5 November 2007 - Android introduction

Digital Innovation Days

The world’s most used mobile operating system, Android, was launched on the 5th of November, 2007, with the release of the Android beta version. It is primarily an operating system for cellular phones and tablet computers. The idea behind Android began as early as 2003 when Android Inc., an American technology company, started working to develop an operating system for a digital camera. However, the plan soon changed to an operating system for a smartphone.

In 2005, Google bought Android Inc. and, for a certain project, decided to base the new operating system on an open-source one - Linux. Then Google introduced Android to the world and in order to promote it as a free open-source software, it created a consortium of multiple technology and telecommunication companies. This association was called the Open Handset Alliance. After a little more than a year, the first Android phone arrived: the T-Mobile G1.

When Android was launched, critics were sceptical of its success. After all, Apple had entered the smartphone market a year earlier, Symbian was about to do so, Microsoft was going to launch Microsoft Phone, and BlackBerry was already ruling the place. But today, around 75% of mobile devices use Android as their operating system. What is, then, so revolutionizing about this os?

With a diverse range of peripheral and wearable third-party devices, Android has a very large ecosystem. Not only does this create ease in the transfer of data but while syncing it as well. In addition to this, there is high customisability. Furthermore, because Google included its services in the software, manufacturers had to do less work to create smartphones and hence preferred this system. As such, Android phones come in a wide variety of prices - nearly every segment that phones come in, from extremely affordable to high-end.

These reasons and more led to Android becoming the dominant mobile operating system in the world 10 years ago. To this day, it holds this title.