Saturday, September 11, 2010

Linux, Google, Android and Mobile Devices

Based on the Linux kernel and GNU software, Android is the most popular (33% of all units sold) mobile (smartphone) operating system of our time. developed by Google and is based on the Linux kernel and GNU software.

Under the Hood

Linux might still be a playground for hobbysts. But linux-drived software are going places. Deep inside Android software stack consists of Java applications on top of Java core libraries running on a Dalvik virtual machine featuring JIT compilation. Among others android has put together the surface manager, OpenCore, SQLite, OpenGL ES 2.0, WebKit, SGL, SSL and Bionic libc, very well. In all it consists of 12 million lines of code - 3 million lines of XML, 2.8 million lines of C, 2.1 million lines of Java, and 1.75 million lines of C++.

The Reception

With a decent beginning 2007, Android has attracted maximum attention from users, mobile handset manufacturers and software developers. The reception of Android has been the warmest. Till date there are 70,000 apps approved for it and some 100,000 have been submitted. Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 78 companies (including Texas Instruments, Broadcom Corporation, Google, HTC, Intel, LG, Marvell Technology Group, Motorola, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, PacketVideo, ARM Holdings, Atheros Communications, Asustek Computer Inc, Garmin Ltd, Softbank, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba Corp and Vodafone) is devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices through Android.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I think of all the times those Microsoft guys and girls smirk at the fact that Windoze owns the desktop world...Now it's a "who cares...?" type situation. You may own the desktop, but we are in your pocket! People in the Linux community are starting to come to the realization that the Linux OS owns the cell phone world. I work in Customer Care for a major player in the Open Handset Alliance and people call me everyday buying and upgrading to the 'Droid OS. They don't realize or care what it is, they just want a cell phone they can e-mail, chat, browse the web and stay in touch with family and friends... Sound familiar? So a FINAL message to all you windows guys out there: You may have won the desktop race but the rest of the world is ours!!!

manmath sahu said...

Greg,
Thanks for dropping by and posting such a nice comment! Rightly said, computing is limited to desktops anymore, it's time for mobile gadgets. And Windows is a second player here.

How about this