The world's most used operating system began as software for digital cameras
When Andy Rubin and Chris White founded Android Inc. in Palo Alto in October 2003, they were building an operating system for digital cameras. Investors were unimpressed, the office faced eviction, and a friend turned up with ten thousand dollars in an envelope. Today their project runs on more devices than any other system on the planet.
The camera idea, a prototype nicknamed the Fadden demo, failed to win backers, so in April 2004 the team switched to phones at the suggestion of Nick Sears, who had joined along with Rich Miner. The name came from a domain Rubin already owned, android.com. Rubin had earlier created the T-Mobile Sidekick at his previous company, Danger. During the lean months his close friend Steve Perlman handed over the cash, then wired further seed money, refusing any stake because, he said, he simply believed in Rubin.
Google bought the secretive startup in July 2005 for at least 50 million dollars, a purchase one Google executive, David Lawee, later called its best deal ever. The early prototype looked like a BlackBerry, with a physical keyboard and no touchscreen. Then Apple's iPhone appeared in 2007 and Android had to go back to the drawing board. Google's documents grudgingly added touchscreen support while insisting physical buttons were still assumed, but by 2008 the focus had moved entirely to touch.
In November 2007 Google and partners including HTC, Motorola, Samsung and Qualcomm launched the Open Handset Alliance to build an open mobile platform. Android was formally unveiled on September 23, 2008, at a press conference held in a New York City subway station, alongside the first phone to run it, the HTC Dream, also sold as the T-Mobile G1.
Underneath, Android rests on a modified Linux kernel, and its core, the Android Open Source Project, is free software. Most phones, however, ship with Google's proprietary additions such as the Play store, and Google controls the Android name and logo. Variants now run televisions, watches, cars and headsets, and since 2011 it has led the world's smartphone market.
Source: Android (operating system)
