Google's first Android phone, the T-Mobile G1 (aka HTC Dream), wasn't much to look at when it debuted in October 2008, with its trough for a keyboard and its bizarrely jutting chin; but it kicked off an avalanche of Android phones, just the same.
The now-mature Android operating system currently accounts for 48 percent of the global market share, according to research firm Canalys, with a staggering 85-percent slice of the pie in South Korea and a 71-percent stake in Taiwan. iPhone sales remain strong, but Windows Phone poses only a shadow of a threat.
There are consequences of such a blistering growth spurt, and, in Google's case, it's been fragmentation — too many versions of the operating system available at the same time. While most models now host Android 2.2 Froyo and the newer Android 2.3 Gingerbread, there's also the tablet-specific Android 3.0 Honeycomb.
Ice Cream Sandwich is set to change all of that, conquering fragmentation with its one-size-fits-all solution for Android screens large and small. Always searching for the next treat in its enticing alphabet of releases, tipsters are sharing news of what's to come after the ice cream, even though manufacturers and carriers are still upgrading existing devices to Gingerbread.
Here's a look at the milestones in Google's Android operating system, from its humble beginnings to its current ambitions, starting with:
Android 1.0: the Dream
Software development kit (SDK) released February 2008.
- GPS and Bluetooth (but not stereo Bluetooth)
- Multitasking
- Tight integration with Google services, like Gmail, Google Maps (with Street View) and Google Calendar
- Apps: Amazon MP3 Store; YouTube
- Android Market (about 35 apps at launch)
- No Microsoft Exchange Server; no camcorder.
Image credit: CBSi
