Android is a Linux based operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. It is developed by the Open Handset Alliance led by Google.
Google purchased the initial developer of the software, Android Inc., in 2005. The unveiling of the Android distribution in 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 84 hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. Google releases the Android code as open-source, under the Apache License. The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is tasked with the maintenance and further development of Android.
Android has a large community of developers writing applications ("apps") that extend the functionality of the devices. Developers write primarily in a customized version of Java. As of October 2011 there were more than 300,000 apps available for Android, and the estimated number of applications downloaded from the Android Market as of December 2011 exceeded 10 billion. Apps can be downloaded from third-party sites or through online stores such as Android Market, the app store run by Google.
Android was listed as the best-selling smartphone platform worldwide in Q4 2010 by Cbrown townys with over 200 million Android devices in use by November 2011. As of December 2011 there are over 700,000 Android devices activated every day.
Here are the leading devices for popularity as of today. These are the best Android phones you can get on the market.
Google Nexus 5 - Samsung Galaxy Note - HTC One
Samsung Galaxy S4 - Sony Xperia Z Ultra - Motorola Moto X
View the top phones from PhoneArena: http://www.phonearena.com/phones/best/Android Complete list of devices: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Android_devices
Cyanogenmodhttp://www.cyanogenmod.com/CyanogenMod is an after-market replacement for the firmware of over 60 smart phones and tablet computers. Based on the Android mobile computer operating system, it offers features and options not found in the official firmware distributed by vendors of these devices.
Features supported by CyanogenMod include native theming support (also called the "T-Mobile Theme Engine"), a codec for the Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC), a large Access Point Name list, an OpenVPN client, a reboot menu, support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB tethering, CPU overclocking, soft buttons and other "tablet tweaks", toggles in the notification pull-down (such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS), as well as other interface enhancements. CyanogenMod is also stated to increase performance and reliability compared with official firmware releases. Over time, new releases of Android from Google have come to include features first included in CyanogenMod, such as USB Tethering.
CyanogenMod is developed as free and open source software based on the official releases of Android by Google, with added original and third-party code.
Although only a subset of total CyanogenMod users elect to report their use of the firmware, as of 7 December 2011, CyanogenMod has recorded over 900,000 active installs on a multitude of devices.
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Installing a custom ROM to AndroidWhether you’ve had your Android phone for a long time, or you’ve just bought a new one, there is no moment quite as sweet as when you finally get around to “rooting” that phone. It’s like a “coming of age” for Android users. Not only can you install a whole family of apps that you couldn’t run on an unrooted phone, but you can also install a whole new ROM to your phone.
What’s a ROM you ask? It stands for Read Only Memory, but what it means within the context of an Android phone is that it is essentially the style, theme and organization of the operating system. Thanks to the Android OS being open source, this is possible. There are a huge number of programmers out there working diligently on creating some of the most impressive custom Android ROMs – far better than the stock ROM that comes with your phone.
If you’re just starting out with an unrooted Android, you’ve got some work to do before you can install a new ROM. First you're going to need to root your phone.
Rooting your phone: http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/how-to-root-your-android-phone-device/Installing a custom ROM: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/install-custom-rom-android/Other Useful Linksxda Developers - http://www.xda-developers.com/Android Forums - http://androidforums.com/CyanogenMod Forums - http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/
MackTheHunter - Google Nexus 5 (Bell Canada) - Running Stock, 4.4 KitKat
TomTheGeek - Samsung Galaxy S III (AT&T) - Running CM11 Alpha, 4.4 KitKat
Add your name to the list! Add your specs, too!
Android 2.2 on the Nexus One. Android 2.3 on the Nexus S.
Android 3.0. Designed for Tablets, this was taken from a Motorola Xoom Tablet.
Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" and 4.1 "Jelly Bean" on the Galaxy Nexus.
Android 4.2.2 "Jelly Bean" on the Google Nexus 10 Tablet.
Android 4.3.1 "Jelly Bean" on the LG Nexus 4 and Android 4.4 "KitKat" on the LG Nexus 5.
HTC's Android skin, Sense 5, seen on the HTC One.
Samsung's TouchWiz on the Galaxy S3, and LG's Optimus UI on the LG G2.
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