Android operating system
Android
- Date
- 2008 · confidence high
- Place
- Google, Mountain View, California, United States
- Credited to
- Andy Rubin (Android Inc., acquired by Google in 2005); first phone HTC Dream (2008)
- People
- 👤 Andy Rubin1963–
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
An open-source mobile operating system based on Linux, licensed free of charge to any manufacturer. It is the world's most used operating system and brought the smartphone to developing countries.
What it led to
- Cheap smartphones for billions of people
- Google's dominance over data, advertising and mobile search
- The Chinese mobile industry (Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo)
Built on
Made possible
- HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1), the first Android phone2008
- low-cost smartphones
- mobile payments in Asia and Africa