's alright. I mean it's the best there is, but it's still just 'alright'.

 

I'm hoping Ubuntu's Mobile OS makes things better, if that's even still a thing.

[Alwaysonacoffebreak]

Second Android for me and I have to say I'm pleased. I made a huge mistake the first time around when going with some Huawei single core 800mhz cpu and 256mb of ram, that kinda left a sour taste in my mouth but guess it was my mistake after all. (Was on 2.1) 

 

Here's for another 5 and more! :woot:

[Atomic Wanderer Chicken]

The reason for Android's success is they got in the mobile phone market just at the right time. Android did a lot of things right as well which contributed to it's success.

[Alwaysonacoffebreak]

The reason for Android's success is they got in the mobile phone market just at the right time. Android did a lot of things right as well which contributed to it's success.

 

Also don't forget the cheap price from OEM's.

[remixedcat]

I'm on my 6th android phone (Samsung Galaxy Nexus)

 

List of Android phones I have:

 

1. Optimus S (2.2 then upgraded to 2.3)
2. ZTE N860 (warp) (2.3.5 upgraded to 2.3.7)
3. Kyocera Event (4.0.1)
4. LG Optimus Q (2.3.7)
5. Motorola Atrix 4G (2.3.7)
6. Samsung Galaxy Nexus (4.2.1)

I love the OS becuase of the app selection, lower entry cost, and configurability. 

[Xerxes]

The reason for Android's success is they got in the mobile phone market just at the right time. Android did a lot of things right as well which contributed to it's success.

 

No they didn't, Android's success was solely due to them (OEMs) saturating the market with massive amount of devices. I'm a big fan of Android (on my second Android phone, previously owned a HTC Desire and currently have a Galaxy Nexus) and plan to get another, however, Android still has some big issues Google needs to work on. Those issues being fragmentation and malware. If Google can solve these problems, Android will truly be unstoppable.

[Growled Member]

 Android still has some big issues Google needs to work on. Those issues being fragmentation and malware. If Google can solve these problems, Android will truly be unstoppable.

 

How is fragmentation a issue? I've never gotten that part, though I hear people talk about it all the time. 

[remixedcat]

Fragmentation is due to carrier ROMs and device manufacturers customizations.

[Xerxes]

How is fragmentation a issue? I've never gotten that part, though I hear people talk about it all the time. 

 

It's a massive issue, even the Galaxy Nexus was badly fragmented (hence why Google decided to take full control with the Nexus 4, best decision they could of made). I'd dare say the Galaxy Nexus was Google's biggest (recent) blunder, allowing carriers to have a say on the updates AND then dumping those carrier locked handsets on Samsung to deal with (who didn't care because they had their own handsets to worry about). Google got burnt big time on that one. Then as previously mentioned you got a myriad of different carrier/OEM ROMs (often for the same handset) out there. A perfect example of that is the Samsung Galaxy S2, in the US alone there were a ridiculous amount of variations of that handset (one for each carrier) running different versions of Android and different customisations.

 

I'm a strong believer that Google should follow MS (with Windows Phone) and take control over OS updates to ensure all handsets (that are capable) are updated to the latest version of Android. I don't mean just for the sake of it, apart from the new features and tweaks, there are also security fixes that all compatible handsets should be getting. That alone should help reduce the malware problem.