I am glad you guys loved the weekend apps and the business apps articles list, as I have been getting a lot of encouraging mails for the same. I will be back with a lot more apps maybe next week or so.

However, before we go gaga over Android already, let’s first have a small rewind session. Rewind to what?? Well, have you ever thought about some basic questions like how did Android begin, or what were the earlier versions of Android like? When these questions first struck me, I thought I should write down everything as I find out myself. Through this article I want to dig deeper into this by going back to what happened and how things turned the way it did. Hope these questions help you understand more about Google's crown jewel, 'Android'.

What is Android and was it invented by Google?
Android is a Linux based mobile OS, originally created and owned by Android Inc. a small software company based out of Palo Alto, California. The 'then' version of Android was basically built on the motto of providing a basic, flexible and upgradable OS to mobile phone providers and carriers. But not for long, the innocence of the original team and agenda was lost forever, due to these coming up events.

July, 2005 - Google Acquires Android Inc.
Google's ambition to enter the mobile market was then thought of as a foolish move as companies like Microsoft and Apple were already in the middle of a war and Symbian was almost the most commonly found mobile OS. Post the takeover, rumours after rumours generated with news of Google is to launch its own handsets, with its own proprietary OS. It did not catch on much until....

November, 2007 - OHA Formed

OHA short for Open Handset Alliance was a partnership of 65 hardware, software, and Mobile Carrier companies, including big-wigs like HTC, Motorola, Qualcomm, Intel, T-mobile etc, and of course Google whose objectives were set for  higher open standards for mobile devices and smartphones.

November, 2007 - Android Announced
With the news of this alliance of industry biggies, Google popped the cherry and announced its initiative on Android. Android, a mobile device platform built on the Linux kernel was a promise to the world that it will be the first Open Source Mobile Operating System.

October, 2008 - Android is Opened up

Delivering on it’s promise, Google finally, released the code of Android under Apache License, a free software and open source license, starting October 2008. Under the Apache License, private companies could now add on their own applications and extensions and sell them, without having to submit them to the open-source community.

So, now you know how Android became the Android of today. Next, we will look at the earliest versions and the earliest phones.