What is Android?

Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications. The Android SDK provides the tools and APIs necessary to begin developing applications on the Android platform using the Java programming language.

Open Access
Android was built from the ground-up to enable developers to create compelling mobile applications that take full advantage of all a handset has to offer. It was built to be truly open. For example, an application can call upon any of the phone's core functionality such as making calls, sending text messages, or using the camera, allowing developers to create richer and more cohesive experiences for users. Android is built on the open Linux Kernel. Furthermore, it utilizes a custom virtual machine that was designed to optimize memory and hardware resources in a mobile environment. Android is open source; it can be liberally extended to incorporate new cutting edge technologies as they emerge.

All applications are created equal
Android does not differentiate between the phone's core applications and third-party applications. They can all be built to have equal access to a phone's capabilities providing users with a broad spectrum of applications and services. With devices built on the Android Platform, users are able to fully tailor the phone to their interests. They can swap out the phone's homescreen, the style of the dialer, or any of the applications. They can even instruct their phones to use their favorite photo viewing application to handle the viewing of all photos.

Breaking down application boundaries
Android breaks down the barriers to building new and innovative applications. For example, a developer can combine information from the web with data on an individual's mobile phone -- such as the user's contacts, calendar, or geographic location -- to provide a more relevant user experience. With Android, a developer can build an application that enables users to view the location of their friends and be alerted when they are in the vicinity giving them a chance to connect.

Fast & easy application development
Android provides access to a wide range of useful libraries and tools that can be used to build rich applications. For example, Android enables developers to obtain the location of the device, and allows devices to communicate with one another enabling rich peer-to-peer social applications. In addition, Android includes a full set of tools that have been built from the ground up alongside the platform providing developers with high productivity and deep insight into their applications.

Architecture Of Android

The Android software stack is composed of the elements such as Linux kernel and a collection of C/C++ libraries are exposed through an application framework that provides services for, and management of, the run time and applications.

Linux Kernel : Core services (including hardware drivers, process and memory management,security, network, and power management) are handled by a Linux 2.6 kernel. The kernel also provides an abstraction layer between the hardware and the remainder of the stack.

Libraries : Running on top of the kernel, Android includes various C/C++ core libraries such as libc and SSL, as well as:
* A media library for playback of audio and video media
* A Surface manager to provide display management
* Graphics libraries that include SGL and OpenGL for 2D and 3D graphics
* SQLite for native database support
* SSL and WebKit for integrated web browser and Internet security

Android Run Time : What makes an Android phone an Android phone rather than a mobile Linux implementation is the Android run time. Including the core libraries and the Dalvik virtual machine, the Android run time is the engine that powers your applications and, along with the libraries, forms the basis for the application framework.
* Core Libraries While Android development is done in Java, Dalvik is not a Java VM. The core Android libraries provide most of the functionality available in the core Java libraries as well as the Android-specific libraries.
* Dalvik Virtual Machine Dalvik is a register-based virtual machine that’s been optimized to ensure that a device can run multiple instances effi ciently. It relies on the Linux kernel for threading and low-level memory management.

Application Framework :The application framework provides the classes used to create Android applications. It also provides a generic abstraction for hardware access and manages the user interface and application resources.

Application Layer : All applications, both native and third party, are built on the application layer using the same API libraries. The application layer runs within the Android

Setup for Install Android SDK

A quick start installation guide to get you up and running with the Google Android Software Development Kit (SDK). This guide will describe how to install the Android SDK and set up your chosen development environments. If you’ haven’t already done so you can download the Android SDK from the link below, then we can get started.

First you'll need to download the Android SDK source files:
( http://code.google.com/android/download.html )

System Requirements
In order to first use the Android SDK code and tools for development you will of course need a suitable environment develop from following operating systems are supported:

• Windows XP or Vista
• Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later (x86 only)
• Linux (tested on Linux Ubuntu Dapper Drake)

Install a suitable development environment such as:

• Eclipse
• Eclipse 3.2, 3.3 (Europa)
• Android Development Tools plugin (optional)

Other development environments or IDEs

• JDK 5 or JDK 6 (JRE alone is not sufficient)
• Apache Ant 1.6.5 or later for Linux and Mac, 1.7 or later for Windows

Installing The Android SDK First you will need to download the Android SDK pack .zip archive, once downloaded find a suitable installation location on your machine and extract the zipped files.

Please note: This installation location will be referred to as $SDK_ROOT from now on through this tutorial. Alternatively you can add /tools to your root path which will prevent the need to specify the full path to the tools directory along with enabling you to run Android Debug Bridge (adb) along with other command line tools.

To add /tools:

For Linux

Mac OS X :
In the home directory locate the .bash_profile and locating the PATH variable add the location to your $SDK_ROOT/tools folder.

Windows XP/Vista: 1. Right click on the My Computer icon and select the properties tab.

2. Select the Advanced tab and click the Environment Variables button.
3. In the new dialog box dowble-click on Path (located under System Variables) and type in the full path location to the tools directory.
4. The Android SDK also requires a suitable development environment to work in, here’s the installation guides for each of the supported environments.

