About Android Operating System (Versions)

                                                            Android OS

Android Buzz Information

Android Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California in October 2003 by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sears, and Chris White.Rubin described the Android project as "tremendous potential in developing smarter mobile devices that are more aware of its owner's location and preferences".
The early intentions of the company were to develop an advanced operating system for digital cameras. Though, when it was realized that the market for the devices was not large enough, the company diverted its efforts toward producing a smartphone operating system that would rival Symbian and Microsoft Windows Mobile.

   Initially developed by Android Inc., which Google bought in 2005, Android was unveiled in 2007, along with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance – a consortium of hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. Beginning with the first commercial Android device in September 2008, the operating system has gone through multiple major releases, with the current version being 7.0 "Nougat", released in August 2016. Android applications ("apps") can be downloaded from the Google Play store, which features over 2.7 million apps as of February 2017. Android has been the best-selling OS on tablets since 2013 and runs on the vast majority[a] of smartphones. In September 2015, Android had 1.4 billion monthly active users, and it has the largest installed base of any operating system.


At Google, the team led by Rubin developed a mobile device platform powered by the Linux kernel. Google marketed the platform to handset makers and carriers on the promise of providing a flexible, upgradeable system.Google had "lined up a series of hardware components and software partners and signaled to carriers that it was open to various degrees of cooperation".

Android has a large collaboration of developers coding applications to increase the functionality of the devices. The version history of the Android operating system began with the release of the  Android beta in November 2007. The first commercial version, Android 1.0, was released in September 2008.Since April 2009, Android versions have been developed under a codename and released in alphabetical order: Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, Kitkat, Lollipop, Marshmallow, and Nougat.

>>Pre-commercial release versions

• {Android Alpha}
• {Android beta}

>>Version history by API level

• Android 1.0
• Android 1.1
• 
  
• Android 1.5 Cupcake
• Android 1.6 Donut
• Android 2.0/2.1 Eclair
• 
  
• Android 2.2.x Froyo
• Android 2.3.x Gingerbread
• Android 3.x Honeycomb
• 
  
• Android 4.0.x Ice Cream Sandwich
• Android 4.1.x Jelly Bean
• 
  
• Android 5.x.x Lollipop
• Android 6.0.x Marshmallow
• Android 7.0.x Nougat