Android is an operating system based on the Linux kernel,[12] and designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. Initially developed by Android, Inc., which Google backed financially and later bought in 2005,[13] 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.
In October 2012, there were approximately 700,000 apps available for Android, and the estimated number of applications downloaded from Google Play, Android's primary app store, was 25 billion.[17][18] A developer survey conducted in April–May 2013 found that Android is the most popular platform for developers, used by 71% of the mobile developer population.
smartphone platform,[20] overtaking Symbian in the fourth quarter of 2010.[21] Android is popular with technology companies who require a ready-made, low-cost, customizable and lightweight operating system for high tech devices.[22] Despite being primarily designed for phones and tablets, it also has been used in televisions, games consoles, digital cameras and other electronics.
Android's open nature has encouraged a large community of developers and enthusiasts to use the open-source code as a foundation for community-driven projects, which add new features for advanced users or bring Android to devices which were officially released running other operating systems.
the 32-bit ARMv7 architecture. There is support for x86 from the Android-x86 project,[7] and Google TV uses a special x86 version of Android. In 2013, Freescale announced Android on its i.MX processor, i.MX5X and i.MX6X series.[69] In 2012 Intel processors began to appear on more mainstream Android platforms, such as phones.
