Anroid 1.6(Donut)

Android 1.6 alternately called donut based on the linux kernel 2.6.29 was released by android in september 15 2009.

The main features of this version were
Quick search box at the home screen itself for providing quick search to items like bookmarks/history from the browser, contacts and the web directly from the home screen.

The system also learns what is relevant from the click pattern of the user. That is frequently searched for queries will bubble up first as the user types the first few letters.

The voice commands were also included to do commands according to the users wish.

The camera, video recorder and gallery user interface was enhanced. They were much more faster compared to the previous versions. The camera was 39% faster and there was a 29% time improvement compared to the previous edition. In the gallery there was integrated an option for multiple deleting pictures.

A new Virtual Private Network (VPN) control panel in Settings allows users to configure and connect to the following types of VPNs:

* L2TP/IPSEC pre-shared key based VPN
* L2TP/IPsec certificate based VPN
* L2TP only VPN
* PPTP only VPN

There was a new battery usage screen indicator that tells you which app is consuming battery power, and how much of it. After that you can decide whether to take precautions to save the power by managing the settings of the applications. If you feel a certain application is taking too much power you can adjust its settings or uninstall it.

For devices with Android Market, the latest version improves the overall user experience and makes it easier for users to discover great apps and games from developers.

* At the homescreen, users can choose among Apps, Games, and Downloads.
* Inside a category, users can explore titles that are Top paid, Top free, and Just in.
* For each title, users can now see screenshots submitted by developers in addition to reviews from other users.

Android 1.6 adds screen support that enables applications to be rendered properly on different display resolutions and densities. Developers can also specify the types of screens supported by their application

Android 1.6 also has support for CDMA in the telephony stack.

Android 1.5

CODE NAME: CUP CAKE


This is a review of the android 1.5 called as cupcake devoloped on the Linux kernel version 2.6.27. This was the third edition of android operating system and was released on 30th April 2009.

In this edition of the android there has been user refinement like animation window transition(off by default), accelerometer based application rotations. The user interface was polished for in call experience, contacts, call logs, browser, etc.

Also as you see in the video, the camera shutter speed was improved, along with a faster browser and faster GPS access. The images could be zoomed in and out, shared through the net. But the sliding transition for pics was still absent in this edition.

They introduced an oncscreen keyboard in this edition, which was definitely an improvement considering the previous editions. The keyboard works in both landscape and portrait modes and it is smooth. But the problem is that it actually is not anyway near the iPhone. Along with the onscreen keyboard it also supported the installation of 3rd party keyboard.

This version included the video camera functionality. It could record and playback videos along with playback of 3-GP and MPEG-4. The video camera lacks the required quality, only 15 fps. Still it was definitely an improvement.

In Bluetooth department it allowed sterio bluetooth support and Auto pairing of bluetooth. It also provided better handsfree experience.The browser function was updated including fatures like the copy and paster in browser, unified go and search box, tabbed bookmarks/history/most-visited screen.

Origin

Android Inc. was a small company based in Palo Alto California, founded by Andy Rubin and Rich Miner. Andy Rubin was the cofounder of danger Inc. which was later acquired by microsoft. Andy Rubin is now working with google in devoloping Android. Google acquired the company in 2005. The Open Handset Alliance was unvieled in November 2007. At the same time they unvieled their first product, Android Operating system for Mobile Platform built on the Linux Kernel version 2.6.

It is open source software whose complete code was published under the Apache Licence. Android has seen many updates since the release of the original version. It is released swiftly mainly inorder to fix the bugs and also to upgrade new features into it.

Overview

Android is a mobile operating system initially developed by Android Inc. later purchased by Google(2005). It is being developed by Google and other members of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 79 hardware, software, and telecom companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices.

It is based on a linux kernel. There are lots of apps, nearly 100,000 thousands of them for android. It is written in Java. The android consits of a 12 million lines of code including 3 million lines of XML, 2.8 million lines of C, 2.1 million lines of Java, and 1.75 million lines of C++. There are currently a lot of phones with the android operating system, like the famous galaxy S.