Android Eclipse Plugin (ADT) If you choose to use the Eclipse IDE as your Android development environment you will have the opportunity to install and run a plug-in called Android Development Tools. ADT comes with a variety of powerful tools and extensions that will make creating, running and debugging your Android applications much easier and faster.

In order to download and install ADT you will first need to configure an Eclipse remote update, this can achieved via the following steps:
Start Eclipse, then select Help > Software Updates > Find and Install....
In the dialog that appears, select Search for new features to install and press Next.
Press New Remote Site.

In the resulting dialog box, enter a name for the remote site (e.g. Android Plugin) and enter this as its URL: https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/.
Press OK.
You should now see the new site added to the search list (and checked).
Press Finish.

In the subsequent Search Results dialog box, select the checkbox for Android Plugin > Eclipse Integration > Android Development Tools and press Next.

Read the license agreement and then select Accept terms of the license agreement, if appropriate.
Press Next.
Press Finish.

The ADT plugin is not signed; you can accept the installation anyway by pressing Install All.
Restart Eclipse.
After restart, update your Eclipse preferences to point to the SDK root directory ($SDK_ROOT):
Select Window > Preferences... to open the Preferences panel. (Mac OS X: Eclipse > Preferences)
Select Android from the left panel.
For the SDK Location in the main panel, press Browse... and find the SDK root directory.
Press Apply, then OK
Updating the ADT Plugin

To update the ADT plugin to the latest version, follow these steps: Select Help > Software Updates > Find and Install....

Select Search for updates of the currently installed features and press Finish.
If any update for ADT is available, select and install.

Alternatively: Select Help > Software Updates > Manage Configuration.

Navigate down the tree and select Android Development Tools
Select Scan for Updates under Available Tasks.Edit the ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bashrc files looking for a line that sets the PATH variable.Add the full path location to your $SDK_ROOT/tools location for the PATH variable. If no PATH line exists you can add the line by typing the following:export PATH=${PATH}:

Google G1 Phone

The HTC Dream (also marketed as T-Mobile G1 in the US and Europe) is an Internet-enabled 3G smartphone with an operating system designed by Google and hardware designed by HTC. It was the first phone to the market that uses the Android mobile device platform. The phone is part of an open standards effort of the Open Handset alliance.                                                                    The HTC Dream was released in the US on 22 October 2008, in the UK on 30 October 2008.As of 2008 in the US, it was priced starting at $129.99 for new and existing T-Mobile customers if purchased with a two-year T-Mobile voice and data plan, and $399 without a contract.

Software application which are alreay there:
* Webkit Browser
* Gmail
* Google Calendar
* Google Map
* You Tube
* Amazon
* Android Market
* Google Docs

Hardware Configuration:
Display: 8.1 cm TFT-LCD flat glass touch-sensitive HVGA screen with 480 X 320 pixel resolution.
CPU: MSM7201A is an ARM-based, dual-core from Qualcomm.
Keyboard: It has a sliding full 5 row QWERTY keyboard with a set of 6 navigation buttons.
Camera: It has a 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus functionality.
Video: It can play H264, streaming, 3GPP, MPEG4, and 3GP files.
Storage: It has microSD card slot and comes with a 1GB memory card. It has been confirmed to work with capacities up to 16GB.

What is Open Alliance?

The Open Handset Alliance (OHA) is a collection of more than 65 technology companies including hardware manufacturers, mobile carriers, and software developers. Of particular note are the prominent mobile technology companies Motorola, HTC, T-Mobile, and Qualcomm.


The OHA hopes to deliver a better mobile software experience for consumers by providing the platform needed for innovative mobile development at a faster rate and a higher quality without licensing fees for software developers or handset manufacturers. Ultimately the success of Android as a mobile platform will depend largely on the success of OHA partners in releasing desirable handsets and mobile services that encourage the widespread adoption of Android phones. Developers meanwhile have the opportunity to create innovative new mobile applications for Android to encourage more mobile technology companies to become part of the OHA.

In their own words, the OHA represents:

A commitment to openness, a shared vision for the future, and concrete plans to make the vision a reality. To accelerate innovation in mobile and offer consumers a richer, less expensive, and better mobile experience.

More On Open Handset Alliance

History Of Android

In July 2005, Google acquired Android, Inc., a small startup company based in Palo Alto, California, USA.Android's co-founders who went to work at Google included Andy Rubin (co-founder of Danger), Rich Miner (co-founder of Wildfire Communications, Inc.), Nick Sears (once VP at T-Mobile), and Chris White (headed design and interface development at WebTV). At the time, little was known about the functions of Android, Inc. other than that they made software for mobile phones.This began rumors that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market, although it was unclear what function it might perform in that market.

At Google, the team led by Rubin developed a mobile device platform powered by the Linux kernel which they marketed to handset makers and carriers on the premise of providing a flexible, upgradeable system. It was reported that Google had already lined up a series of hardware component and software partners and signaled to carriers that it was open to various degrees of cooperation on their part. More speculation that Google would be entering the mobile-phone market came in December 2006. Reports from the BBC and The Wall Street Journal noted that Google wanted its search and applications on mobile phones and it was working hard to deliver that. Print and online media outlets soon reported rumors that Google was developing a Google-branded handset. More speculation followed reporting that as Google was defining technical specifications, it was showing prototypes to cell phone manufacturers and network operators.